Cup of Gold is John Steinbeck’s first novel, the swashbuckling story of the real-life Captain Morgan, legendary pirate. Little of Morgan’s actual life is known, but Steinbeck fills in the blanks of this rich historical fiction with rich portraits of Caribbean ports and flourishes of magical realism.
While one might expect a rollicking tale of adventure, the novel is actually a deep meditation on the pursuit of—and inability to find—true happiness, and its skillful craft deftly foreshadows Steinbeck’s later ascension to literary titanhood.
'; break; case 'url:https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/dashiell-hammett/red-harvest': - $description = 'Red Harvest is Dashiell Hammet’s first full-length novel to feature the Continental Op, the nameless, hard-drinking, cynical private eye that single-handedly created the archetype of the hard-boiled detective. The novel is a fast-paced, tightly-written murder thriller that simultaneously touches all the bases of, and defines, the classic noir style that was much-imitated, and later much-spoofed, in the following century.
'; + $description = 'Red Harvest is Dashiell Hammett’s first full-length novel to feature the Continental Op, the nameless, hard-drinking, cynical private eye that single-handedly created the archetype of the hard-boiled detective. The novel is a fast-paced, tightly-written murder thriller that simultaneously touches all the bases of, and defines, the classic noir style that was much-imitated, and later much-spoofed, in the following century.
'; break; case 'url:https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/sinclair-lewis/dodsworth': $description = 'Samuel Dodsworth is a successful automobile executive who decides to retire early. His younger wife Fran wants to tour Europe, so the two embark on a trip. But soon after they arrive, Fran becomes enchanted by the whirlwind of culture and old-world society, while Samuel, a mild-mannered, down-to-earth Midwesterner, yearns to escape the pretentiousness and return to the quiet stability of home. The novel explores the slow breakdown of their marriage while deftly satirizing American middle-class mores and the wide gulf between them and European culture.
'; @@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ ksort($ebooksWithDescriptions);In 2025, books published in 1929 enter the U.S. public domain.
And 1929 was a literary doozy!
-Books by William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Mahatma Gandhi, and John Steinbeck enter the U.S. public domain. Joining these esteemed names is the English translation of All Quiet on the Western Front; Red Harvest, the first novel featuring the Continental Op, the nameless hard-boiled noir detective who created the archetype for every hard-drinking, fedora-wearing private eye to grace page and screen since; and much more.
+Books by William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Mahatma Gandhi, and John Steinbeck enter the U.S. public domain. Joining these esteemed names is the English translation of All Quiet on the Western Front; Red Harvest, the first novel featuring the Continental Op, the nameless hard-boiled noir detective who created the archetype for every hard-drinking, fedora-wearing private eye to grace page and screen since; and much more.
Our friends at the Public Domain Review have written about some other things that enter the public domain this year, too.
At Standard Ebooks, our volunteers have been working hard these past few months to prepare a selection of 1929 ebooks for Public Domain Day, and now we’re excited to finally be able to share these new ebooks with you! Join us in celebrating the liberation of our cultural heritage by downloading these ebooks we’ve prepared for you, and reading them for free: