The new church of St. John's, on Fifth Avenue, was thronged the
morning of the last Sunday of October, read more

The new church of St. John's, on Fifth Avenue, was thronged the
morning of the last Sunday of October, in the year 1880. Sitting
in the gallery, beneath the unfinished frescoes, and looking down
the nave, one caught an effect of autumn gardens, a suggestion of
chrysanthemums and geraniums, or of October woods, dashed with
scarlet oaks and yellow maples.

The morning was as dark and cold as city snow could make it--a
dingy whirl at the window; a read more

The morning was as dark and cold as city snow could make it--a
dingy whirl at the window; a smoky gust through the fire-place; a
shadow black as a bear's cave under the table. Nothing in all
the cavernous room, loomed really warm or familiar except a glass
of stale water, and a vapid, half-eaten grape-fruit.

We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee in
the time that I lived there so successfully read more

We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee in
the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself
as a child.

Obeying an inalienable law, things grew, spreading riotous and
strange in their instinct for growth.

Obeying an inalienable law, things grew, spreading riotous and
strange in their instinct for growth.

Early one morning I, Vadim Maslennikov, set off for school (I was
going on seventeen at the time) having read more

Early one morning I, Vadim Maslennikov, set off for school (I was
going on seventeen at the time) having forgotten the envelope
with the first-semester fees Mother had left me in the dining
room the day before.

On the 10th of July 1553, about two hours after noon, a loud
discharge of ordnance burst from the read more

On the 10th of July 1553, about two hours after noon, a loud
discharge of ordnance burst from the turrets of Durham House,
then the residence of the Duke of Northumberland, grandmaster of
the realm, and occupying the site of the modern range of
buildings known as the Adelphi; and at the signal, which was
immediately answered from every point along the river where a
bombard or culverin could be planted-- . . .

In 1846 the prairie town of Oak River existed only in a settler's
dream.

In 1846 the prairie town of Oak River existed only in a settler's
dream.

It was the first Tuesday in August. The Nebraska heat rolled in
upon one like the engulfing waves of read more

It was the first Tuesday in August. The Nebraska heat rolled in
upon one like the engulfing waves of a dry sea,--a thick material
substance against which one seemed to push when moving about.

According to the tapes, my father, then about as run-of-the-mill
as Joe Blow himself, didn't want to see the read more

According to the tapes, my father, then about as run-of-the-mill
as Joe Blow himself, didn't want to see the thing.