Anthologies Books

Book SynopsisIn Letters of Note: Sex, Shaun Usher collects together some of the most noteworthy missives ever written on the subject, from euphemism-laden, flirtatious exchanges and desire-driven expressions of passion to sincere and thoughtful meditations on the meaning of sex. Includes letters by: John Cheever, Dorothy Day,Frida Kahlo, Margaret Mead,Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin,Mae West & many moreTrade ReviewPraise for Letters of Note: Quite literally the most enjoyable volume it is possible to imagine. Every page is a marvel * * Spectator * *The literary equivalent of a box of chocolates - bite-sized and pure addictive pleasure . . . The result is beautifully produced, with photographs and colour facsimiles of much of the correspondence. A gorgeous Christmas present * * Sunday Times * *It is hard to see how Letters Of Note could ever be surpassed * * Mail on Sunday * *A gloriously presented compilation * * Financial Times * *

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Book SynopsisAn anthology of 17th and 18th century travel writing that inspired the hugely popular Aubrey/Maturin series, collected and introduced by Patrick O'Brian, beautifully repackaged to mark the centenary of his birth.Patrick O'Brian has unearthed from obscurity the most dynamic travel writing of the seventeenth and eighteenth century. With his scholarly mind, editor's eye, and traveller's heart he brings together a series of thrilling seaward tales.Expertly chosen by O'Brian and prefaced with details that bring these extracts to vivid life, A Book of Voyages is a broad yet intimate portrait of what life was like at sea during a time of discovery.This rare collection sheds a glorious light onto these accounts of seaward adventure. From why eating rats is necessary and how to powder your hair in France to how to truly face fear and distress during a terrifying sea passage, this collection is rich in travellers' experiences.A Book of Voyages is a unique opportunity to not only accompany an adoTrade Review‘A more exhilarating series of snapshots into marine adventures in an age of exploration would be hard to imagine’DAILY MAIL ‘This anthology of salty yarns laid the foundations for the… Aubrey-Maturin cycle. Splendidly transporting’INDEPENDENT

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Book Synopsis‘Our greatest living satirist’ Sunday Times ‘The most screamingly funny living writer’ Mail on Sunday From the bestselling and award-winning author of Ma'am Darling and One Two Three Four, a selection of Craig Brown's finest writing collected together for the first time. Trade Review‘The most screamingly funny living writer’ Barry Humphries, Mail on Sunday ‘The greatest satirist since Max Beerbohm’ Elaine Showalter Guardian ‘Craig Brown's humour will outlive his victims. His journalism is one of the few compensations for being British now’ David Sexton, Sunday Telegraph ‘A genius … in every instance, the skill of the parodist dwarfs any achievement attributable to his subject’ Auberon Waugh, Daily Telegraph ‘He is the comic writer the rest of us admire from afar, and envy beyond the bounds of reason. How does he do it?’ Markus Berkmann, Spectator ‘Britain’s wittiest satirist’ The Times ‘[Craig Brown] has an acutely attuned comic ear, an unmatched eye for spotting the absurdities of human behaviour and a bloodhound-grade nose for sniffing out phoniness and pretension’ Mail On Sunday

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Book SynopsisChicken Soup for the Soul is a heartwarming collection of tales that will inspire you to live your dreams. The stories demonstrate the best qualities we share as human beings: compassion, grace, forgiveness, generosity and faith and they share a collected wisdom on love, parenting, teaching, death and the overcoming of obstacles.The Chicken Soup series has touched the lives of millions of people worldwide. Discover how your life could be turned around too.Trade Reviewsure to restore you faith in the human race and inspire you to improve your life. Easy to dip in and out of, it is full o bite-sized wisdom on everything from relationships and parenting to learning to love yourself and overcoming obstacles. It will make you laugh, cry and marvel at the power of the human spirit * Spirit and Destiny *

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Book SynopsisJack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are bestselling authors and motivational speakers who have dedicated their lives to enhancing the professional and personal development of others. They are the co-authors of many bestsellers including Chicken Soup For The Soul, Chicken Soup For The Mother's Soul and Chicken Soup For The Woman's Soul.

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Book SynopsisPeter Ackroyd is an award-winning historian, biographer, novelist, poet and broadcaster. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers London: The Biography, Thames: Sacred River and London Under; biographies of figures including Charles Dickens, William Blake, Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock; and a multi-volume history of England. He has won the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal Society of Literature's William Heinemann Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the South Bank Prize for Literature. He holds a CBE for services to literature.Trade ReviewAckroyd's book has its fair share of terrified hauntees and, unless you're a sceptic, there are plenty of scenes that will make the hairs on the back of your neck bristle -- Simon Griffith * Mail on Sunday *A rich and compelling assembly of stories for winter nights * New Statesman *This is a wonderful little book. It's properly old-fashioned and unorthodox, a scrapbook of clues, tittle-tattle, hints and mortal byways -- Roger Clarke * Independent *Ackroyd's collection glides seamlessly from terror to humour to downright peculiarity: it is the ideal read as the nights darken and Halloween approaches -- Tina Jackson * Metro *A fascinating anthology of sightings of ghosts in England over the centuries -- Andrew Lycett * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisThe book - a selection of articles, broadcasts and books extracts that revealed important and disturbing truths - ranges from across many of the critical events, scandals and struggles of the past fifty years.Trade ReviewA first-rate selection of investigative articles from some of the world's best reporters * Guardian *One of the most powerful and upsetting books I have read all year * Ecologist *A superb anthology * Glasgow Herald *Genuine objective journalism not only gets the facts right, it gets the meaning of events right. It is compelling not only today, but stands the test of time. It is validated not only by 'reliable sources' but by the unfolding of history. It is journalism that ten, twenty, fifty years after the fact still holds up a true and intelligent mirror to events -- T.D. Allman

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Book SynopsisErnest Hemingway's literary apprenticeship was served in journalism, a career that he pursued for over four decades. From his early work as a correspondent for the Toronto Star in Europe during the 1920s, through his inimitable articles for Esquire and his first-hand reports of the Spanish Civil War, to the mellow, ironic chronicle of his last African adventures, few correspondents have produced a more impressive body of work.By-Line presents a fascinating and revealing selection of Hemingway's journalism, and charts the development of one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewReconciling literature and action, he fulfilled for all writers, the sickroom dream of leaving the desk for the arena, and then returning to the desk. He wrote good and lived good, and both activities were the same. -- Anthony Burgess

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Book SynopsisRoger McGough is one of Britain''s best loved poets and this collection ''charts [his] passage from youthful exuberance to the wry reflection of his later years. What remains the same throughout the 40 years is the poet''s winning wit, accessibility and abiding readability'' Independent ----------------------------------''Time has confirmed ... that McGough''s talent was much more substantial than many of his long-forgotten detractors suspected. If he was a pop poet it was not in any ephemeral sense. A shy extrovert ... he has given voice to poetry and found a voice of his own which is humourful, introspective, irreverent, easy on the ear, conversational. It is also memorable and enduring and fresh. Age has not withered [his lines] nor diminished their potency. Of how much modern poetry can you say that?'' Sunday Herald

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Book SynopsisWords of sadness and loss, comfort and consolationSummoning the words to express our feelings of loss for a loved one in the days following a death can feel almost impossible. And often the choice of readings available can seem daunting.Poems and Readings for Funerals is a carefully curated collection of the very wisest words about death by some of the world''s greatest poets, thinkers, playwrights and novelists.Featuring beautifully and thoughtfully written poems, prose extracts and prayers, these readings have been chosen to move and console, sympathize and relieve - to bring everyone attending a funeral or memorial closer together.

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Book SynopsisThis selection of Poe''s critical writings, short fiction and poetry demonstrates an intense interest in aesthetic issues and the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. The Fall of the House of Usher describes the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In The Tell Tale Heart, a murderer''s insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as The Pit and the Pendulum and The Cask of Amontillado explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate.

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Book SynopsisFor fans of fairy tales and the literary supernatural: a unique collection of Russian short stories from the last 200 years   In these folk tales, young women go on long and perilous quests, wicked stepmothers turn children into geese, and tsars ask dangerous riddles, with help or hindrance from magical dolls, cannibal witches, talking skulls, stolen wives, and brothers disguised as wise birds. Some of the stories here were collected by folklorists during the last two centuries, while the others are reworkings of oral tales by four of the greatest writers in Russian literature: Nadezhda Teffi, Pavel Bazhov, Andrey Platonov, and Alexander Pushkin, author of Eugene Onegin, the classic Russian novel in verse. Among the many classic stories included here are the tales of Baba Yaga, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Father Frost, and the Frog Princess. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the EnglisTrade ReviewThis is a unique, beautifully edited book: an essential addition to the library of any Russophile * Spectator *Evoking the realm 'across thrice nine lands', [this book offers] us a richly imagined perspective on our own world * The Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisBeginning in the late 1940's, American literature discovered a four-letter word, and the word was beat. This book collects the significant writings of the fellow members of the Beat Generation. In poetry, fiction, essays, and memoirs, it captures the triumphant rudeness, energy, and exhilaration of a movement that swept through American letters.Trade Review"A deft and definitive collection. It catches the flavor of playful, serious defiance of the whole generation." —Gary SnyderTable of ContentsThe Portable Beat ReaderIntroduction"Variations On A Generation"Part I"The Best Minds Of A Generation"East Coast BeatsEditor's Note1. Jack KerouacOn the Road (excerpt)The Subterraneans (excerpt)Mexico City Blues (excerpt)211th Chorus239th Chorus240th Chorus241st Chorus242nd Chorus"Essentials of Spontaneous Prose""Belief & Technique for Modern Prose2. Allen Ginsberg"Howl""Footnote to Howl""A Supermarket in California""Sunflower Sutra""America""Kaddish""Song""On Burroughs' Work"3. William BurroughsJunky (excerpt)The Yage Letters (excerpt)Naked Lunch (excerpt)"Deposition: Testimony Concerning a Sickness"4. Herbert Huncke"Elsie John""Joey Martinez"5. John Clellon HolmesGo (excerpt)6. Carl SolomonMishaps, Perhaps (excerpt)7. Gregory Corso"I Am 25""The Mad Yak""Vision of Rotterdam""Bomb""Marriage""Variations on a Generation" (excerpt)Part 2"Heart Beat"Enter Neal CassadyEditor's Note1. Neal CassadyLetters to Jack Kerouac, 1947-19502. Jack KerouacLetter to Neal Cassady, early 19513. Neal CassadyThe First Third (excerpt)4. Jack KerouacVisions of Cody (excerpt)Part 3"Constantly Risking Absurdity"Some San Francisco Renaissance PoetsEditor's Note1. Kenneth Rexroth"Thou Shalt Not Kill""Poems from the Japanese""Rexroth: Shaker and Maker" by WilliamEverson2. Lawrence Ferlinghetti"Dog""Constantly Risking Absurdity""In Goya's greatest scenes . . .""One Thousand Fearful Words for Fidel Castro""Horn on Howl3. Michael McClure"Peyote Poem"Scratching the Beat Surface (excerpt)Includes Snyder's poem, "A Berry Feast," Whalen's poem, "Plus Ca Change..."McClure's poems, "Point Lobos: Animism" and "For the Death of 100 Whales"4. Gary Snyder"Mid-August at Sourdough Montain Lookout"Milton by Firelight""Riprap""Praise for Sick Women""Night Highway Ninety-nine""Toji""Higashi Hongwanji""Notes on the Religious Tendencies"5. Philip Whalen"Sourdough Mountain Lookout""A Dim View of Berkeley in the Spring""Prose Take-Out, Portland 13:ix:58"6. Philip Lamantia"High""The night is a space of white marble""I have given fair warning""There is this distance between me and what I see""Fud at Foster's"7. Lew Welch"Chicago Poem""The Basic Con""Taxi Suite—After Anacreon""Not Yet 40, My Beard Is Already White""The Image, as in a Hexagram""I Saw Myself"8. Bob Kaufman"Round About Midnight""Jazz Chick""On""O-Jazz-O"Part 4"A Few Blue Words To The Wise"Other Fellow TravelersEditor's Note1. Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)"In Memory of Radio""Way Out West""The Screamers"Letter About Kerouac's Prose2. Ray Bremser"Funny Lotus Blues..."3. Diane DiPrima"Three Laments""Song for Baby-O, Unborn""The Practice of Magical Evocation""Poetics""Brass Furnace Going Out"4. Bob Dylan"Blowin' in the Wind""The Times They Are A-Cahngin'""A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"Tarantula (excerpt)5. Brenda Frazer (Bonni Bremser)"Poem to Lee Forest"6. Tuli Kupferberg"Greenwich Village of My Dreams"1001 Ways to Beat the Draft (excerpt)7. Jack Micheline"Poet of the Streets"8. Frank O'Hara"Les Luths""Post the Lake Poets Ballad""Personal Poem""The Day Lady Died"9. Peter Orlovsky"Lepers Cry"10. Ed Sanders"Poem from Jail" (excerpt)"The Cutting Prow"11. Anne Waldman"Our Past"12. John Wieners"A poem for record players""A poem for tea heads""A poem for museum goers""A poem for the insane""Feminine Soliloquy""Children of the Working Class"Part 5"Tales of Beatnik Glory"Memoirs and Posthumous TributesEditor's Note1. Charles BukowskiNotes of a Dirty Old Man (excerpt)2. William Burroughs, Jr.Kentucky Ham (excerpt)3. Carolyn CassadyOff the Road (excerpt)4. Diane DiPrimaDinners and Nightmares (excerpt)5. Brenda Frazer (Bonnie Bremser)Troia: Mexican Memoirs (excerpt)6. Brion Gysin"The Beat Hotel, Paris" (excerpt)7. Joyce JohnsonMinor Characters (excerpt)8. Hettie JonesHow I Became Hettie Jones (excerpt)9. Jan KerouacBaby Driver (excerpt)10. Ken Kesey"The Day After Superman Died" (excerpt)11. Michael McClureThe Mad Cub (excerpt)12. Ed SandersTales of Beatnik Glory (excerpt)Part 6"The Unspeakable Visions Of The Individual"Later WorkEditor's Note1. William BurroughsNova Express (excerpt)2. Gregory Corso"Columbia U Poesy Reading—1975""The Whole Mess . . . Almost"3. Diane Di Prima"April Fool Birthday Poem for Grandpa"Loba: Parts I-VIII (excerpt)4. Lawrence Ferlinghetti"The Canticle of Jack Kerouac""Uses of Poetry""Short Story on a Painting of Gustav Klimt"5. Allen Ginsberg"First Party at Ken Kesey's""Wichita Vortex Sutra""Anti-Vietnam War Peace Mobilization""Mugging""Ode to Failure""White Shroud""Fourth Floor, Dawn, Up All Night"Writing Letters6. Michael McClure"Song (I Work with the Shape)""It's Nation Time""Watching the Stolen Rose""The Death of Kin Chuen Louie"7. Ed Saunders"Hymn to Archilochus""What Would Tom Paine Do?" (Song)8. Gary Snyder"Smokey the Bear Sutra""I Went into the Maverick Bar""Mother Earth: Her Whales""The Bath""Axe Handles""Pine Tree Tops"Appendix—Three Commentators1. Norman Mailer"The White Negro"2. Alan Watts"Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen"3. John Clellon Holmes"The Game of the Name" (excerpt)Books For Further ReadingIndex Of Authors And TitlesAcknowledgments

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A groundbreaking example of comics representation in literature.”—Publishers Weekly“Penguin provides introductory essays; superb analyses by the series editor, Ben Saunders; and extensive bibliographies.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post“Stories become classics when generations of readers sort through them, talk about them, imitate them, and recommend them. In this case, baby boomers read them when they débuted, Gen X-ers grew up with their sequels, and millennials encountered them through Marvel movies. Each generation of fans—initially fanboys, increasingly fangirls, and these days nonbinary fans, too—found new ways not just to read the comics but to use them. That’s how canons form. Amateurs and professionals, over decades, come to something like consensus about which books matter and why—or else they love to argue about it, and we get to follow the arguments. Canons rise and fall, gain works and lose others, when one generation of people with the power to publish, teach, and edit diverges from the one before ... A top-flight comic by Kirby—or his successor on “Captain America,” Jim Steranko—barely needed words. You could follow the story just by watching the characters act and react. Thankfully, Penguin volumes do justice to these images. They reproduce sixties comics in bright, flat, colorful inks on thick white paper—unlike the dot-based process used on old newsprint, but perhaps truer to their bold, thrill-chasing spirit.”—Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker“As before, all three of these volumes re-present Professor Ben Saunders’ learned general series intro which does an excellent job of succinctly explaining the rise of Marvel Comics and the Marvel Method.”—Forces of Geek

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A groundbreaking example of comics representation in literature.”—Publishers Weekly“Penguin provides introductory essays; superb analyses by the series editor, Ben Saunders; and extensive bibliographies.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post“Stories become classics when generations of readers sort through them, talk about them, imitate them, and recommend them. In this case, baby boomers read them when they débuted, Gen X-ers grew up with their sequels, and millennials encountered them through Marvel movies. Each generation of fans—initially fanboys, increasingly fangirls, and these days nonbinary fans, too—found new ways not just to read the comics but to use them. That’s how canons form. Amateurs and professionals, over decades, come to something like consensus about which books matter and why—or else they love to argue about it, and we get to follow the arguments. Canons rise and fall, gain works and lose others, when one generation of people with the power to publish, teach, and edit diverges from the one before ... A top-flight comic by Kirby—or his successor on “Captain America,” Jim Steranko—barely needed words. You could follow the story just by watching the characters act and react. Thankfully, Penguin volumes do justice to these images. They reproduce sixties comics in bright, flat, colorful inks on thick white paper—unlike the dot-based process used on old newsprint, but perhaps truer to their bold, thrill-chasing spirit.”—Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker“As before, all three of these volumes re-present Professor Ben Saunders’ learned general series intro which does an excellent job of succinctly explaining the rise of Marvel Comics and the Marvel Method.”—Forces of Geek

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Book SynopsisThis volume offers 22 of the central pageants which make up York''s famous Corpus Christi cycle. The York cycle is the oldest and best-known of the English mystery cycles, and its depth and scope are reflected in the selection printed here. The shape of the cycle was governed by subject matter of enduring spiritual significance, both to its contemporary audience and in later literary and artistic tradition, and the selection reflects these concerns. Included are plays on the Creation, the Fall of Man, the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ, and the Last Judgement. The Passion sequence has been expanded by six of the eight plays generally attributed to the great poetic dramatist known as the York Realist: the authentic text of these plays is not otherwise available in paperback. As well as providing detailed annotation, this edition offers an introduction which examines the history of the cycle and discusses the immensely popular modern productions in York and elsewhere. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewThis edition benefits from detailed notes and an introduction which examines the history of the mystery plays and discusses the immensely popular modern productions in York and elsewhere. * Richard Foster, Yorkshire Evening Press *Here in OUP's World Classic series we are presented with 22 of them written in modern style, making them more readable. The selection gives a good idea of what these plays were all about. * Bill Spence, Yorkshire Gazette & Herald *Table of ContentsThe Barkers - The Fall of Angels ; The Coopers - The Fall of Man ; The Shipwrights - The Building of the Ark ; The Fishers and Mariners - The Flood ; The Hosiers - Moses and Pharaoh ; The Pewterers and Founders - Joseph's Trouble about Mary ; The Tilethatchers - The Nativity ; The Masons; The Goldsmiths - Herod and The Magi ; The Marshals - The Flight into Egypt ; The Girdlers and Nailers - The Slaughter of the Innocents ; The Smiths - The Temptation ; The Skinners - The Entry into Jerusalem ; The Cutlers - The Conspiricy ; The Bowers and Fletchers - Christ before Annas and Caiaphas ; The Tapiters and Couchers - Christ before Pilate ; The Litsters - Christ before Herod ; The Tilemakers - Christ before Pilate (2) ; The Pinners - The Crucifixion ; The Butchers - The Death of Christ ; The Saddlers - The Harrowing of Hell ; The Carpenters - The Resurrection ; The Mercers - The Last Judgement

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Book Synopsis''Excellent, entertaining and ingenious ... from Oscar Wilde to Arthur Conan Doyle, this fine anthology celebrates one of the richest moments in Britain''s literary history'' Sunday TimesThe quarter century between 1890 and the outbreak of the First World War saw an extraordinary boom in the popularity and quality of short stories in Britain, fuelled by a large, eager new magazine readership. The great writers of the age produced some of their finest work, and literary genres - the ghost story, science fiction - took shape. This richly varied, endlessly entertaining anthology brings together authors from Katherine Mansfield to Rudyard Kipling, James Joyce to Saki, H. G. Wells to Rebecca West. It celebrates a teeming, innovative world of literary achievement.Edited with an introduction by Philip HensherTrade ReviewExcellent, entertaining and ingenious ... Outstandingly displays the imaginative zest and subtlety of what Hensher rightly hails as "one of the richest and most accomplished moments in literary history". -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisThe creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus explores the comics form...and how it formed him!**In a new flexibound format with an updated afterword**This book opens with Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, creating vignettes of the people, events, and comics that shaped Art Spiegelman. It traces the artist''s evolution from a MAD-comics obsessed boy in Rego Park, Queens, to a neurotic adult examining the effect of his parents'' memories of Auschwitz on his own son.The second part presents a facsimile of Breakdowns, the long-sought after collection of the artist''s comics of the 1970s, the book that triggers these memories. Breakdowns established the mode of formally sophisticated comics that transformed the medium, and includes the prototype of Maus, cubist experiments, an essay on humor, and the definitive genre-twisting pulp story Ace Hole-Midget Detective.Pulling all this together is an illustratedTrade ReviewClose students and fans of Spiegelman's work view Breakdowns as a sort of Rosetta Stone that offers a master key to his intricate and varied visual idiom, revealing his enormous and often overlooked range as an artist * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Booker Prize-winning modern classic of contemporary war fiction from the Women''s Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the GirlsRecommended by Richard Osman ''One of the few real masterpieces of late twentieth-century British fiction'' Jonathan Coe ''Original, delicate and unforgettable'' Independent''A new vision of what the First World War did to human beings, male and female, soldiers and civilians. Constantly surprising and formally superb'' A. S. Byatt, Daily Telegraph1917, Scotland. At Craiglockhart War Hospital in Scotland, army psychiatrist William Rivers treats shell-shocked soldiers before sending them back to the front. In his care are poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, and Billy Prior, who is only able to communicate by means of pencil and paper. . .Regeneration, The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road follow the stories of these men until thTrade ReviewHarrowing, original, delicate and unforgettable * Independent *A masterpiece . . . fiction of the highest order * Sunday Express *A new vision of what the First World War did to human beings, male and female, soldiers and civilians. Constantly surprising and formally superb -- A. S. Byatt * Daily Telegraph *One of the few real masterpieces of late twentieth-century British fiction -- Jonathan CoeOne of the most distinguished works of contemporary fiction -- Barry Unsworth

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Book SynopsisThree decades after her pioneering anthology, Daughters of Africa, Margaret Busby curates an extraordinary collection of contemporary writing by 200 women writers of African descent, including Zadie Smith, Bernardine Evaristo and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A glorious portrayal of the richness and range of African women''s voices, this major international book brings together their achievements across a wealth of genres. From Antigua to Zimbabwe and Angola to the USA, overlooked artists of the past join key figures, popular contemporaries and emerging writers in paying tribute to the heritage that unites them, the strong links that endure from generation to generation, and their common obstacles around issues of race, gender and class.Bold and insightful, brilliant in its intimacy and universality, this landmark anthology honours the talents of African daughters and the inspiring legacy that connects them-and all of us.The New Daughters of AfricaDiane AbbottYassmin Abdel-MagiedLeila AboulelaAyobami AdebayoSade AdeniranChimamanda Ngozi AdichieZoe AdjonyohPatience AgbabiAgnès AgbotonCandace AllenLisa Allen-AgostiniEllah Wakatama AllfreyAndaiyeHarriet AnenaJoan Anim-AddoMonica Arac de NyekoYemisi AribisalaYolanda Arroyo PizarroAmma AsanteMichelle AsantewaNana Asma''uSefi AttaAyesha Harruna AttahGabeba BaderoonYaba BadoeYvonne Bailey-SmithDoreen BainganaEllen Banda-AakuAngela BarryMildred K. BaryaJackee Budesta BatandaSimi BedfordLinda BellosJay BernardMarion BethelAma BineyJacqueline BishopMalorie BlackmanTanella BoniMalika BookerNana Ekua Brew-HammondBeverley BryanAkosua BusiaCandice Carty-WilliamsRutendo ChabikwaBarbara Chase-RiboudPanashe ChigumadziGabrielle CivilMaxine Beneba ClarkeAngela CobbinahCarolyn CooperJuanita CoxMeta Davis CumberbatchPatricia CumperStella DadzieYrsa Daley-WardNana-Ama DanquahEdwidge DanticatNadia DavidsTjawangwa DemaYvonne Denis RosarioAnni DomingoNah DoveEdwige-Renée DroCamille T. DungyAnaïs DuplanReni Eddo-LodgeAida EdemariamEsi EdugyanSummer EdwardYvvette EdwardsZena EdwardsSafia ElhilloZetta ElliottNawal El SaadawiDiana EvansBernardine EvaristoEve L. EwingDeise Faria NunesDiana FerrusNikky FinneyAminatta FornaIfeona FulaniVangile GantshoRoxane GayDanielle Legros GeorgesPatricia Glinton-MeicholasHawa Jande GolakaiWangui wa GoroBonnie GreerJane Ulysses GrellRachel Eliza GriffithsCarmen Harriszakia henderson-brownJoanne C. HillhouseAfua HirschZita HolbourneNalo HopkinsonRashidah IsmailiNaomi JacksonSandra Jackson-OpokuDelia Jarrett-MacauleyMargo JeffersonBarbara JenkinsCatherine JohnsonEthel Irene KabwatoElizabeth KeckleyFatimah KelleherDonika KellyAdrienne KennedySusan Nalugwa KiguliRosamond S. KingDonu KogbaraLauri KubuitsileGoretti KyomuhendoBeatrice LamwakaPatrice LawrenceAndrea LevyLesley LokkoKaren LordKaren Ládípò ManyikaRos MartinLebogang MashileIsabella MatambanadzoNomaVenda MathianeImbolo MbueMaaza MengisteArthenia Bates MillicanBridget MinamoreNadifa MohamedNatalia MolebatsiWame MolefheAja MonetSisonke MsimangBlessing MusaririGlaydah NamukasaMarie NDiayeJuliana Makuchi Nfah-AbbenyiWanjiku wa NgugiKetty NivyabandiElizabeth NunezSelina NwuluTrifonia Melibea ObonoNana Oforiatta AyimIrenosen OkojieNnedi OkoraforJuliane Okot BitekChinelo OkparantaYewande OmotosoMakena OnjerikaChibundu OnuzoTess OnwuemeYvonne Adhiambo OwuorLouisa Adjoa ParkerDjaimilia Pereira de AlmeidaAlake PilgrimWinsome PinnockHannah Azieb PoolOlúmìdé Pópó?láClaudia RankineH. Cordelia RaySarah Parker RemondFlorida Ruffin RidleyZandria F. RobinsonZuleica Romay GuerraAndrea Rosario-GborieLeone RossJosephine St. Pierre RuffinMinna SalamiMarina Salandy-BrownSapphireNoo Saro-WiwaTaiye SelasiNamwali SerpellKadija SesayClaire ShepherdVerene A. ShepherdWarsan ShireLola ShoneyinDorothea SmarttZadie SmithAdeola SolankeCelia SorhaindoAttillah SpringerAndrea StuartSuAndiValerie Joan TagwiraJennifer TeegeJean évenetNatasha TretheweyNovuyo Rosa TshumaHilda J. TwongyeirweChika UnigweYvonne VeraPhillippa Yaa de VilliersKit de WaalElizabeth Walcott-HackshawEffie Waller SmithRebecca WalkerAyeta Anne WangusaZukiswa WannerJesmyn WardVerna Allette WilkinsCharlotte WilliamsSue Woodford-HollickMakhosazana XabaTiphanie YaniqueTrade ReviewBusby opens the door wide and allows her readers to witness the conversations that have occurred between black women writers, conversations about culture, love, inheritance and more, without mediation from the powerful institutions of publishing and academia. The effect is marvellous. It is also necessary -- Imani Perry * Financial Times *An incredible introduction to black women's writing from around the world -- Bernardine EvaristoThis remarkable book constitutes a powerful affirmation of literary achievement, demonstrating that contemporary black women writers are part of a vital and extensive tradition * Times Literary Supplement *New Daughters of Africa is a beautiful, essential anthology. It is both long-awaited and urgently needed; it recognises the individual voices and interwoven histories of every facet of womanhood -- Preti TanejaNew Daughters of Africa is indispensable because African voices have been silenced or diminished throughout history, and women's voices even more so * The Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisApproaching its 200th birthday in the rudest of health, the Spectator is known for the quality of its writing and the deep eccentricity of some of its writers. Given the freedom to say what they want, they take that freedom and more, and the result is original, provocative, often very funny, sometimes plain wrong. From Jeffrey Bernard''s reports from the Soho frontline and Auberon Waugh fulminating about hamburger gases in the early 1990s, we encounter in turn the wild stream of consciousness of Deborah Ross''s restaurant reviews, the pinpoint etiquette advice of Mary Killen, Rod Liddle''s frothing but elegantly sculpted outrage and the magazine''s secret weapon, low life adventurer Jeremy Clarke. This bumper selection, which also includes eminent diarists, mad letter-writers and Boris Johnson, amounts to a masterclass in comic writing, lovingly compiled and edited by Marcus Berkmann, who still can''t believe he wrote a monthly pop column for the magazine for twenty-eTrade ReviewA treasure trove to mine for one's own conversational repertoire -- Mary KillenThis gloriously entertaining volume draws together the wittiest writing from the Spectator magazine from 1990 to 2014 * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisA collection of poignant essays about the transformative power of knitting by twenty-seven extraordinary writers.Trade Review"Charming collection…" -- The Bookseller"Otherwise normal-seeming writers come out as knitters in the infinitely crafty Ann Hood's anthology Knitting Yarns. How hot is that?" -- Vanity Fair"A heart-warming and, in places, heartbreaking collection of autobiographical pieces by some of today's finest authors...You needn't be a knitting maven to enjoy these beautifully crafted stories." -- The Lady"I am not a knitter, but that didn't make these stories any less moving or interesting." -- The Independent

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Book SynopsisThis volume contains speeches suitable for performance at auditions, individual acting classes, competitions, festivals and examination The pieces are varied in content, tone and style and are equipped with an introduction which sets the context for each piece.

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Book SynopsisTreasury of 5 shorter works by the author of Gulliver''s Travels offers ample evidence of the great satirist''s inspired lampoonery. Title piece plus The Battle of the Books, A Meditation Upon a Broom-Stick, A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit and The Abolishing of Christianity in England.

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Book SynopsisAll Over Ireland, edited by Deirdre Madden (Molly Fox''s Birthday, Time Present and Time Past), continues the tradition of featuring the work of both new and established writers, including Colm Tóibín, Mary Morrissy and Eoin McNamee. These diverse and accomplished stories, by turns dazzling, thoughtful and startling, bring new ideas and energy to the form and richly enhance the tradition of Irish fiction.

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Book SynopsisThis collection of fourteen stories corrals plots centred around cats, dogs and insects alongside more exotic incidents involving gorillas, parakeets and serpents – complete with a customary shoal of red herrings.

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Book SynopsisAn enchanting collection of folk tales retold by professional storytellers

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Book SynopsisTimeless in their wisdom, thought-provoking in their message, surprising in their truth and memorable in their originality, the right words can give direction, inspiration, and sometimes a tangible boost onto the right path. For example, Steve Jobs once read Stay hungry Stay foolish on the back cover of The Whole Earth Catalog, and those four words came to guide his life. Created by Kathryn and Ross Petras, connoisseurs of quotes, whose books and calendars have over 56 million copies in print, Dance First. Think Later. is a collection of the greatest life wisdom from an unexpected group of speakers, doers, and thinkers. There are 618 rules to live byfunny, sly, declarative, thoughtful, offhanded, clever, and always profound:Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Roald DahlIf everything is under control, you are going too slow. Mario AndrettiNever make a credit decision on a beach.Victor J. BoschiniDance first. Think later. It's the natural order.Samuel Beckett The only time to eat diet food is while waiting for the steak to cook. Julia Child What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight; build it anyway. Mother Teresa And: Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.Oscar Wilde Trade Review"Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places." (Roald Dahl) "If everything is under control, you are going too slow." (Mario Andretti) "Never make a credit decision on a beach." (Victor J. Boschini) "Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order." (Samuel Beckett)"

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Book SynopsisJordan Peele is an Oscar and Emmy Awardwinning writer, producer, and director. His debut feature, Get Out, was released in 2017 to widespread acclaim, earning four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay for Peele. In 2019, Peele wrote, produced, and directed his second feature, Us, which instantly became a smash hit with audiences and critics alike, posting the largest box-office opening for an original horror movie ever. In the summer of 2022, Peele released his third feature, the sci-fi horror epic Nope, which also opened to number one at the box office. Also in 2022, Peele and Monkeypaw released the Henry Selick directed stop-motion film Wendell & Wild for Netflix, which Peele co-wrote, produced, and provided a voice. Prior to Get Out, Peele was the co-creator of Comedy Central's Key & Peele. Across five seasons, the show's unique take on sketch comedy became a viral sensation online. In 2012, Peele formed his filTrade ReviewNot only likely to be the best anthology of the year, but one for the ages. * The Guardian *These tales are all both gruesomely imaginative and firmly rooted in the realities of anti-Black racism and brutality—and there isn’t a weak one in the bunch. This is essential reading for any horror fan. -- Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)Something special in time for Halloween. * Evening Standard *What could be more cathartic than this thoroughly chilling collection of tales featuring spirits, monsters, sinister technology, foreboding hallucinations and more? Running the gamut from grounded-in-reality shocks to fully supernatural thrills there's something for horror fans of all varieties. * Sight & Sound *Real life (traffic stops) and real history (Freedom Riders, lynch mobs) meet speculative fiction and the supernatural in this bone-chilling collection. * Time *An important work in the history of black horror fiction. * Far Out Magazine *In Out There Screaming, [Peele] curates a roster of established names and breakthrough talent to showcase the abundant variety of macabre Black storytelling. It’s clearly conceived as a landmark collection * Esquire, The Best Horror Books of 2023 Will Scare You Sh*tless *

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Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERCurated and edited by Adam Kay (author of multi-million bestseller This is Going to Hurt), Dear NHS features 100 household names telling their personal stories of the health service. Contributors include: Paul McCartney, Emilia Clarke, Peter Kay, Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Sir Trevor McDonald, Graham Norton, Sir Michael Palin, Naomie Harris, Ricky Gervais, Sir David Jason, Dame Emma Thompson, Joanna Lumley, Miranda Hart, Dermot O'Leary, Jamie Oliver, Ed Sheeran, David Tennant, Dame Julie Walters, Emma Watson, Malala Yousafzai and many, many more. All profits from this book will go to NHS Charities Together to fund vital research and projects, and The Lullaby Trust which supports parents bereaved of babies and young children.Other writers include Chris O'Dowd, Johnny Vegas, Jack Whitehall, Chris Evans, Lorraine Kelly, Lee Mack, Jonathan Ross, Konnie Huq, Greg James, FraTrade ReviewThis book is the literary equivalent of the Clap For Carers, a love letter to NHS workers written by grateful celebrities. * DAILY MIRROR *This unfailingly readable volume celebrates the NHS and the incredible care it gives us. * SUNDAY MIRROR *Will have you in tears of both laughter and sadness. * BEST *Vivid tales here of broken bones, gaping wounds, burst appendixes, engorged boils, enlarged testicles and chronic diarrhoea... * GUARDIAN *

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Book SynopsisNeedle in a Timestack is Robert Silverberg at his very best - intelligent, inventive, and visionary. This collection showcases his talent for thought-provoking science fiction, ranging in themes from time travel to space travel, the media to mortality.In the titular story - now a feature film by Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley - a jealous ex-husband warps time in a vindictive attempt to destroy his former wife''s new marriage. Thirty-one identical sons have a shocking surprise for their mother in There Was an Old Woman. The prophetic The Pain Peddlers depicts reality TV in a way that allows viewers to revel in a voyeuristic, adrenaline-fueled rush. Also included are Silverberg''s Hugo Award-winning Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another, and the Locus Award winner The Secret Sharer, a Joseph Conrad-inspired tale of a ship captain drawn into a strange alliance with a stowaway.

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Book SynopsisDrawing together the work of 12 leading playwrights, this National Theatre Connections anthology celebrates highlights from 21 years of the Connections festival with a retrospective selection of plays. Featuring work by some of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th and 21st centuries, and together in one volume, the anthology offers young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study.Each play has been specifically commissioned by the National Theatre''s literary department over the years, with the young performer in mind. In 2016, these plays were then performed by approximately 500 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional partner regional theatres at which the works were showcased. The anthology contains all 12 of the play scripts; notes from the writer and director of each play, addressing the themes and ideas behind the play; and production notes and exTable of ContentsBlackout by Davey Anderson Eclipse by Simon Armitage What Are They Like? by Lucinda Coxon Bassett by James Graham I'm Spilling My Heart Out Here by Stacey Gregg Gargantua by Carl Grose Children of Killers by Katori Hall Take Away by Jackie Kay It Snows by Bryony Lavery, Steven Hoggett & Scott Graham The Musicians by Patrick Marber Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill Bedbug by Snoo Wilson, Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt

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Book SynopsisThe earliest surviving instance of sustained first-person travel narrative in ArabicMission to the Volga is a pioneering text of peerless historical and literary value. In its pages, we move north on a diplomatic mission from Baghdad to the upper reaches of the Volga River in what is now central Russia. In this colorful documentary from the tenth century, the enigmatic Ibn Fadlan relates his experiences as part of an embassy sent by Caliph al-Muqtadir to deliver political and religious instruction to the recently-converted King of the Bulghars. During eleven months of grueling travel, Ibn Fadlan records the marvels he witnesses on his journey, including an aurora borealis and the white nights of the North. Crucially, he offers a description of the Viking Rus, including their customs, clothing, body painting, and a striking account of a ship funeral. Together, these anecdotes illuminate a vibrant world of diversity during the heyday of the Abbasid Empire, naTrade ReviewMontgomery's edition...is itself the product of many years' research, travel, and discussion and should become definitive. * Speculum *A compelling account which is, among other things, the earliest first-hand description of travel from the Muslim world. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisSeeing is believing in the Dark Circus, where truth and illusion collide, and where the heart of a holy conspiracy pounds?At an art auction in Madrid, Elías Segado, a religious art appraiser and detective, is getting ready to secure a painting for the bishop of Cartagena. But in a brilliant sleight of hand, the iconic work is stolen, drawing Elías into the confidence of its corrupt and seductive thief.Her name is L. Raised by her uncle in a threadbare circus, she lived by the twisted rules of the carnies she grew up with. Exploited for public awe, and ritually abused for private pleasure, L came to endure all that was encouraged by the circus?s perverted sense of righteousness. Debauchery is the only thing she trusts. But behind the curtains of the Dark Circus is a greater secret to be avenged. And she needs Elías Segado to help expose it.As their worlds of sacrilege and devotion collide, so do temptation and indulgence?and a faith in both good and evil, where morality is just another illusion. But to survive the mystery, Elías must also dare to accept something more shattering: everything he and L have in common.

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Book SynopsisFrom the acclaimed author of the Cazalet Chronicles, Elizabeth Jane Howard, Green Shades: An Anthology of Plants, Gardens and Gardeners brings together a diverse and fascinating selection of garden writing that spans the centuries, the seasons and the species.Elizabeth Jane Howard once said that she would certainly have been a gardener had she not become a writer first. This collection is a testament to that passion.The contents are delightfully eclectic and wide-ranging, practical as well as lyrical – she pays homage to the great English landscape artists of the eighteenth century and to the great women gardeners such as Vita Sackville-West. There’s advice from Pliny on how walnuts can be used to dye hair and Joseph Addison encourages blackbirds to gorge on his cherry trees. Linking the numerous extracts is Elizabeth Jane Howard’s perceptive and highly personal commentary, which skilfully leads the reader from one subject to the next.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.Trade ReviewA lovely gift for a garden lover * Good Housekeeping *[Elizabeth Jane Howard's] talent seemed so effervescent, so unstoppable, that there was no predicting where it might take her. -- Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall

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Book SynopsisAll hardbacks in the first print run will be signed by the author.The story of genre fiction - horror, romantic fiction, science fiction, crime writing, and more - is also the story of Irish fiction. Irish writers have given the world Lemuel Gulliver, Dracula, and the world of Narnia. They have produced pioneering tales of detection, terrifying ghost stories and ground-breaking women's popular fiction. Now, for the first time, John Connolly's one volume presents the history of Irish genre writing and uses it to explore how we think about fiction itself.Deeply researched, and passionately argued, SHADOW VOICES takes the lives of more than sixty writers - by turns tragic, amusing, and adventurous, but always extraordinary - and sets them alongside the stories they have written, to create a new way of looking at genre and literature, both Irish and beyond. Here are vampires and monsters, murderers and cannibals. Here are female criminal masterminds and dogged detectives, star-crossed lovers and vengeful spouses. Here are the SHADOW VOICES.Trade ReviewAs a work of scholarship, Shadow Voices . . . assembled by crime-writing superstar John Connolly - is impeccable. As an act of artistic curation, it's comprehensive to the point of monumental. As a reading experience, pure and simple, it's terrific fun . . . [the biographies] are a fascinating history of Irish life and culture; as accompaniment to the stories, they're icing on the cake . . . full of fabulous stories . . . a treasure-trove, a literary odyssey - and a magnificent achievement by Connolly. He has done the state, and Irish writing, one hell of a service -- Darragh McManus * Irish Independent *Connolly deserves praise for considering all of Ireland's literature . . . He also has a great nose for women writers that more readers deserve to encounter . . . His core advocacy of genre fiction is stellar * Irish Times *A history in stories that makes Connolly's case for genre fiction in cast iron * RTE Guide *

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Book SynopsisHe’s finally letting go of the memory of his murdered girlfriend. Then he sees her texts. Alice was a hopeful young graduate student when, on a beautiful August night, her body was found in the woods. She’ll always remember the night she was murdered. And she still suffers the grief and rage that destroyed her family. But what Alice regrets most is the last fight she had with her boyfriend, Enrico—and the fact that she never had the chance to tell him something that would have changed everything. A decade later, Enrico has returned to the provincial town where Alice lived and died, to sell his family home. All he wants is to forget. But then, among the things he left behind, he finds an old cell phone…and unread texts sent from Alice’s phone. Now, her terrible secrets are about to swallow up everyone she knew, loved, and trusted. For Enrico, discovering them is his only chance to put his lost love—and the demons of his past—to rest.

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Book SynopsisYou should ever bear in mind that it is to your kind parents that you are indebted for your food, and for the privilege of staying home from school when you let on that you are sick. Therefore you ought to respect their little prejudices, and humor their little whims, and put up with their little foibles until they get to crowding you too much. When Mark Twain wrote the sparky short story "Advice to Little Girls" in 1865, he probably didn't mean for it to be shown to them. Or maybe he did, since we all know Twain was a rascal. Now, author and illustrator Vladimir Radunsky has created a picture book based on Twain's text that adds all the right outlandish touches. Born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, Samuel L. Clemens wrote under the pen name Mark Twain. He wrote two major classics of American literature, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur, and inventor. Whether or not it was Mark Twain's actual intention for little girls to read this humorous short story, it's clear that he did not talk down to children, but rather expected them to stretch themselves in order to grasp sophisticated, adult meaning. Vladimir Radunsky has illustrated many books to great acclaim. Recently, Radunsky has been moving farther and farther away from the traditional picture book and into other more innovative forms. The most recent example is a work published by HarperCollins of hip-hop poetry for children, where the graffiti art has migrated from the walls into a printed book. Radunsky has published more than thirty books for children, mostly in the United States. Many of them were translated and published in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan.Trade ReviewBrain Pickings' Top 13 Children's, Illustrated, and Picture Books of 2013 "Crisply satirical and a little subversive, Twain's short, acerbic sendup slyly exhorts little girls to take a calculating approach to manipulating friends, brothers and elders. [...] An elegant curiosity for admirers of Twain, Radunsky or both." -- Kirkus Review "Radunsky's ink flourishes and adorable, lumpy figures steal the stage." -- Publishers Weekly "Twain did not squat down to be heard and understood by children, but asked them to stand on their tiptoes--to absorb the kind of language and humor suitable for adults." -- New York Review of Books "While frolicsome in tone and full of wink, the story -- like the most timeless of children's books -- is colored with subtle hues of grown-up philosophy on the human condition, exploring all the deft ways in which we creatively rationalize our wrongdoing and reconcile the good and evil we each embody." -- Brain Pickings "it is sharp, a pointed set of admonitions urging girls to think for themselves, which is a message as essential today as it was a century-and-a-half ago." -- The Los Angeles Times "a sharp, charming story suitable for smart girls (and grown ups!) everywhere, and Radunsky's illustrations bring it to scribbled, red-cheeked life. It may just be the best picture book we've ever read." -- Flavorwire

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Book Synopsis During the Golden Age of comics, publishers offered titles supporting the war effort — presenting fighting men and their feminine counterparts — babes in arms! Comic books during this period featured US service-women fighting all of the axis bad guys and gave several of the most noteworthy women artists of the era opportunities to create action-packed, adventure-filled, four-color stories. Now for the first time renowned pop-culture historian Trina Robbins assembles comic book stories by artists Barbara Hall, Jill Elgin, Lilly Renee, and Fran Hopper together with insightful commentary and loads of documentary extras to create the definitive book chronicling the work of these important Golden Age artists. This magnificent art book offers page-after-page of good girl action!

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