The Cherry Orchard the three or four outstanding plays by Chekhov, along with "The Seagull", "Three Sisters", and "Uncle Vanya". The play concerns an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. Unresponsive to offers to save the estate, she allows its sale to the son of a former serf; the family leaves to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down. The story presents themes of cultural futility – both the futile attempts of the aristocracy to maintain its status and of the
The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein Shelley as shown by several letters. "The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein" includes a favorable review of "Shelley's Fiction" (1998) by Phyllis Zimmerman, a book in which Zimmerman argues for Percy Bysshe Shelley's authorship of "Frankenstein", and a short bibliography of books and articles about Percy Bysshe Shelley and "Frankenstein". Lauritsen praises poet Edmund Blunden's "" (1946), calling it the best short biography about Percy Bysshe Shelley. "The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein" was first published in 2007 by Pagan Press. "The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein" was praised by the critic Camille Paglia, who wrote in "Salon" that "Lauritsen assembles an overwhelming