East Fifth Bliss

There are seven defining moments in a person's life. For Morris Bliss, the difficulty is in knowing which moments are defining. Morris Bliss, at thirty-five, is clamped in the jaws of New York City inertia - he wants to travel but has no money; he needs a job but has no prospects; he still shares a walk-up apartment with his father. Enter Stefani, an 18 year-old in a Catholic school uniform, and Morris's once static life quickly unravels when Stefani's father, unwittingly calls on Morris to work for him. Life becomes further entangled when his best friend is recruited by a cartel that local sex markets, and begs for Morris to save his bacon. Most importantly, Morris's father, a taciturn widower, finally reveals the truth surrounding the strange death of Morris's mother. A body at rest will remain at rest. Unless acted upon. With the agony of his inertia finally broken, Morris Bliss fights to keep his life from careening out of control. He must learn to adapt if he is to survive.

The Light of Asia, subtitled The Great Renunciation, is in a form of a narrative poem. The book endeavors to describe the life and time of Prince Gautama Siddhartha, who after attaining enlightenment became The Buddha, The Awakened One. The book presents his life, character, and philosophy, in a series of verses. It is a free adaptation of the Lalitavistara. A few decades before the book's publication, very little was known outside Asia about the Buddha and Buddhism, the religion which he founded, and which had existed for about twenty-five centuries. Arnold's book was one of the first successful attempts to popularize Buddhism for a Western readership. The Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu scripture in Sanskrit that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Contents: The Light of Asia The Song Celestial or Bhagavad-Gita (from the Mahâbhârata) The Essence of Buddhism Hindu Literature: Comprising The Book of good counsels, Nala and Damayanti Indian Poetry: The Indian Song of Songs (Hymn to Vishnu -11 Sargas) Miscellaneous Oriental Poems: The Rajpoot Wife King Saladin The Caliph's Draught Hindoo Funeral Song Song of the Serpent-charmers Song of the Flour-mill Taza ba Taza The Mussulman Paradise Dedication of a Poem From the Sanskrit The Rajah's Ride Two Books From The Iliad Of India "The Great Journey." "The Entry Into Heaven." "Night of Slaughter." The Morning Prayer. Proverbial Wisdom From the Shlokas of the Hitopadeśa… Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) was an English poet and journalist. The literary task which he set before him was the interpretation in English verse of the life and philosophy of the East.