Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. Written between October 1845 and June 1846,Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 under the pseudonym "Ellis Bell"; Brontë died the following year, aged 30. Wuthering Heights and Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey were accepted by publisher Thomas Newby before the success of their sister Charlotte's novel, Jane Eyre. After Emily's death, Charlotte edited the manuscript of Wuthering Heights, and arranged for the edited version to be published as a posthumous second edition in 1850.

Although Wuthering Heights is now widely regarded as a classic of English literature, contemporary reviews for the novel were deeply polarised; it was considered controversial because its depiction of mental and physical cruelty was unusually stark, and it challenged strict Victorian ideals of the day, including religious hypocrisy, morality, social classes and gender inequality. The English poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti referred to it as "A fiend of a book – an incredible monster ... The action is laid in hell, – only it seems places and people have English names there."

Mr.

Mister, usually written in its abbreviated form Mr. (US) or Mr (US & UK), is a commonly-used English honorific for men under the rank of knighthood. The title derived from earlier forms of master, as the equivalent female titles Mrs, Miss, and Ms all derived from earlier forms of mistress. Master is sometimes still used as an honorific for boys and young men, but its use is increasingly uncommon.

The modern plural form is Misters, although its usual formal abbreviation Messrs(.) derives from use of the French title messieurs in the 18th century.Messieurs is the plural of monsieur (originally mon sieur, "my lord"), formed by declining both of its constituent parts separately.

Historic etiquette

Historically, mister—like Sir or my lord—was applied only to those above one's own status in the peerage. This understanding is now obsolete, as it was gradually expanded as a mark of respect to those of equal status and then to all gentlemen. It is now used indiscriminately.

In past centuries, Mr was used with a first name to distinguish among family members who might otherwise be confused in conversation: Mr Doe would be the eldest present; younger brothers or cousins were then referred to as Mr Richard Doe and Mr William Doe and so on. Such usage survived longer in family-owned business or when domestic servants were referring to adult male family members with the same surname: "Mr Robert and Mr Richard will be out this evening, but Mr Edward is dining in," but such usage today is rare in American culture but still quite common in others as a sign of respect when first names are being used, the last name is not known, or where English is not the mother tongue.

Lockwood (Wuthering Heights)

Mr. Lockwood is one of two narrators in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, the other being Nelly Dean. He is an effete English gentleman who arrives on the Yorkshire moors for a retreat from city life, and spends most of his recorded time there listening to Nelly's biography of Heathcliff, the landlord in whose affairs he has taken a peculiar interest:

Lockwood is a poor judge of character. The above impressions, garnered from his first encounter with Heathcliff, are quickly discarded during the second, when his landlord's surly disposition fully reveals itself. The two are in fact diametrical opposites — Heathcliff a moody, vindictive Byronic hero; Lockwood a paragon of affected posh civility. Whereas we do not know Lockwood's first name, Heathcliff is without a last, a ruse likely employed to emphasise their differences.

Lockwood arrives at Thrushcross Grange, the estate that he rents from Heathcliff, on the back of a failed amour the previous summer. From his keenness to identify with his landlord's reticence, together with his eagerness to befriend him, we may infer that the reaction of society to his behaviour wounded his highly developed sense of self-esteem and caused him to sulkily withdraw from society for a period, leaving him in dire need of a sympathetic ally. This may explain in part why he is later so willing to while away the hours in Nelly's company. In truth the callow and impulsive nature of Mr. Lockwood leads him to fancy himself something of a misanthrope, while at heart he retains his taste for social intercourse, conversation and gossip.

Audiobook

An audiobook (or talking book) is a recording of a text being read. A reading of the complete text is noted as "unabridged", while readings of a reduced version, or abridgement of the text are labeled as "abridged".

Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the age of videocassettes, DVDs, compact discs, and downloadable audio, however often of poetry and plays rather than books. It was not until the 1980s that the medium began to attract book retailers, and then book retailers started displaying audiobooks on bookshelves rather than in separate displays.

Etymology

The term "talking book" came into being in the 1930s with government programs designed for blind readers, while the term "audiobook" came into use during the 1970s when audiocassettes began to replace records. In 1994, the Audio Publishers Association established the term "audiobook" as the industry standard.

Lisa Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley (born February 1, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of musician-actor Elvis Presley and actress and business magnate Priscilla Presley, and is Elvis' only child. As sole heir to her father's estate, Presley is the owner of Graceland, the Memphis mansion where her father lived, now a major tourist attraction. She has conducted a long career in the music business and has issued several albums and videos. Her work as a vocalist and lyricist has ranged across rock, country, blues and folk.

Presley has been married four times. In 1988, she married musician Danny Keough, with whom she had a son and a daughter. She was then married to singer Michael Jackson and briefly to actor Nicolas Cage, before marrying music producer Michael Lockwood, father of her twin girls. She lives in San Francisco, California, US with her family.

Early life

Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, to Elvis and Priscilla Presley at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, exactly nine months after her parents' wedding (1 May, 1967). After her parents divorced, she lived with her mother.