Autobiography: writers Books

Book SynopsisNawal El Saadawi was born in a village outside Cairo, Egypt, in 1931. A trained medical doctor, she wrote landmark works on the oppression of Arab women including Woman at Point Zero (1973), God Dies by the Nile (1976) and The Hidden Face of Eve (1977). After being imprisoned by Anwar Sadat's government for criticising the regime, she founded the Arab Women's Solidarity Association in 1982, before being forced into exile in later life due to death threats by religious extremists. She returned to Egypt in 1996, running for president in 2005 until government persecution forced her to withdraw. Saadawi died in Egypt in 2021.

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Book SynopsisThe complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath—essential reading for anyone who has been moved and fascinated by the poet's life and work.A genuine literary event.... Plath's journals contain marvels of discovery. —The New York Times Book Review Sylvia Plath's journals were originally published in 1982 in a heavily abridged version authorized by Plath's husband, Ted Hughes. This new edition is an exact and complete transcription of the diaries Plath kept during the last twelve years of her life. Sixty percent of the book is material that has never before been made public, more fully revealing the intensity of the poet's personal and literary struggles, and providing fresh insight into both her frequent desperation and the bravery with which she faced down her demons.

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING SAOIRSE RONANWITH A NEW AFTERWORD FROM THE AUTHORTHE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE AND THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZEAfter spending her twenties in London, Amy Liptrot returns to her home in Orkney where she comes to terms with the addiction that has consumed the past decade of her life. On the remote island, Amy spends her mornings swimming in the cold sea, her days observing wildlife, and her nights searching the sky for any signs of the Northern Lights. She soon discovers how the natural world can restore life, heal old wounds and renew hope.

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Book SynopsisChronicles Twain's inner and outer life through a series of daily dictations that go wherever his fancy leads. This book deals with his life and work.Trade Review"Covering just the last couple of years in Twain's long life, this is the concluding volume of the masterful University of California edition of his autobiography: unexpurgated, cross-referenced, and richly annotated... The swan song reinforces things well established by its predecessors." - STARRED REVIEW Kirkus "Sharp and witty here as he is in his fiction... Closes the book on the remarkable life of one of America's most outstanding literary talents." Publishers Weekly "The abundant morsels here give us a glimpse into the big human heart of our great American author." Buffalo News "His deep love for the language, for expression, for telling what is on his mind and in his heart, keeps him talking to us, right up to the very end of the autobiography, when the death of his daughter Jean leads him to close it forever." Hartford Courant "Rambling; charming; vitriolic; confessional ("I am fond of pomp and display"); shot through with wit, lyricism and regret... Captivating and invaluable." The Washington Post "Rambling, cantankerous, funny-and sad." The Christian Science Monitor "Chock-full of his trademark outbursts and his sly sense of humor." The Boston Globe "[Twain] lives on through his works, including this landmark publication." San Francisco Chronicle "There was a private Sam Clemens and a public Mark Twain, and both of them can be found in Autobiography of Mark Twain." National Post "The verdict: admirable, opulent, incredibly thorough, surely a treasure trove beyond price for Twain scholars, endlessly pleasant to paw through for those of us who find Twain hilarious and moving and blunt and inimitable." Christian Century

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Book SynopsisFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library.Destined to become a modern classic. —Entertainment WeeklyWHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE?Don’t miss Matt Haig’s new novel The Life Impossible, coming September 2024At the age of 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again.A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth.I wrote this book because the oldest clichés remain the truest. Time heals. The bottom of the valley never provides the clearest view. The tunnel does have light at the end of it, even if we haven't been able to see

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Book SynopsisA book length collaboration between two underground legends, Charles Bukowski and Robert Crumb. Bukowski's last journals candidly and humorously reveal the events in the writer's life as death draws inexorably nearer, thereby illuminating our own lives and natures, and to give new meaning to what was once only familiar. Crumb has illustrated the text with 12 full-page drawings and a portrait of Bukowski.

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Book SynopsisJohn McGahern''s astounding memoir of his childhood:''A glowing masterpiece.'' Hilary Mantel''The one Irish writer everyone should read.'' Colm TóibínAs wise and compelling a book as any of his elegiac and graceful novels.'' David Mitchell''I have admired, even loved, McGahern''s work since his first novel ... Memoir strips the skin off his fiction as he faces a desperate early life with great force and tenderness.'' Melvyn BraggThis is the story of John McGahern''s childhood, his mother''s death, his father''s anger and violence, and how, through his discovery of books, his dream of becoming a writer began. At the heart of Memoir is a son''s unembarrassed tribute to his mother. His memory of walks with her through the narrow lanes to the country schools where she taught and his happiness as she named for him the wild flowers on the bank remained conscious and unconscious presences for the rest of his life. A classic family story, told with exceptional restraint and tenderness, Memoir cannot fail to move all those who read it.''Magnificent ... Stand[s] supreme in the Irish canon.'' Irish Times''Profoundly beautiful.'' Daily Telegraph''Extraordinary, spellbinding, spiritual.'' Irish Independent''''In a tremendously distinguished career, he has never written more movingly, or with a sharper eye.'' Andrew Motion, GuardianTrade Review"'Ireland's greatest living novelist.' Observer"

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Book SynopsisThe passionate but doomed epistolary love affair between a Czech translator and one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, the author of The Metamorphosis and The Trial. Extraordinary…touching, horrifying, brilliant, sickly, [and] heartbreaking…. The most significant key we have for a reading of the author's novels and short stories. —The New York TimesIn no other work does Franz Kafka reveal himself as in Letters to Milena, which begins as a business correspondence but soon develops into an epistolary love affair. Kafka's Czech translator, Milena Jesenská, was a gifted and charismatic twenty-three-year-old who was uniquely able to recognize Kafka's complex genius and his even more complex character. For thirty-six-year-old Kafka, she was a living fire, such as I have never seen. It was to Milena that he revealed his most intimate self and, eventually, entrusted his diaries for safekeeping.

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Book SynopsisAn illustrated edition of Gertrude Stein''s most well-known work, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, bursting with the bright, sophisticated, and fanciful images of artist Maira KalmanConsidered one of the richest and most irreverent biographies in history, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas was written by Gertrude Stein in the style and voice of her life partner, Alice B. Toklas. Published in 1933 and narrated by Alice, this autobiography begins with her initial move to France in 1907, the day after which she meets Gertrude, sparking a relationship that lasts for nearly four decades. Recounting the vibrant and literary life the two make for themselves among the Parisian avant-garde, Alice opens the doors to the prominent salons they held in their home at rue de Fleurus, hosting fellow expatriate American writers such as Ernest Hemingway, T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound as well as artists Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Man Ray, and speaks of the twilight of the Paris belle epoque. In this edition, the wildly talented Maira Kalman brings this glittering Parisian world to life, and celebrates Stein and Toklas in vivid color. Her whimsical and inimitable illustrations complement the wit and humor of Stein’s narrative, and elevate the exciting intrigues of these famous women and their friends. Inviting readers to experience this book in a completely new way, the illustrated edition of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas will prompt a contemporary reading of this cherished and singular classic.

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Book SynopsisAgatha Christie's widower's recollections of his archaeological triumphs and life with Agatha.In these informal, often witty and always interesting memoirs, Sir Max Mallowan tells the story of his life, from his boyhood at Lancing where he was a contemporary of Evelyn Waugh, to the days when he was elected a Fellow of All Souls and succeeded another eminent archaeologist, his friend Sir Mortimer Wheeler, as a Trustee of the British Museum.The author was initiated into field archaeology at Ur by Leonard Woolley in 1925, and it was Woolley who first introduced him to a visiting novelist, Agatha Christie. After further excavations, Sir Max began working independently in Assyria, to which he returned each year until the outbreak of war. In 1939 he joined the Royal Air Force and was involved in several eccentric exploits before volunteering to go the Middle East where he filled various outlandish posts with skill and aplomb.Throughout the pre-war years, the author was accompanied on all his

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Book SynopsisMaryse Conde is one of the best-known and most beloved French Caribbean literary voices. The author of more than twenty novels, she was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2015 and has long been recognized as a giant of black feminist literature. While Conde has previously published an autobiography of her childhood, What Is Africa to Me? tells for the first time the story of her early adult years in Africa years formative not only for her, but also for African colonies appealing for their own independence.What Is Africa to Me? traces the late 1950s to 1968, chronicling Conde's life in Sekou Toure's Guinea to her time in Kwame N'Krumah's Ghana, where she rubbed shoulders with Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Julius Nyerere, and Maya Angelou. Accusations of subversive activity resulted in Conde's deportation from Ghana. Settling down in Senegal, Conde ended her African years with close friends in Dakar including, filmmakers, activists, and Haitian exiles, before putting down more permanent roots in Paris. Conde's story is more than one of political upheaval, however; it is also the story of a mother raising four children as she battles steep obstacles, of a Guadeloupean seeking her identity in Africa, and of a young woman searching for her freedom and vocation as a writer. What Is Africa to Me? is a searing portrait of a literary genius it should not be missed.

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Book SynopsisThe must-read memoir about the dazzling days and dark nights of a Chelsea childhood . . .''Brilliant and moving'' The Times''Dazzling'' Evening Standard''Beautifully written'' Marian Keyes''Unflinchingly honest Sunday Times''Superbly written'' Guardian''A triumph'' i_______Her father was a hairdresser to the rich and famous - he was also their drug dealer.Her mother was an alcoholic fashion model. Her days and nights were non-stop parties - she spent them taking care of her little sister and putting out naked flames.And when her sister dies aged nine, Gavanndra is left alone with her grief. Growing up in the dazzling days and dark nights of her parents'' social lives, surviving means fitting into their dysfunctional world, while stopping the family from falling apart . . ._________''A redemptive tale of an emotionalTrade ReviewUnflinchingly honestly. A beautiful book . . . everyone should read it * The Sunday Times *There are scenes that will reduce you to tears, but there's also humour, forgiveness and uplifting optimism [...] by the end of this dazzling debut you just want to give her a huge cheer for coming through * Evening Standard *Wise and moving . . . this memoir is an acknowledgment that love demands a price * Guardian *By turns painful and joyful, this beautiful book has plenty of poignant lessons to teach us about grief and love * Cosmopolitan *Gavanndra writes beautifully, her words are unsentimental but very lyrical [...] I loved this book and my tears fell into the bath as I read it -- Clover Stroud * author of The Sunday Times Bestselling memoir My Wild and Sleepless Nights *A devastating, heart-breaking and magnificent meditation on the function of memory. It will stay with me forever, so beautifully written * Daisy Buchanan, author of The Sisterhood *A completely unforgettable and unique family memoir. A total cliché but I honestly couldn't put it down * Hadley Freeman *A real tear-jerker * i *'Beautifully-written, calm-but-utterly-compelling life-story of trauma and healing... the author seems lovely and I want to be her pal!' * Marian Keyes *At a time when so many families are losing loved ones, and are denied even the scant comfort funerals provide, there is no more poignant moment for this book to appear -- Emily Hill * The Spectator *This is one of the best books I've read about grief - and the catastrophic consequences of addiction. Exquisitely written. Profoundly moving -- Robert PestonGavanndra Hodge's moving memoir recounts the consequences of an early life framed by beauty, glamour and tragedy * The Observer *A heartbreaking and compelling memoir * Red *Looks at the power of love and loss in shaping one's life. Moving and beautifully written * Grazia *The must-read of the summer * The Times *So brilliantly written . . . ultimately joyful and uplifting * Daily Mirror *Brave and beautifully written * Elle *There are books - and then there are books that you'll never forget reading. A quite extraordinary memoir -- Becky Barrow * News Editor of The Sunday Times *I read it in one sitting without pause. It is an astonishing book. I haven't stopped thinking about it -- Charlotte Edwardes * columnist for Sunday Times Style Magazine *A wonderful and transformative memoir about the impact of loss and the power of love; and one that illustrates how it is never too late to tackle suppressed grief -- Julia Samuel * author of the Sunday Times Bestseller This Too Shall Pass *I read this in one sitting, tears splashing onto its pages. A beautiful book about grief, losing a sibling, trauma, drugs, parenting & memory in the most exquisite way. Please everyone read it -- Emma Gannon * podcaster, author of Olive and founder of The Hyphen Book Club *This book is genuinely extraordinary -- Eleanor WoodLife affirming [...] an enrapturing journey through darkness, destructive behaviour and an urgency for light and happiness now * Magic Radio Book Club, May's Book of the Month *A powerful memoir -- Laura Whitmore * BBC Radio 5 *Timely and highly original * Evening Standard *Brilliant and moving * The Times *The Consequences of Love is undoubtedly one of this year's most hotly-anticipated books, and with good reason * The Sunday Salon podcast with Alice-Azania Jarvis *Brilliantly written and heartbreaking but also joyful and uplifting * Psychologies *Extraordinary . . . profoundly moving * Sunday Mirror *A brave, lyrical, painful tale of bereavement, addiction, and the building of a new life -- Joanna Briscoe * Evening Standard *Superbly written. Beautifully written and utterly heartbreaking. Courageous, inspired, bleakly comic, extreme candour * Guardian *Searing * Daily Mail *Hodge's beautiful memoir is both a devastating, grief-fuelled account of her sister's death and a redemptive tale of an emotional reckoning * i *It's a vivid and oddly entertaining memoir, a hand plunged into the dark hole of grief . . . uncovers surprising treasures - most importantly, strength, resilience and love * Mail on Sunday *Searing. A masterful writer with a gift for storytelling. Her prose is rich with detail, combining a sharp sense of place with escalating drama. A triumph * i *The most moving, most exquisitely written book about addiction, grief, loss and coming to terms with trauma even decades on. One that you will be thinking about, and remember long after finishing * Quintessentially *One of the most beautiful memoirs I've ever read. This story will say with you long after you put the book down * Emma Gannon *I just turned the last page (reluctantly!). A bold, often brutal exploration of memory, grief and love. Full of hope and heart. I can't recommend it enough * Terri White, author of Coming Undone *A brave, brilliant book that is both beautiful and important. Read it then buy it for all your friends * Hello! *Gavanndra's memoir The Consequences of Love is absolutely beautiful. It's compelling, heartbreaking, sweet, honest, fascination. I recommend it HIGHLY. I absolutely LOVED it. * Marian Keyes *This stunning exploration of grief is so well written and profoundly moving * Good Housekeeping *An elegant study of grief and memory * Guardian *Hodge pours heartbreak and love into the pages of a book that never pretends to know the answers, and is all the better for it * Sunday Times *An elegant study of grief and memory * Guardian Weekly *An eye-opening snapshot of the fashion world in '90s London * Vogue UK *

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Book SynopsisAn intimate journey across America, as told by one of its most beloved writers   To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years. With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and  the unexpected kindness of strangers.

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Book Synopsis'I seem to have banged on this year rather more than usual. I make no apology for that, nor am I nervous that it will it make a jot of difference. I shall still be thought to be kindly, cosy and essentially harmless. I am in the pigeon-hole marked 'no threat' and did I stab Judi Dench with a pitchfork I should still be a teddy bear.' Alan Bennett's third collection of prose Keeping On Keeping On follows in the footsteps of the phenomenally successful Writing Home and Untold Stories, each published ten years apart. This latest collection contains Bennett's peerless diaries 2005 to 2015, reflecting on a decade that saw four premieres at the National Theatre (The Habit of Art, People, Hymn and Cocktail Sticks), a West End double-bill transfer, and the films of The History Boys and The Lady in the Van. There's a provocative sermon on private education given before the University at King's College Chapel, Cambridge, and 'Baffled at a Bookcase' offers a passionate defence of the public library. The book includes Denmark Hill, a darkly comic radio play set in suburban south London, as well as Bennett's reflections on a quarter of a century's collaboration with Nicholas Hytner. This is an engaging, humane, sharp, funny and unforgettable record of life according to the inimitable Alan Bennett.Trade ReviewCleverer and funnier than any one person has a right to be ... inexhaustibly fascinating; Bennett has an eager, enquiring mind and a sharp way with words that can break your ideas open. * Sunday Times *Is able to make the world dance with a single word ... On every page there is a phrase to make you smile, poetry disguised as comedy. -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Few diarists could offer such a consistently funny and touching authorial voice as Bennett. Long may he keep on keeping on. -- Ben Lawrence * Daily Telegraph *Wry and eloquent ... screamingly funny... his sentences are always beautiful. -- Miranda Sawyer * Observer *There is no other writer, certainly none from any other era or nation, quite like Alan Bennett, and having this much more of his work is an uncovenanted blessing. -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *It is not only Bennett's claws that are sharp. So are his eyes ... confirms his reputation as one of the sharpest and funniest writers in the English language. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * Spectator *There is not a dull or uninteresting page here ... teddy bear he may be but he has a tiger's teeth. * The Herald *An endlessly rewarding read by a man for all seasons and one who occupies a unique place in our culture and affections. -- Liz Thomson * The Arts Desk *A fascinating exercise in modern history ... a superb collection, written from the unique perspective of an octogenarian at the top of his stylistic game, with a keen eye towards the past we have lost and the future we may yet inhabit. * Daily Express *This latest anthology of diaries and essays is a beautiful, humane and honest collection of reflections. * Rachel Reeves *Every piece here conveys the sense of an idiosyncratic and cussed mind, alive and open to the world -- Joe Moran * Guardian *The literary equivalent of a warm cup of Horlicks spiked lavishly with whisky. * Metro, Books of the Year *Fire lit. Hot, thick toast. Coffee. Reading the inimitable Mr Bennett. Happiness. -- Nigel Slater[A] lavish miscellany ... appreciative, nostalgic and also hugely funny. * Prospect *PRAISE FOR ALAN BENNETT: 'Alan Bennett, with his combination of pitiless observation and gentle understatement, is perhaps the best-loved of English writers alive today * Sunday Telegraph *Intelligent, educated, engaging, humane, self-aware, cantankerous and irresistibly funny -- John Carey * Sunday Times *Not only my book of the year, it is my book of the decade -- Nigel Slater on UNTOLD STORIESAlan Bennett's work, which stands as one of the major achievements across several genres in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, demands the very best of us: not our praise but our attention. -- Ian Samson * TLS *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBrings to life the landscapes and traditions of Lee's home in Gloucestershire, from centuries-old May Day rituals and carol-singing on Christmas Eve, to his battle in old age to save his beloved Slad valley from developers * Guardian *Reminded me what a superlative nature writer Lee was ... I finished it with an ache in my heart and a tear in my eye * Spectator *Simply written, observant and shot through with Lee's characteristic humility ... Against his whitewashed prose are touches of beauty * The Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisBrimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, this title delves into Mark Twain's life, uncovering the many roles he played in his private and public worlds.Trade Review"The great American author, aided by his scholarly editors, continues to spin out a great yarn covering his long life... Twain admirers will find this volume indispensable and wil eagerly await the third volume." STARRED REVIEW Kirkus Reviews "Meticulously edited... A treasure deserving shelf space next to Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer." STARRED REVIEW -- Bryce Christensen Booklist "Twain is incapable of going more than a few paragraphs without making you laugh or think hard... Don't loan this book out: you'll never see it again." Bloomberg Pursuits "Another delightful round of humor and candor, reminiscence and insider sketches of the people and politics of Twain's day." The Sacramento Bee "Contains more of Twain's ranging, astute, and unfailingly candid portrayals of his private and public lives. Excoriations of politicians appear next to affectionate family stories and bemused observations on the absurdities of life, helping to fill out our understanding of America's greatest humorist." The New Yorker, Page-Turner "Set aside all ideas of starting at the beginning and reading through to the end. This is a book to keep on your bedside table, or in the kitchen, or the garage, or anyplace else you might want to pick it up. Follow Clemens' own advice in reading it, as he did in writing it: Start reading at no particular point; wander at your free will all over it; read only about the thing that interests you for the moment; drop it the moment its interest threatens to pale; and turn your eye upon the new and more interesting thing that has intruded itself into your gaze meantime. Believe me, there are plenty of these in this wonderful volume." The Hartford Courant "One sees a mind bubbling and hears a uniquely American voice." Literary Review "Twain traveled extensively and befriended many luminaries, and his colorful experiences give the book the same Dickensian scope as the first volume, and presents a vivid picture of America in the 19th century and Twain's indelible mark on it." Publishers Weekly "This is vintage Twain-timeless, and still germane." BookPage "Twain is frequently sad and cynical in these late-in-life writings (just a few years before his death) but his devastating wit and sharp-eyed commentary are on full display as well." Christian Science Monitor "The publishing sensation of the year." -- Jonah Raskin San Francisco Chronicle "What we've inherited is no ordinary book. You may begin at the beginning and read to its end; you may reach into it like a grab bag and enjoy whatever you pull out. It doesn't matter." Dallas Morning News "Twain ambles through eternal truths and trivia, telling of world events and personal piques. Witticisms appear at random intervals, and the ensuing laughter can be dangerous to the lower extremities if one doesn't have a vicelike grip on this weighty tome." The Christian Science Monitor "In case you had any doubt about it, the new book demonstrates that Twain dictated as well as he wrote." The Washington Post "One of the more marvelous literary projects of our time." The Buffalo News "As much a sensitive and articulate historical work as an autobiography, the book is almost inexhaustible in its content... What seems like a mountain of anecdotal scraps and opinions results in a clear picture of Clemens as Twain." Library Journal "If you surrender yourself to the sound of his voice, the pleasure of Twain's company proves pretty hard to resist. His narrative may be loose, but at least it never loses sight of its subject." The New Yorker, Page-TurnerTable of ContentsList of Dictations Acknowledgments AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN Explanatory Notes Appendixes Samuel L. Clemens: A Brief Chronology Family Biographies Previous Publication Note on the Text Word Division in This Volume References Index Photographs

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From one of our most iconic and influential writers, the award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking: a timeless collection that reveals what would become Joan Didion''s subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt. Didion’s remarkable, five decades-long career as a journalist, essayist, novelist, and screen writer has earned her a prominent place in the American literary canon, and the twelve early pieces collected here underscore her singularity.—O Magazine With a forward by Hilton Als, these pieces from 1968 to 2000, never before gathered together, offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary figure. They showcase Joan Didion''s incisive reporting, her empathetic gaze, and her role as an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time (The New York Ti

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Book SynopsisUS Poet Laureate Joy Harjo offers a vivid, lyrical and inspiring call for love and justice in this contemplation of her trailblazing life.Trade Review"A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Harjo is the first Native Poet Laureate of the United States. Her second memoir (after “Crazy Brave”) blends personal journey with cultural meaning, weaving in stories from her ancestors that shaped her growth as an artist and teacher. The result is as strong and lyric as her poetry." -- 10 Books To Read in September - The Washington Post"Blending poetry and prose, Harjo examines her childhood, her ancestors and her path to becoming the country’s first Native American poet laureate." -- What To Read - The New York Times"In this triumphant memoir, our three-term Poet Laureate lyrically fuses poetry and prose to capture her Creek Nation family... “I walk in and out of several worlds each day,” Harjo once wrote—and in Poet Warrior, she threads them all together masterfully." -- Adrienne Westenfeld, The Best Books of Fall 2021 - Esquire"Alternating between poetry and prose, Harjo meditates on the stories and songs she grew up with, her artistic and ancestral influences and how poetry informs and reflects her connection to her community and home. The result is a memoir that is soulful and celebratory." -- 34 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2021 - TIME Magazine

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Book Synopsis''Like all good diarists Paling''s musings are funny, tender and uncensored'' Sunday Times6 April 2007Writing income for the year so far: minus 300''I feel that this might just be the year in which something happens. Then again it might not. But hope drives all writers on.''It''s unlikely that you''ll know Chris Paling''s face or have heard his name. This is his diary of trying to make a living as a writer, through the typical career trajectory of what is deemed a ''mid-list novelist''. Publishing rule 6: there is no such thing as a ''low-list'' novelist.In renumeration terms, writing is a career that often ends in disappointment and despair, and occasionally disgrace. Paling artfully explores what compels him and so many others to write - the battling joys and agonies of when that compulsion beds itself in one''s psyche, and a day without writing is a day wasted. A fascinating insight Trade ReviewLike all good diarists Paling's musings are funny, tender and uncensored -- Jackie Annesley * Sunday Times *Funny and revealing . . . everyone who is convinced they have a book in them should read [this book] -- Neil Armstrong * Mail on Sunday *A Very Nice Rejection Letter is a completely authentic account of what it's like to be merely reasonably good -- Thomas W Hodgkinson * Literary Review *Splendidly entertaining * The Chap *

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Book SynopsisThe final volume in the renowned Danish poet Tove Ditlevsen's autobiographical Copenhagen Trilogy (A masterpiece The Guardian). Following Childhood and Youth, Dependency is the searing portrait of a woman's journey through love, friendship, ambition, and addiction, from one of Denmark's most celebrated twentieth century writersTove is only twenty, but she''s already famous, a published poet, and the wife of a much older literary editor. Her path in life seems set, yet she has no idea of the struggles aheadlove affairs, wanted and unwanted pregnancies, artistic failure, and destructive addiction. As the years go by, the central tension of Tove''s life comes into painful focus: the terrible lure of dependency, in all its forms, and the possibility of living freely and fearlesslyas an artist on her own terms.The final volume in the Copenhagen Trilogy, and arguably Ditlevsen''s masterpiece, Dependency is a da

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Book SynopsisSon of Mine is a beautiful, multi-layered account of what it means to be a family. Peter Papathanasiou successfully intertwines two life journeys – his own and his mother’s – over the course of nearly a hundred years, to tell the story of an astonishing act of kindness, and an incredible secret kept hidden for two decades. This exceptional memoir sensitively documents the migrant experience, both from the unfamiliar perspective of first-generation migrants and the tension felt by the second-generation trapped between two cultures. At its core, Son of Mine is about the search for identity – for what it means to be who you are when everything is torn down and questioned, and the wisdom we can pass on to the next generation.Son of Mine is a compelling account of unknown heritage, of life gifts and losses, and the reclamations of parenting. It is dramatic, poignant and uplifting. But above all, it is a memoir of shock, discovery and reconciliation, all delivered in exquisite prose.Trade ReviewAged 24, Peter Papathanasiou was summoned to his mother’s bedroom and told he was adopted. This kickstarts a search for identity that echoes across decades and continents as the author moves between his mother’s life in Greece and Australia. Though this is a unique family history, there’s something universal about this affecting memoir, particularly when Papathanasiou becomes a parent himself. The writing is graceful but never portentous, filling this debut with heart and meaning. -- Ben East * Observer *

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Book SynopsisThe Works contains 120 of Pam Ayres' best-known poems, including 'The Battery Hen', 'Please Will You Take Your Children Home Before I Do Them In?', 'Sling Another Chair Leg on the Fire, Mother' and, of course, 'Oh, I Wish I'd Looked After Me Teeth'.This edition includes a general introduction by Pam, as well as individual introductions to these classic poems of the seventies and eighties, many of which are now illustrated with specially commissioned line drawings by Susan Hellard. The Works is certain to delight Pam's fans of all ages.Trade ReviewPam Ayres is a proper poet, whose wistful, funny, and perceptive verse captures both the joy and unfairness of life * Sunday Times *One of the fastest selling tickets at the Fringe, Pam Ayres' appeal seems undiminished * Edinburgh Herald *Pam Ayres is a poet for the people. Her verse portrays a wicked sense of humour, and deals with subjects not normally thought to be worthy of poetry * Melbourne Herald Sun *Pam Ayres, the bestselling poet, writes as rhapsodically about the Wonderbra as Wordsworth did about daffodils * Guardian *There are clear comparisons between Pam and Sir John Betjeman * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisAn ode to childhood and to “woolgathering” as the wellspring for a creative life—now in an expanded paperback editionTrade Review"Smith is well attuned to the otherworldly dimension of dreams and cosmic visions. In this intimate and vaulting collection, she ushers us into the kingdom of childhood…Smith looks to family history for sources of her artistic impulses and portrays herself in adulthood as a roaming mystic, journal in hand, heart and mind open. Exultations of concentrated beauty and mystery ignite Smith’s soulful poems about the making of an artist." -- Booklist"One thing I’ve always admired about Patti Smith is her refusal to be characterized… Such a sensibility — fluid, visionary, risky — marks the eleven pieces in Woolgathering, a collection of impressionistic prose poems that dances at the edge of memoir before opting for something harder to pin down." -- David Ulin - The Los Angeles Times"Half beautiful language and metaphors, half raw emotion, this book (which includes a handful of personal photos) will inspire and influence a new generation of logophiles as they read and reread this absorbing, meditative work." -- Publishers Weekly"Smith pares down her prose to a state of vivid impressionism, so enigmatic that even ordinary acts - preparing mint tea, nodding off while sewing - take on spiritual weight. The passages evoking her childhood reverberate with serene joy." -- The Observer"Capturing moments of her adult life, Smith pares down her prose to a state of vivid impressionism, so enigmatic that even ordinary acts take on spiritual weight." -- The Guardian"A slim, poetic memoir of Smith’s early years....Ethereal spins of innocence and enchantment." -- Kirkus

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Book SynopsisAt the time of his death Eric Hobsbawm was the most famous historian in the world. He not only wrote history was also witness to it, from the Communist uprising in Europe to revolution in Cuba where he was Che Guevara's interpreter. He was instrumental in the birth of New Labour and was also a jazz journalist for The New Statesman. This is the story of his family life. Marlene Hobsbawm grew up in a comfortable middle class Jewish home in Vienna but that life was shattered by the rise of Nazism. Age five she fled the country with her family and settled in the UK. A talented linguist, Marlene worked post-war for the UN in Italy helping to rebuild the country and then onto war torn Congo. Returning to the UK she met Eric Hobsbawm. This is the story of their roller coaster life together, much of it spent under the scrutiny of M15.Trade Review'Suffused in warmth, wit and much love, Marlene Hobsbawm’s memoir is an un-put-down-able account of an inimitably fascinating life, a record of family, friendship, travel, and an unwavering love between two unlikely individuals who spent fifty years together.'LoveReading

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Book SynopsisThe deeper he read, the more he came to realize that he, too, had a superpower: the ability to tell stories and make everything come out the way he wanted it.Trade Review“J. Michael Straczynski is, without question, one of the greatest science fiction minds of our time.” — Max Brooks (World War Z) “Everything I read made me want to stand up and salute. I can’t stress enough how significant and moving (to say nothing of gripping and sometimes hilarious) this book is. It’s a magnificent piece of work that will stay with me for a long, long time.” — Cory Doctorow, author of Radicalized and Walkaway “Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Straczynski embedded a mystery in an autobiography. Has to be a first.” — Dan DiDio, Editor in Chief, DC Comics “Part Hollywood how-to, part Frank McCourt-style reflection on emotional neglect and poverty, “Becoming Superman” is an enveloping look back at a unique career.” — Washington Post “His ability to stay the course, to work hard at all times, and to keep writing were his salvation time and again. This book is a testament to that — and it is an inspiring, touching look at how someone born into darkness can find the light and go on to do great things.” — NPR “I just finished reading Becoming Superman and can, without a mote of hyperbole, state it is one of the most terrifying and inspirational, funny and empathic nonfiction books of our time. I’m too old to be currying favors. Just trust me. Buy it or die!” — Walter Koenig “A fascinating journey through careers in three different professions—comic books, TV, and movies—from an accomplished master of each. Rare to have such detail and such access. A major literary autobiography!” — Bestselling author Greg Bear “Straczynski [...] delivers a frank memoir that’s equally harrowing and triumphant.” — Publishers Weekly “Becoming Superman is a valuable resource for those wishing to look behind the curtain to one of pop culture’s most cherished and esteemed writers [...] It is an incredible story of familial abuse and its aftermath, of perseverance and fortitude, of endurance and determination. Highly recommended.” — Fantasy Book Review “Gripping. An amazing testament to the range of human durability and determination, overcoming our impossibly dark side with something even more unlikely and miraculous -- hope.” — Hugo and Nebula Award Winning Novelist David Brin “A deeply moving testament to the power of storytelling, and a no-bullshit guide to becoming, if not Superman, a better person and writer.” — Tor.com “Straczynski’s memoir more than lives up to the promises of its sub-subtitle…Joe never saves the world à la Superman, but pulls through with a heart, spine, and soul of steel. ..” — AV Club “Straczynski’s life story is simultaneously horrifying and uplifting. He survives a childhood worse than almost anything you could imagine and ends up taking an unlikely path to Hollywood success. It’s funny, sad, infuriating, and inspiring--often all at once.” — Jason Snell, host of The Incomparable podcast “His true life story turns out to be as gripping and inspiring as any of his fiction.” — B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog “I’ve rarely felt such pain while reading a memoir, or felt so satisfied at its conclusion. It’s some kind of miracle that he’s taken this lifelong experience, leavened it with perspective, and created something so universal. Powerful, powerful stuff.” — Andy Ihnatko, Tech Author and Co-Host of The Material Podcast

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Book SynopsisWoodbrook is a rare house that gives its name to a small, rural area in Ireland, not far from the old port of Sligo. He stayed for ten years.This memoir, acknowledged as a masterpiece, grew out of two great loves - for Woodbrook and for Phoebe, his pupil.Trade ReviewA brilliantly original mix of love-story, memoir and history -- Brian MooreIt remains with one long after the story is told, a haunting sadness, a memory and a dream -- Olivia Manning * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisLike all poets, inspired by death, Lynch is, unlike others, also hired to bury the dead or cremate them and to tend to their families in a small Michigan town where he serves as the funeral director. In the conduct of these duties he has kept his eyes open, his ears tuned to the indispensable vernaculars of love and grief. In these twelve essays is the voice of both witness and functionary. Lynch stands between ''the living and the living who have dies'' with the same outrage and amazement, straining for the same glimpse we all get of what mortality means to a vital species. So here is homage to parents who have died and to children who shouldn''t have. Here are golfers tripping over grave-markers, gourmands and hypochondriacs, lovers and suicides. These are essays of rare elegance and grace, full of fierce compassion and rich in humour and humanity - lessons taught to the living by the dead.Trade ReviewThese craggy "life studies," forged during his years in the "dismal trade," are always forceful, authentic and full of a kind of ethical and esthetic clarity. -- Richard Bernstein * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIt was the discovery of the essays celebrating his childhood and youth that altered my perception of him, from a thinker to a writer whose intellectual lucidity was a product of the wealth - the sensual immediacy and clarity - that had been heaped on his senses -- Geoff DyerProbably no European writer of his time left so deep a mark on the imagination -- Conor Cruise O'BrienWhat will strike many readers is the author's extraordinarily evocative language, his astonishing facility to create memorable phrases and take readers to places most have never been but where, because of his artistry, they feel immediately at home. Much eloquent-often lyrical-evidence that the author deserved his Nobel Prize. * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisDown and Out in Paris and London was George Orwell’s first published book. It is at once a very personal account, and a vivid exposé of hard lives weighed down by poverty in France and England between the wars.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by writer Lara Feigel.Towards the end of the 1920s, whilst living in Paris, George Orwell’s few remaining funds are stolen and he quickly falls into a life of severe poverty. Living hand to mouth, he shares squalid lodgings with Russian-born Boris and finds tedious and back-breaking work washing up in the bowels of Paris restaurant kitchens. On his return to England, he lives as a tramp, finding occasional shelter in often dangerous doss houses.Trade ReviewThe thief who took the last of an ailing George Orwell’s money from his Paris room in 1929 did a big favour to political literature. -- Vanessa Thorpe * Observer *Little that Orwell has written, here and elsewhere, has lost the hum of relevancy, from the causes of poverty and its long-term effects – “it annihilates the future” – to its everyday toll of boredom. -- Laurence Mackin * Irish Times *Down and Out is an extraordinary and curious book: beautifully phrased, meticulous, honest and funny. George Orwell’s 1933 memoir, and a study of poverty, is a book both rooted in its era and able to transcend it. * Independent *Orwell’s is a plea for empathy for the laborer, the tramp, and the impoverished . . . [it] is a fascinating anthropological study of poverty, its empirical value tarnished by its richly entertaining prose, and overt imposition of Orwell’s political dispositions upon his observations. * Medium *Books like Down and Out show us that the line between deprivation and success can be a very thin one. The latter is often achieved through learning how to love the former . . . What makes [it] fantastic is his lucid prose. * LA Review of Books *Have a look at the book and catch the strange fascination of the telling. Vivid and lurid and unappetizing, are the pictures he gives of what goes on behind the scenes, human and otherwise. * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisWyl Menmuir's The Draw of the Sea is a book about the fishermen, surfers, swimmers, beachcombers, conservationists, sailors and boatbuilders who make their living on the Cornish Coast.Trade Review‘Light and wonder illuminate the pages of this magical book, a fitting tribute to the majesty and mystery of the sea’ The Observer‘Wyl Menmuir explores the different ways in which people can be drawn to the sea, content to leave it a mystery why they are drawn – and perhaps the mystery is the point.’ The Spectator ‘Wyl Menmuir poetically explores our fascination with and dependence on the sea. He talks to fishermen, beachcombers, surfers and other locals about living their lives by the tides, and explores his own personal emotional connection to the water.’ Wanderlust magazine 'A beautiful exploration of how the ocean shapes and intrigues us' Lovereading. Table of ContentsMap 1. St Randline Gleaner-Beachcombing & wrecking around Cornwall’s coast 2. Island Fisher-Eel fishing & lobster potting in St Martin’s & St Agnes 3. Rock Pool Pilgrim -Spring tide on the north coast 4. Depth Plumber-Freediving off the Lizard Peninsula 5. Caul Child-Making handplanes & bellyboards in Porthtowan 6. Wind Worker-Running away to sea 7. Memory Keeper-Searching for cowrie shells 8. Wave Rider-Surfing Cornwall’s Badlands 9. Ocean Wanderer-Watching a walrus in St Mary’s 10. Dawn Patroller-Swimming in St Ives 11. Oar Raiser-Pilot gig rowing in Mount’s Bay 12. Horizon Scanner-Wildlife watching at St Agnes Head 13. Song line Shaper-Beach art at Porthcurno A Glossary of Sea Words Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisA stunning new book about the role of animals in our lives, by a popular and acclaimed writer From the time she is nine years old, biking to the farmland outside her suburban home, where she discovers a disquieting world of sleeping cows and a “Private Way” full of the wondrous and creepy creatures of the wild—spiders, deer, moles, chipmunks, and foxes—Lauren Slater finds in animals a refuge from her troubled life. As she matures, her attraction to animals strengthens and grows more complex and compelling even as her family is falling to pieces around her. Slater spends a summer at horse camp, where she witnesses the alternating horrific and loving behavior of her instructor toward the animals in her charge and comes to question the bond that so often develops between females and their equines. Slater’s questions follow her to a foster family, her own parents no longer able to care for her. A pet raccoon, rescued from a hole in the wall

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Book SynopsisA poignant, complex and hugely resonant memoir about the shift from being a daughter to a guardian and caregiver, by Giller Prize-winning author.Trade ReviewIt's sublime. Elizabeth Hay is such a masterful writer, I'm joyously in awe. She writes with such grace. There's not a word, image or emotion out of place. I felt as if I was reading the act of healing itself. -- Sarah WinmanA moving, poignant, honest and beautifully written memoir. -- Brian Maye * Irish Times *Compelling . . . Hay's accounts of her parents' last days are luminous and moving. -- Alice Jolly * Times Literary Supplement. *As a novel, this book would have been heartbreaking. But, being a memoir, it is 10 times more powerful. Those of us who have lived through similar experiences with ageing, ailing parents can discern the truth to Hay's book. * Artsfile *Hay has written about it all, with care and candour, in a remarkable memoir * Maclean's *This book is likely to break your heart, and it will definitely make you think about your own family in the context of ageing. * Quill and Quire. *Elizabeth Hay is a marvel. She honours her parents in this portrait of their final years. As steadfast a daughter as she is a writer, Hay writes with sometimes scalding authenticity about aging and the challenges that come with the end of a life, but she is never less than tender. I loved this moving memoir -- Michael Redhill, author of Bellevue SquarePiercingly candid and exquisitely written, Elizabeth Hay's memoir describes the intensity of the love, uncertainty and exasperation triggered by her parents' dying. Yet there is humour here, too, even - especially - after the final goodbyes -- Charlotte Gray, author of The Promise of CanadaIn All Things Consoled, Hay chronicles with breath-taking honesty the ravages of age and decline. She also shows how love, beauty and the sustenance of writing are a kind of balm for this reality of the human experience * C.B.C. Books *Poignant, poetic and sharply observed * Winnipeg Free Press *

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Book SynopsisThe ultimate meaning of the Russian Revolution which took place on March 7, 1917, can be best understood through the pages of the Journal of Leo Tolstoi which is here printed. The spiritual qualities which make up the mind and personality of Tolstoi are the spiritual qualities which make up the new era among men which is being waged so painfully and so uncompromisingly on the soil of Russia. One holds the key to the other, for no land but Russia could have produced a Tolstoi, and in no land but Russia could Tolstoi have been so embraced and so absorbed.Table of ContentsFor more information visit: https://novapublishers.com/shop/the-journal-of-leo-tolstoi-first-volume-1895-1899/

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Book SynopsisJames Rahn has led the Rittenhouse Writers'' Group since he founded it in 1988, making it one of America''s longest-running independent fiction workshops. Hundreds of writers and would-be writers have sought out the group for its remarkable level of instruction and collaboration. Rittenhouse Writers is Rahn''s memoir of the workshop and how his own evolution as both a teacher and a writer -- and as a son, husband, and (somewhat reluctant) father -- has been intertwined with the establishment and growth of the RWG. In addition, Rahn includes ten short stories written by current and former members of the workshop. Rahn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MFA at Columbia. He then began to imagine a future that included more than just writing, one that would also tap his aspiration to offer other writers support and motivation, tough but gentle -- his self-described "Iron Fist in the Velvet Glove" approach. After all, as he says more than once, "Writing is hard. Over the years, James Rahn has witnessed every imaginable writing-group scenario, from awkward flirtations to suicide scares, catty critiques, near fistfights, and of course the satisfaction of watching someone''s writing soar. With insight gained through years of observation and participation, and a discerning eye for amusing detail, he takes us along for the journey. Rahn''s struggle to perfect his role as instructor runs throughout the narrative, as does his effort to balance that role with the friendships he forms in the group, and to keep up with his own writing while still giving the group the attention it needs to flourish. Through his eyes, we catch the spark of the workshop''s spirit and get to meet various spirits who have invigorated Rittenhouse Writers'' Group. Rahn cuts back and forth, reflecting, not only on the workshop, but also on his days as a high school dropout in Atlantic City, dead-end jobs and hopeless moves, the difficulty of his mother''s decline and death, and his own unexpected plunge into parenthood -- when, at age 51, he and his wife took on the responsibility of raising her two young nieces. His memoir serves, in a way, as an introduction to the short stories that follow; and the stories -- as surprising and varied as the writers Rahn describes working with -- stand as a fitting coda to Rahn''s tale and offer another window onto his life''s work.

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