Biography: writers Books

Book SynopsisTwo modern classics in one volume.Trade Review Animal Farm ‘[Orwell’s] wit is both edged and human. Few writers of any period have been able to use the English language so simply and accurately to say what they mean, and at the same time to mean something’ The New Republic (1946) ‘Animal Farm remains our great satire on the darker face of modern history’ Malcolm Bradbury ‘The book for everyone and Everyman, its brightness undimmed after fifty years’ Daily Telegraph ‘The book it’s writer called “a little squib” is the finest prose satire in English after Gulliver’s Travels’ Julian Symons ‘Orwell … has written in a prose so plain and spare, so admirably proportioned to his purpose, that Animal Farm even seems very creditable if we compare it with Voltaire and Swift’ The New Yorker ‘A prophet who thought the unthinkable and spoke the unspeakable, even when it offended conventional thought’ Daily Express ‘Matchlessly sharp and fresh … The clearest and most compelling English prose style this century’ Sunday Times Nineteen Eighty-Four ‘His final masterpiece … enthralling and indispensable for understanding modern history’ New York Review of Books ‘A profound, terrifying and wholly fascinating book … Orwell’s theory of power is developed brilliantly’ The New Yorker ‘Brilliantly constructed and told’ Guardian ‘There is not a smile or a jest that does not add bitterness to Orwell’s utterly depressing vision of what the world may be in 35 years’ time’ TIME

Read more less

Book Synopsis'In the first decade of the twentieth century, it was not a good time to be born black, or woman, in America.' So begins this stunning portrait of Vivian Baxter Johnson: the first black woman officer in the Merchant Marines, purveyor of a gambling business and rooming house, and mother to Maya Angelou, beloved and bestselling author I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS.'A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman' BARACK OBAMAAnyone who's read the classic, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, knows Maya Angelou was raised by her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. In Mom & Me & Mom, Angelou details what brought her mother to send her away and unearths the well of emotions Angelou experienced long afterward as a result. While Angelou's six autobiographies tell of her out in the world, influencing and learning from statesmen and cultural icons, Mom & Me & Mom shares the intimate, emotional story about her own family.'She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds' OPRAH WINFREY 'She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate' TONI MORRISONTrade ReviewExtraordinary . . . a jaw-dropper of a memoir -- Viv Groskop * Red *A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal womanThe poems and stories she wrote . . . were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and graceShe moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds -- Oprah WinfreyShe was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate -- Toni Morrison

Read more less

Book SynopsisWriters Revealed tells the stories of the best-loved writers in English literature, investigating their enduring appeal from the sixteenth century to today through the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and the British Library. Intimate handwritten manuscripts, letters and notebooks as well as rare first editions of books from the British Library are paired with the National Portrait Gallery's outstanding collection of author portraits. From William Shakespeare to Zadie Smith, Writers Revealed features over 70 poets, novelists and academics. Each short profile which provides insight into the writers' inspirations, struggles, and working practices is beautifully illustrated with a portrait and manuscript. Readers will enjoy in-depth encounters with some of the world's most famous writers, including James Joyce, Bernardine Evaristo, Virginia Woolf, Bram Stoker, Jane Austen, Benjamin Zephaniah, and Angela Carter, and discover just what it is that makes these individuals so endlessly compelling.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSitting down to write a book about his hero D.H. Lawrence, Geoff Dyer finds himself compelled to write about anything else. He is in fact compelled to do more or less anything else instead of write. In Sicily he is too preoccupied by his hatred of seafood to follow the great writer's footsteps; in Mexico he cannot get beyond a drug-induced erotic fantasy on a nudist beach . . . And yet, incredibly, this attempt to write a 'sober academic study' reveals the hold Lawrence and his work still exert on us today. Out of Sheer Rage is a complete one-off, a richly comic study of the combination of bad temper, procrastination and the uncanny power of obliquity.Trade ReviewAn intriguing, magnetic, genre-rattling book * * The Times * *Marvellous . . . a glorious truant from study . . . gives a better picture of (Lawrence) than any biography I know. -- James Wood * * Guardian * *The kind of book that gives literary criticism a bad name. Hilarious! -- John BergerA masterpiece * * Mail on Sunday * *If there was a prize for the year's funniest book then it would win hands down * * Independent on Sunday * *Quite possibly the best living writer in Britain * * Daily Telegraph * *A national treasure -- Zadie SmithOne of my favourite of all contemporary writers. I love his sense of the absurd, his pessimism mixed with robust good cheer, his beautifully crafted sentences, his jokes and his intelligence. -- Alain de BottonGeoff Dyer is a true original - one of those rare voices in contemporary literature that never ceases to surprise, disturb and delight. Risky, breathtakingly candid, intellectual, cool, outrageous, laconic and sometimes shocking, Geoff Dyer is a must-read for our confused and perplexing times. -- William Boyd[Out of Sheer Rage] gets the full Canongate Canons treatment from its new Edinburgh publishers this month; happy, happy news if ever there was any, O.O.S.R is vintage Dyer, and well worthy of this upgrade to 'modern classic' status. * * Dazed and Confused * *Reading this book is the very opposite of a waste of time. It is an education and a delight * * Guardian * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne is not born a woman, but becomes one, Simone de BeauvoirA symbol of liberated womanhood, Simone de Beauvoir's unconventional relationships inspired and scandalised her generation. A philosopher, writer, and feminist icon, she won prestigious literary prizes and transformed the way we think about gender with The Second Sex. But despite her successes, she wondered if she had sold herself short.Her liaison with Jean-Paul Sartre has been billed as one of the most legendary love affairs of the twentieth century. But for Beauvoir it came at a cost: for decades she was dismissed as an unoriginal thinker who applied' Sartre's ideas. In recent years new material has come to light revealing the ingenuity of Beauvoir's own philosophy and the importance of other lovers in her life. This ground-breaking biography draws on never-before-published diaries and letters to tell the fascinating story of how Simone de Beauvoir became herself.Trade ReviewA book to be read slowly and savoured. There’s too much detail to gulp it down. But it is worth the time it takes to read a fascinating portrait of a woman who inspired women around the world and who changed the way many people think. * The Sunday Times *[Kirkpatrick] gives more space to De Beauvoir’s contrary relationship with feminism, and the discussion here is helpfully rich ... The letters to Lanzmann do constitute a major new resource ... Where Kirkpatrick’s biography is strongest is in clarifying and showing the strength of De Beauvoir’s ethical commitments, and how these were transformed into political commitments after the war. * The Guardian *4 stars ... Illuminating. * The Daily Telegraph *Kirkpatrick's biography is an exercise in meticulous research. Using newly published diaries – only recently made available to researchers – it refuses simple characterisations and reveals de Beauvoir in all her brilliance and complexity ... Becoming Beauvoir is a beautiful tribute to a remarkable woman. * Times Higher Education *Fascinating and deeply researched. * Daily Mail *Kirkpatrick offers a far more detailed and analytical account of de Beauvoir's philosophy than any previous biography ... Kirkpatrick's essential achievement here is to have related Simone de Beauvoir's logic to her life ... This is the best Beauvoir biography yet. * Standpoint Magazine *In her excellent new biography, Kate Kirkpatrick [..] shows us why we've much more to learn from Beauvoir. * New Statesman *In Kirkpatrick’s biography, Beauvoir is restored to her full body of work, her full complexity, her full bravery – so much more than one misquoted line. * Literary Review *An admirable biography probing beneath the surface of misogynistic predecessors and exposing the complexities and contradictions of this extraordinary woman. * Irish Examiner *While she advocates for de Beauvoir, contesting various criticisms, she allows complexity...Meticulously and engagingly, Kirkpatrick catches myriad "instants" of the flux behind the icon. -- Felicity Plunkett * The Australian *Kirkpatrick has trawled fastidiously through her commentaries, diaries and, significantly, the interviews she gave towards the end of her life. The result is a rich rediscovery of this inspirational feminist, philosopher and existentialist. It will spark a whole new love affair since such politically-aware feminists remain thin on the ground – and more needed than ever. -- Samela Harris * SA Weekend Magazine *[An] accessible and enjoyable resource for a wide audience … Becoming Beauvoir gives sensitive treatment to issues that have troubled feminists: Beauvoir’s polyamory; the damage caused by her early liaisons with younger women; and her ambivalent attitude toward the philosophical content of her own oeuvre. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * CHOICE *A comprehensive and revealing approach to the life of the French philosopher and writer * Philosophy (Bloomsbury Translation) *This powerful, important book offers a necessary and radical, new, evidence-based reading of Simone de Beauvoir’s life and work. It unpicks and undermines the extraordinary torrent of belittling and sexist criticism that has been directed at Beauvoir, both in her lifetime and since, and recovers her from Jean-Paul Sartre’s shadow to bring her to stand in her own light. This haunting, scholarly, and compelling biography lingers long in the reader’s mind. * Suzannah Lipscomb FRHS, Professor of History, University of Roehampton, UK *Do we need another biography on Simone de Beauvoir? Definitely! Here we finally have a biography that makes Beauvoir’s philosophical ideas the focal point – not her love life. Based on new material, and written with insight, respect and sympathy, Kate Kirkpatrick re-examines Beauvoir’s life and demonstrates how it was guided by her own existentialist ideals as well as twisted by her circumstances. A timely and fascinating book! * Tove Pettersen, Professor of Philosophy, University of Oslo, Norway. President of the International Simone de Beauvoir Society *Beautifully written and meticulously researched, Kirkpatrick draws on new material to find contradictions in previous accounts of Simone de Beauvoir’s biography, including those from Beauvoir herself. Becoming Beauvoir is essential reading for anyone interested not just in Beauvoir’s life, but the philosophy within it. * Fiona Vera-Gray, Assistant Professor in Sociology, Durham University, UK *Table of ContentsAbbreviations of Beauvoir’s Works Introduction: Simone de Beauvoir—Who’s She? 1. Growing like a girl 2. The dutiful daughter 3. Lover of God or lover of men? 4. The love before the legend 5. The Valkyrie and the Playboy 6. Rooms of her own 7. The trio that was a quartet 8. War within, war without 9. Forgotten philosophy 10. Queen of existentialism 11. American dilemmas 12. The scandalous Second Sex 13. Putting a new face on love 14. Feeling gypped 15. Old age revealed 16. The dying of the light 17. Afterwords: What will become of Simone de Beauvoir? Select Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisJames Herriot grew up in Glasgow and qualified as a veterinary surgeon at Glasgow Veterinary College. Shortly afterwards he took up a position as an assistant in a North Yorkshire practice where he remained, with the exception of his wartime service in the RAF, until his death in 1995. He wrote many books about Yorkshire country life, including some for children, but he is best known for his memoirs, beginning with If Only They Could Talk. The books were televised in the enormously popular series All Creatures Great and Small.Trade ReviewBulls with sunstroke, pigs on the run and a cake-eating Peke with a betting habit . . . I grew up reading James Herriot's book and I'm delighted that thirty years on they are still every bit as charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny as they were then. -- Kate HumbleThe attraction of Herriot's ever popular memoirs of a country vet . . . is their alternating highs and lows, humour and pathos, and gripping anecdotes about delivering lambs, grumpy farmers, hypochondriac pet-owners, stroppy cows and blunt Yorkshire characters. And, of course, there's a powerful nostalgia element in these stories about our green and pleasant land in the day before the ravages of ribbon development. * Daily Mail *On original release in the 1970s, James Herriot's insights into the life of a working vet were so popular and enchanting to readers that the area of the Yorkshire Dales in which he practised became known as 'James Herriot country'. * Yorkshire Ridings Magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisCritically acclaimed, award-winning biography of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and the brilliant group of writers to come out of Oxford during the Second World War.C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and their friends were a regular feature of the Oxford scenery in the years during and after the Second World War. They drank beer on Tuesdays at the Bird and Baby', and on Thursday nights they met in Lewis' Magdalen College rooms to read aloud from the books they were writing; jokingly they called themselves The Inklings'.C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien first introduced The Screwtape Letters and The Lord of the Rings to an audience in this company and Charles Williams, poet and writer of supernatural thrillers, was another prominent member of the group.Humphrey Carpenter, who wrote the acclaimed biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, draws upon unpublished letters and diaries, to which he was given special access, in this engrossing story.Trade Review‘A constantly enjoyable volume’ John Carey, Sunday Times ‘A triumph of skill and tact… not one dull or slack sentence’ Kingsley Amis, New Statesman ‘It must be technically very difficult to write a biography of more than one person at a time: it is still more difficult to capture the atmosphere of a group… Mr Carpenter has managed both things admirably’ Mary Warnock, Sunday Telegraph

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe official book on Ian Fleming and James Bond by the bestselling author of Agent ZigzagTrade Review'A marvellously entertaining and informative book ... deserves to fly off the shelves every bit as quickly as Devil May Care' Spectator 'Thrilling' Sunday Times 'Everything that makes Bond interesting with relation to the real world, in fact, is explored here. Ben Macintyre's skill, in this entertaining mix of history, espionage, biography, and post-war sociology, is to make you see clearly where Ian Fleming's world ended and the fantasy of James Bond began' Tom Fleming, Literary Review 'Fleming, a journalist like Macintyre, would have approved of Macintyre's fast, witty and informative style, and this is the perfect starting place for anyone wanting to find out more about Bond and his creator' Mail on Sunday

Read more less

Book SynopsisIs it ever possible to know 'the truth' about Sylvia Plath and her marriage to Ted Hughes, which ended with her suicide? In The Silent Woman, renowned writer Janet Malcolm examines the biographies of Sylvia Plath, with particular focus on Anne Stevenson's Bitter Fame, to discover how Plath became an enigma in literary history. The Silent Woman is a brilliant, elegantly reasoned inquiry into the nature of biography, dispelling our innocence as readers, as well as shedding a light onto why Plath's legend continues to exert such a hold on our imaginations.Trade ReviewOne of the deepest, loveliest, and most problematic things Janet Malcolm has written. It is so subtle, so patiently analytical, and so true that it is difficult to envisage anyone writing again about Plath and Hughes * Guardian *An astonishing writer with a grasp of nuance that can be electric * The Times *Intellectually explosive, morally challenging and enormous fun * Financial Times *Compulsively readable, the best thing Malcolm has ever done * LRB *Superbly written, flowing like a piece of music from theme to theme, recapitulating here, changing key there, always disguising the complexity of its underlying construction * Independent *The best-written and most stirring polemic of the year. Completely brilliant * The Times *The Silent Woman contains some of the best thinking I know on both the practical and the philosophical problems of biography -- Bernard Crick * New Statesman *Of the oceans of words written about Sylvia Plath, these are among the best... a master storyteller and a psychoanalyst rolled into one. Brilliant * Independent *The Silent Woman pioneered a new genre of biography in its exploration of Hughes and Sylvia Plath...The study ends with an exquisite twist that gives this book the urgency of fiction...insightful * Telegraph *The maestro of gripping nonfiction investigation * Sunday Times *Brilliant -- Megan Nolan * New Statesman *A bleakly entertaining j'accuse of biography as a genre * TLS *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA fascinating insight into the life of one of our best-loved authors through the biographies of objects that crossed her path in life and afterward.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom bestselling author Bill Bryson comes this compelling short biography of William Shakespeare, our greatest dramatist and poet.Examining centuries of myths, half-truths and downright lies, Bill Bryson makes sense of the man behind the masterpieces. As he leads us through the crowded streets of Elizabethan England, he brings to life the places and characters that inspired Shakespeare's work. Along the way he delights in the inventiveness of Shakespeare's language, which has given us so many of the indispensable words and phrases we use today, and celebrates the Bard's legacy to our literature, culture and history.Drawing together information from a vast array of sources, this is a masterful account of the life and works of William Shakespeare, one of the most famous and most enigmatic people ever to have lived not to mention a classic piece of Bill Bryson.Trade Review‘A delight…A gem of a book.’ Mail on Sunday ‘Witty and infectiously enthusiastic.’ Spectator 'A brilliantly funny and gently insightful travel guide to 16th century England. Bryson is great at picking out of the morass of Elizabethan fact the small details that illuminate and amuse…he also uncovers from the world that surrounded the theatre some fascinating examples of Elizabethan eccentricity…As an abbreviated tour around the world of Shakespeare, this could hardly be bettered.' Sunday Times ‘Bryson uses an inimitably light touch and squeezes a vast subject down to manageable proportions…he is a warm and funny guide through the whole complicated morass of Shakespearean scholarship.’ Financial Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisJames Herriot grew up in Glasgow and qualified as a veterinary surgeon at Glasgow Veterinary College. Shortly afterwards, he took up a position as an assistant in a North Yorkshire practice where he remained, with the exception of his wartime service in the RAF, until his death in 1995. He wrote many books about Yorkshire country life, including some for children, but he is best known for his memoirs, beginning with If Only They Could Talk. The books were televised in the enormously popular series All Creatures Great and Small.Trade ReviewBulls with sunstroke, pigs on the run and a cake-eating Peke with a betting habit . . . I grew up reading James Herriot's book and I'm delighted that thirty years on they are still every bit as charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny as they were then. -- Kate HumbleIt’s a pleasure to be in James Herriot’s company. * Observer *After an evening among his tales, anyone with as much as a dog or a budgerigar will feel he should move to Darrowby at once. * Yorkshire Post *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSee inside the gardens where literary giants from Tolstoy to Agatha Christie created some of their finest works in this visually stunning and fascinating book. Discover the flower gardens, vegetable plots, landscapes and writing hideaways of 30 great authors – from Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Orchard House’ where she wrote Little Women and Agatha Christie at Greenway, to Virginia Woolf at Monk’s House and the Massachusetts home of Edith Wharton.Fully illustrated with specially commissioned photography plus archive images, and spanning centuries and continents, this book visits the homes and gardens that inspired novelists, poets and playwrights. It shows how outdoor spaces were important to writers in many different ways and offers insight into the lives and creative processes of beloved authors. Writers featured include: Jane

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe fascinating and quirky biography of a disheveled poet, skillfully interwoven with his original works.Zen monk Santoka Taneda (1882-1940) is one of Japan's most beloved modern poets, famous for his "free-verse" haiku, the dominant style today. This book tells the fascinating story of his life, liberally sprinkled with more than 300 of his poems and extracts from his essays and journals—compiled by his best friend and biographer Sumita Oyama and elegantly translated by William Scott Wilson.Santoka was a literary prodigy, but a notoriously disorganized human being. By his own admission, he was incapable of doing anything other than wandering the countryside and writing verses. Although Santoka married and had a son, he devoted his life to poetry, studying Zen, drinking sake and wandering the length and breadth of the Japanese islands on foot, as a mendicant monk.The poet's life alternated between long periods of solitary retreat and restless travel, influenced by his tragic childhood. When not on the road, he lived in simple grass huts supported by friends and family. Santoka was a lively conversationalist who was often found so drunk he could only make it home with the help of a friendly neighbor or passerby. But above all, throughout his life, he wrote constantly; poetry and essays flowed from him effortlessly.Santoka's eccentric style of haiku is highly regarded in Japan today for being truly modern and free from formal constraints. His journals and essays are equally thought-provoking—the musings of an unkempt but supremely self-conscious mind on everything from writing to cooking rice and his failure to live a more orderly life.This translation and its introduction are by best-selling author William Scott Wilson, whose other works include The Book of Five Rings and The Lone Samurai. Wilson provides sensitive renditions of the haiku illustrating Santoka's life as well as an extensive introduction to the influences on Santoka's work, from contemporary haiku poets and his Buddhist teachers.Alongside the book, readers have access to a two-hour online audio recording of 331 of Santoka Taneda's haiku, read in Japanese by a native speaker, and in English.Trade Review"I feel guilty, finding so much joy in another man's sadness…" --Red Pine, author of Finding Them Gone, translator of The Heart Sutra"William Scott Wilson has unearthed yet another neglected Japanese treasure. Both biography and poems are elegant, inspirational, and brimming with life. Wilson has outdone himself." --Barry Lancet, award-winning author of Japantown and The Spy Across the Table"In this extraordinary book, William Scott Wilson brings his vast experience as a renowned translator of Japanese literature and religious thought…a must read for all those interested in how traditional Japanese culture endures in modern times." --Steven Heine, author of Readings of Dogen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

Read more less

Book Synopsis** Now a major TV series on Channel 5 ** Since they were first published, James Herriot’s memoirs have sold millions of copies and entranced generations of animal lovers. Charming, funny and touching, All Creatures Great and Small is a heart-warming story of determination, love and companionship from one of Britain’s best-loved authors.Fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, to the young James Herriot 1930s Yorkshire seems to offer an idyllic pocket of rural life in a rapidly changing world. But from his erratic new colleagues, brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, to incomprehensible farmers, herds of semi-feral cattle, a pig called Nugent and an overweight Pekingese called Tricki Woo, James finds he is on a learning curve as steep as the hills around him. And when he meets Helen, the beautiful daughter of a local farmer, all the training and experience in the world can’t help him . . .'I grew up reading James Herriot's books and I'm delighted that thirty years on, they are still every bit as charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny as they were then' – Kate Humble'Herriot's enchanting tales of life in the Dales are deservedly classics. Full of extraordinary characters, animal and human, the books never fail to delight' – Amanda Owen, bestselling author of The Yorkshire ShepherdessTrade ReviewBulls with sunstroke, pigs on the run and a cake-eating Peke with a betting habit . . . I grew up reading James Herriot's book and I'm delighted that thirty years on they are still every bit as charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny as they were then. -- Kate HumbleThe attraction of Herriot's ever popular memoirs of a country vet . . . is their alternating highs and lows, humour and pathos, and gripping anecdotes about delivering lambs, grumpy farmers, hypochondriac pet-owners, stroppy cows and blunt Yorkshire characters. And, of course, there's a powerful nostalgia element in these stories about our green and pleasant land in the day before the ravages of ribbon development. * Daily Mail *Herriot's enchanting tales of life in the Dales are deservedly classics. Full of extraordinary characters, animal and human, the books never fail to delight -- Amanda Owen, bestselling author of The Yorkshire ShepherdessOn original release in the 1970s, James Herriot's insights into the life of a working vet were so popular and enchanting to readers that the area of the Yorkshire Dales in which he practised became known as 'James Herriot country'. * Yorkshire Ridings Magazine *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisGoethe remains one of the most influential figures in modern literature and thought. Goethe was the inventor of the psychological novel, a pioneer scientist, great man of the theatre and a leading politician. As A. N. Wilson argues in this groundbreaking biography, it was his genius and insatiable curiosity that helped catapult the Western world into the modern era. A N. Wilson tackles the life of Goethe with characteristic wit and verve. From his youth as a wild literary prodigy to his later years as Germany's most respected elder statesman, Wilson hones in on Goethe's undying obsession with the work he would spend his entire life writing Faust. Goethe spent over 60 years writing his retelling of Faust, a strange and powerful work that absorbed all the philosophical questions of his time as well as the revolutions and empires that came and went. It is his greatest work, but as Wilson explores, it is also something much more - it is the myth of how w

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn spring 2004, Susan Sontag was diagnosed with the incurable blood cancer. She had a huge appetite for experience, and a wild, extravagant desire to live. Rieff writes movingly about being by her side during that last year and at her death, and about his own contradictory emotions: his guilt both for not consoling her enough, and for somehow colluding with her in her belief that she could beat the disease. Drawing on Sontag's journals and letters, which Rieff read after her death, and on the writings about the deaths of other great thinkers, Swimming in a Sea of Death provides a vivid portrait of Sontag in the last year of her life and a haunting meditation on mortality.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAims to unearth the life story of the creator of The Leopard, one of the novels of the twentieth century. This book stands as a meditation on what it is that makes a writer.

Read more less

Book SynopsisLoved Goodbye Christopher Robin? Learn more about the real place that inspired the beloved stories. Delve into the home of the world’s most beloved bear! The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh explores the magical landscapes where Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their friends live and play. The Hundred Acre Wood—the setting for Winnie-the-Pooh’s adventures—was inspired by Ashdown Forest, a wildlife haven that spans more than 6,000 acres in southeast England. In the pages of this enchanting book you can visit the ancient black walnut tree on the edge of the forest that became Pooh’s house, go deep into the pine trees to find Poohsticks Bridge, and climb up to the top of the enchanted Galleons Lap, where Pooh says goodbye to Christopher Robin. You will discover how Milne's childhood connection with nature and his role as a father influenced his famous stories, and how his close collaboration with illustrator E. H. Shepard brought those stories to life. This charming book also serves as a guide to the plants, animals, and places of the remarkable Ashdown Forest, whether you are visiting in person or from the comfort of your favorite armchair. In a delightful narrative, enriched with Shepard’s original illustrations, hundreds of color photographs, and Milne’s own words, you will rediscover your favorite characters and the magical place they called home.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER''This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage.'' Antonia Fraser''A refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity.'' Amanda ForemanLucy Worsley ''is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak.'' Sunday TimesOn the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen''s death, historian Lucy Worsley leads us into the rooms from which our best-loved novelist quietly changed the world.This new telling of the story of Jane''s life shows us how and why she lived as she did, examining the places and spaces that mattered to her. It wasn''t all country houses and ballrooms, but a life that was often a painful struggle. Jane famously lived a ''life without incident'', but with new research andTrade ReviewThis is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage. * Antonia Fraser *Jane Austen at Home offers a fascinating look at Jane Austen's world through the lens of the homes in which she lived and worked throughout her life. The result is a refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity. * Amanda Foreman *A vivid portrait of Jane Austen. A must for any Austenite. * Red magazine *Brilliant and very moving, this book is a fascinating and original exploration of Jane Austen with lots of new material - Worsley brings Austen to life superbly, through her pages she is a flesh and blood woman, intelligent, powerful, contradictory, loving, loved. A magnificent book. * Kate Williams *Rarely, if ever, will you encounter a historian so in command of their material. Truly, this is a dazzling exercise in persuasion, written with sense and sensibility. * Saturday Express *A deep, prolifically researched dive into the houses, vacation homes, and schools where the author spent her life. * Vogue magazine *Worsley offers us much that Austen's admirers wish to know... [she] is entirely convincing. * New York Times *An interesting portrait of Georgian and Regency material culture. There's much intriguing historical detail. * Literary Review *A sprightly new take on Austen's life. * Mail on Sunday *Lucy Worsley 'is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak' * Sunday Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe complex and fascinating life of Mark Twain, as told by a Pulitzer prizewinning biographerBorn in 1835, the man who would become America's first, and most influential, literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi. But when the Civil War interrupted his career on the river, the young Mark Twain went west and accepted a job at the local newspaper, writing dispatches that attracted attention for their brashness and humour. It wasn't long until the former steamboat pilot from Missouri was recognized across the country for his literary brilliance.In this rich and nuanced portrait of Twain, Ron Chernow brings his powers to bear on a man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune, and crafted his persona with meticulous care. After establishing himself as a journalist, satirist, and performer, and a family man, Twain went on to write The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He threw himself into the epicentre of American culture, emerging as the nation's most notable political pundit and the only white author of his generation to grapple so fully with the legacy of slavery. At the same time, his madcap business ventures eventually bankrupted him and led him and his family to nine years of exile between London, France, Germany and Italy. During this time, he lost his wife and two daughters the last stage of his life marked by heartache, political crusades, and eccentric behaviour that sometimes obscured darker forces at play.Drawing on Twain's bountiful archives, including thousands of letters and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow here captures the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in literary history, reminding us why Twain's writing continues to be read, debated and quoted over a hundred years after his passing.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Baillie Gifford ''Winner of Winners'' award in 2023How did Shakespeare go from being a talented poet and playwright to become one of the greatest writers who ever lived? In this one exhilarating year we follow what he reads and writes, what he saw and who he worked with as he invests in the new Globe theatre and creates four of his most famous plays - Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet.This book brings the news, intrigue and flavour of the times together with wonderful detail about how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman and playwright, to create an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.A brilliant study, which carefully unpacks a single year in Shakespeare''s life ... The audacious focus on just one year pays off magnificently.' Sunday TimesA far richer, more intimate portrait of our greatest author than you''re likely to find in any cradle-to-grave biography.' Daily MailGripping and illuminating.' TelegraphA fascinating and entirely believable portrait of a talented workaholic ... Shapiro''s informed enthusiasm and energetic prose is addictive.'' GuardianTrade Review"'One of the few genuinely original biographies of Shakespeare.' Jonathan Bate, Sunday Telegraph"

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the PEN/Ackerley Prize 2014The book opens and we are inside the wave: thirty feet high, moving at twenty-five mph, racing two miles inland. And from there into the depths of the author's despair: how to live now that her life has been undone? Sonali Deraniyagala tells her story - the loss of her two boys, her husband, and her parents - without artifice or sentimentality. In the stark language of unfathomable sorrow, anger, and guilt: she struggles through the first months following the tragedy -- someone always at her side to prevent her from harming herself, her whole being furiously clenched against the reality she can't face; and then reluctantly emerging and, over the ensuing years, slowly allowing her memory to function again. Then she goes back through the rich and joyous life she's mourning, from her family's home in London, to the birth of her children, to the year she met her English husband at Cambridge, to her childhood in Colombo while learning the balance between the almost unbearable reminders of her loss and her fundamental need to keep her family, somehow, still with her.Trade ReviewIn her unflinching writing you live through the horror and despair, but also feel her self-generated repair and the promise of survival -- Harriet Walter * The Week *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA TOP BOOK FOR 2024 IN: THE OBSERVER, INDEPENDENT, SUNDAY TIMES AND BOOKSELLER''He understands only the women he invents the others not at all''Thomas Hardy is one of the most beloved and most-read British authors. His influence on literature and the minds of his readers is singular. But how is it that the novelist who created some of the most memorable and modern female characters in literature had such troubled relationships with real women?In this highly innovative book, acclaimed biographer Paula Byrne re-examines Hardy's life through the eyes of the women who made him mother, sisters, girlfriends, wives, muses. The story veers from shocking scenes such as his obsession with the sight of a woman hanged, to poignant vignettes of unfulfilled passion, to fascinating details of working women's lives in the nineteenth century.Hardy Women is the story of how the magnificent fictional women he invented would not have been possible without the hardship and hardiness of the real ones who Trade Review EARLY PRAISE FOR HARDY WOMEN ‘Absorbing… a treat for Hardy fans and unhappy wives’ The Times ‘Novelist and poet Thomas Hardy created some of literature’s most enduring female characters . . . but it is the real women who shaped the life of the tortured genius that a book vividly reanimates’ Independent 'By turns infuriating and inspiring, but always fascinating, this page-turner of a book offers a genuinely fresh perspective on one of Victorian Britain’s most famous writers' Gareth Russell, author of The Palace ‘A fascinating re-examination of the life of Thomas Hardy through the eyes of the women who profoundly influenced him-his mother, his sisters, girlfriends, wives and muses. Drawing on access to some neverbefore-seen passages in Hardy's journals, she shows that it is through these hardy women that we can truly appreciate his much-loved works’ The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis250TH BIRTHDAY EDITIONAlmost as good as finding an unpublished novel' The LadyIs there any sex in Jane Austen? Why do her plots rely on blunders? Which important characters never actually speak?Jane Austen's novels have been a staple of the British canon since the nineteenth century. Yet critics of the time did not appreciate the true complexity of her work. Neither Austen's literary innovations nor the cunning intracacy of her novels were understood much less the fascinating patterns and puzzles thrown up by some of the most famous works of English literature. Nothing, John Mullan argues, is accidental or coincidental in Austen. As she herself said, she wrote for readers who have a great deal of ingenuity themselves'.What Matters in Jane Austen? gets to the heart of what it is that makes Austen's work so singular. In twenty chapters, answering questions her novels have posed for over two centuries, Mullan uncovers the hidden truth of an extraordinary fictional world and reveals the true brilliance and underappreciated complexity of Austen's oeuvre. Sends the reader back to the originals with fresh pleasure' Tessa Hadley, Guardian

Read more less

Book Synopsis#1 SEATTLE TIMES BESTSELLER A playful and moving book of essays by a "born storyteller" (Seattle Times) who invites us into the miraculous and transcendent moments of the everydayTrade ReviewAstonishing... gorgeous... Doyle was a writer 'made of love and song and amusement.' Every living thing intrigued him and was worthy of his powerful capacity for study and his equally powerful capacity for celebration. - New York TimesBrian Doyle took on the everyday and he suffused it, every last drop of it, with a redefining soulfulness... This posthumous collection will leave you marveling and wiping away the occasional tear. Certainly you will spill ink on its pages---starring and underlining, sprinkling exclamations up and down the margins... Over and over, Doyle's musings are canticles of joy, punctuated with occasional double-shots of heartbreak and humility. It's the textured layering, the leap from shadow to light, that keeps the reader alert, and ever absorbing. Always, emphatically, there comes wisdom; it's a signature move, one you can count on. Have your pens aimed and ready. It's a gospel of the ordinary, the shoved-aside, the otherwise overlooked. And at the heart of it, that ineffable and necessary unction, a holiness you can all but hold in your palms - Chicago Tribune

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER It is good to meet the real Jane Austen at last' Independent on Sunday''Brilliantly illuminating by focusing, chapter by chapter, on one thread or another of Austen's experience, Byrne allows us to grasp the richness of her inner life' GuardianWho was the real Jane Austen? A retiring spinster content with quiet village life? Or a strong-minded woman who chose to remain unmarried and to fashion herself as a professional writer?Bestselling biographer Paula Byrne uses objects that conjure up a key moment in Austen's life and work a vellum notebook, a topaz cross, a writing box and a bathing machine to reveal the true self of this most beloved author.''Sparklingly multi-faceted, catching the light in intriguing ways Byrne's Jane is far less likely to go for a quiet walk in the garden than she is to be whisked into town in search of a velvet cushion'' Mail on SundayTrade Review‘The perfect companion to the novels … Tremendous’ Joanna Trollope, Sunday Telegraph ‘Brilliantly illuminating … Its great merit is [that] by focusing on one thread or another of Austen's experience, Byrne allow us to grasp the richness of Austen's inner life’ Guardian ‘A neat approach to biography, allowing Byrne to burrow deep beneath the surface of Austen’s existence. The result is a delightful and engrossing portrait’ Sunday Times ‘Byrne's essays add up to a fine appraisal of the novelist's environment, truly Austenish in the way they burrow into a sequestered and often secretive private world’ Observer ‘A perceptive and energetic guide to Austen and her surroundings … Byrne’s critical study consists of a series of beautifully written, interrelated essays … [her] style gives fresh charms to her subject matter. “The Real Jane Austen” is bold, fast-moving and accessible’ Daily Telegraph ‘Engaging, compelling, a delightful and engrossing book. Of course we all know that the "real" Jane Austen will forever be a mystery, but most 21st century Janeites will adore this one. Byrne's passion is nothing if not persuasive’ Sunday Times ‘What is fresh in Byrne's biographical approach is her use of a succession of contemporary objects that Austen owned, or that might be seen in intimate connection with her interests … this adds an attractive immediacy to a well-known story … Byrne's affectionate study paints a pleasingly lively picture of Austen's life’ Independent ‘Brilliantly illuminating … riveting. By focusing, chapter by chapter, on one thread or another of Austen's experience, Byrne allows us to grasp the richness of her inner life’ Simon Callow, Guardian ‘The portrait of Austen that emerges is sparklingly multi-faceted, catching the light in intriguing ways … her Jane is far less likely to go for a quiet walk in the garden than she is to be whisked into town in search of a velvet cushion, a necklace or a smart new dress’ Irish Mail on Sunday

Read more less

Book Synopsis* TOLKIEN * Now a major motion pictureAcclaimed as the best book about Tolkien', this award-winning biography explores J.R.R. Tolkien's wartime experiences and their impact on his life and his writing of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.To be caught in youth by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than in 1939 by 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead.So J.R.R. Tolkien responded to critics who saw The Lord of the Rings as a reaction to the Second World War. Tolkien and the Great War tells for the first time the full story of how he embarked on the creation of Middle-earth in his youth as the world around him was plunged into catastrophe. This biography reveals the horror and heroism that he experienced as a signals officer in the Battle of the Somme and introduces the circle of friends who spurred his mythology to life. It shows how, after two of these brilliant young men were killed, Tolkien pursued the dream they had all shared by launching his epic of good and evil.JoTrade Review"Very much the best book about JRR Tolkien that has yet been written. Even if you are not a Lord of the Rings fan, I commend this book to you. It is all so interesting in itself, and I have rarely read a book which so intelligently graphed the relation between a writer's inner life and his outward circumstances."A.N.Wilson, Evening Standard “A highly intelligent book exploring Tolkien’s personal experience of the First World War… Garth displays impressive skills both as a researcher and writer.” Max Hastings “Garth’s brilliantly argued study convincinly portrays Tolkien in an entirely different leagues from other, more familiar writers on war.” Daily Mail

Read more less

Book SynopsisSusan Sontag, one of the most internationally renowned and controversial intellectuals of the latter half of the twentieth century, still provokes. In 1979, Jonathan Cott, of Rolling Stone magazine, interviewed Sontag first in Paris and later in New York. This title publishes the entire transcript of Sontag's conversation.Trade Review"'A great resource for longtime followers of the critic and novelist, as well as for those encountering this great mind for the first time.' (Publishers Weekly) 'A humanizing interview with the late cultural icon, who was often perceived as a fiercely aggressive and polarizing intellect.' (Kirkus Reviews)"

Read more less

Book SynopsisTranslation of: Kafka, die Jahre der Entscheidungen.Trade ReviewOne of The Guardian Best Books of 2013, chosen by Colm Toibin "Most impressive is Stach's recounting of the creation of his subject's writings... Stach's own writing is wonderfully expressive."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A scrupulous, discriminating, and highly instructive account of Kafka's life."--Robert Alter, New Republic "[S]uperbly tempered... [T]hrough this robustly determined unearthing he rescues Kafka from the unearthliness of his repute... Shelley Frisch, Stach's heroic American translator, movingly reproduces his intended breadth and pace and tone... In this honest and honorable biography there is no trace of the Kafkaesque; but in it you may find a crystal granule of the Kafka who was."--Cynthia Ozick, New Republic "Stach aims to tell us all that can be known about [Kafka], avoiding the fancies and extrapolations of earlier biographers. The result is an enthralling synthesis, one that reads beautifully... I can't say enough about the liveliness and richness of Stach's book... Every page of this book feels excited, dynamic, utterly alive."--Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World "Stach's is a splendid effort and will be hard to surpass."--William H. Gass, Harper's Magazine "A masterpiece of inspired biographical writing."--Choice "Probing... Essential reading."--Booklist (starred review) "Magnificent."--Die Zeit "Stach develops the various elements that play a role in Kafka's life brilliantly."--Der Spiegel "The first great biography of Franz Kafka ... exciting and instructive from the first to the last page."--Tagesanzeiger "This extraordinary biography fills the empty spaces between Kafka's own writings and the writings of friends, family, and contemporaries with so much empathy and imagination that one can't put it down."--Frankfurter Rundschau "[M]onumental... [A] superb English-language translation by Shelly Frisch ... now reprinted in a handsome paperback by Princeton... In this first volume, Stach sifts through that rubble with huge amounts of energy and discretion (and Frisch follows him without a misstep; it feels like exactly the book I read ten years ago in its original language)... His letters and journals are marshaled with sometimes breathtaking ingenuity, and the sheer scope of the work allows Stach to be expansive when painting his backgrounds... Always in these recountings, Stach is searching for his elusive subject, trying--as all previous biographers have tried, though none so well--to hear Kafka's strange, singular voice in the noise... Kafka: The Decisive Years was greeted with a loud chorus of praise when it first appeared in English, and the passage of almost a decade has cast no doubt on that verdict. Princeton has re-issued this classic so that it can stand next to the following volume, Kafka: The Years of Insight, newly published in hardcover. No one interested in Kafka (or, by almost inevitable extension, 20th century literature) should miss either."--Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly "[F]lawlessly translated... [A] wonderfully intelligent and perceptive portrait of a uniquely powerful writer."--PD Smith, Guardian "Stach reads the work and the life with minute care and sympathy. He has a deep understanding of the world that Kafka came from and this is matched by an intelligence and tact about the impulse behind the work itself."--Colm Toibin, Irish Independent "[T]he definitive biography."--Jonathon Sturgeon, Flavorwire "Superbly translated from German by Shelley Frisch... Illuminating facts and intelligent commentary... The three volumes are so carefully composed and densely woven--blending history, literary analysis, psychological insights, quotes and commentary from others--that it would be practically impossible to produce an abridged version in a single volume."--Alexander Adams, Spiked ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 PROLOGUE: The Black Star 16 1At Home with the Kafkas 21 2Bachelors, Young and Old 42 3Actors, Zionists, Wild People 54 4Literature and Loneliness: Leipzig and Weimar 71 5Last Stop Jungborn 86 6A Young Lady from Berlin 94 7The Ecstasy of Beginning: "The Judgment" and "The Stoker" 108 8A Near Defenestration 119 9The Girl, the Lady, and the Woman 134 10Love and a Longing for Letters 145 11Exultant Weeks, Little Intrigues 159 12The Bauer Family 169 13America and Back: The Man Who Disappeared 175 14The Lives of Metaphors: "The Metamorphosis" 192 15The Fear of Going Mad 206 16Balkan War: The Massacre Next Door 226 171913 231 18 The Man Who Disappeared: Perfection and Disintegration 242 19Invention and Exaggeration 253 20Sexual Trepidation and Surrender 266 21The Working World: High Tech and the Ghostsof Bureaucracy 281 22The Proposal 297 23Literature, Nothing but Literature 324 24Three Congresses in Vienna 350 25Trieste, Venice, Verona, Riva 368 26Grete Bloch: The Messenger Arrives 379 27An All-Time Low 390 28Kafka and Musil 401 29Matrimonial Plans and Asceticism 413 30Tribunal in Berlin 433 31The Great War 444 32Self-Inflicted Justice: The Trial and "In the Penal Colony" 464 33The Return of the East 484 34The Grand Disruption 493 35No-Man's-Land 508 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 517 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 519 KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS 521 NOTES 523 BIBLIOGRAPHY 551 PHOTO CREDITS 563 INDEX 565

Read more less

Book SynopsisUncovering the fascinating and moving story of a famously unconventional family.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review'A brilliantly woven narrative of Tolkien's life. The biographer, also a philologist by training, knows what he is talking about, his judgements are reasonable and he makes the reader anxious to discover whether Tolkien can win out against the enemies of his most original work.' -- Christopher Howse * The Tablet *'The Tolkien biography we've been waiting for for thirty years.' -- David Bateman * Tolkien Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSeason two of the hit TV adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small is now showing on Channel 5, featuring Sam West as Siegfried Farnon.'James Herriot's books have had a lasting and profound effect on my life' Amanda OwenThis beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of If Only They Could Talk features an afterword by Yorkshire Shepherdess and author Amanda Owen. To young James Herriot, fresh out of veterinary college, Yorkshire appears to offer an idyllic pocket of rural life in a rapidly changing world. But even life in the sleepy village of Darrowby has its challenges: from his new colleagues, brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, to herds of semi-feral cattle and gruff farmers with incomprehensible accents.Heart-breaking and hilarious in equal measure, If Only They Could Talk is the first volume of classic memoirs which chronicle James Herriot's first years as country vet in the 1930's.This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of If Only They Could Talk features an afterword by Yorkshire Shepherdess and author Amanda Owen.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.Trade ReviewBulls with sunstroke, pigs on the run and a cake-eating Peke with a betting habit . . . I grew up reading James Herriot's book and I'm delighted that thirty years on they are still every bit as charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny as they were then. -- Kate HumbleIt’s a pleasure to be in James Herriot’s company. * Observer *After an evening among his tales, anyone with as much as a dog or a budgerigar will feel he should move to Darrowby at once. * Yorkshire Post *

Read more less

Book SynopsisVolume Two covers the early years of his editorship of The Criterion (the periodical that Eliot launched with Lady Rothermere''s backing in 1922), publication of The Hollow Men and the course of Eliot''s thinking about poetry and poetics after The Waste Land. The correspondence charts Eliot''s intellectual journey towards conversion to the Anglican faith in 1927, as well as his transformation from banker to publisher, ending with his appointment as a director of the new publishing house of Faber & Gwyer, in late 1925, and the appearance of Poems 1909-1925, Eliot''s first publication with the house with which he would be associated for the rest of his life. It was partly because of Eliot''s profoundly influential work as cultural commentator and editor that the correspondence is so prolific and so various, and Volume Two of the Letters fully demonstrates the emerging continuities between poet, essayist, editor and letter-writer.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTranslation of: Kafka, die Jahre der Erkenntnis.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2014 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize Finalist for the 2013 National Jewish Book Award in History, Jewish Book Council One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014 One of The Guardian Best Books of 2013, chosen by Colm Toibin Longlisted for the 2014 PEN Translation Award, Pen American Center "[S]cholars and specialists lost and absorbed in the many rooms of the Kafka factory will find much to discuss in the labors of Reiner Stach."--Joy Williams, New York Times Book Review "[Stach's] resplendent Kafka: The Years of Insight, tracking Kafka's final eight years, meditates on the limits of the knowable even as it exhibits unparalleled dedication to the Kafka's life and work."--Gary Giddins, Wall Street Journal "This well-researched new biography details the last nine years of Franz Kafka's life and explores the personal, social, and political events that shaped his writing... Despite the narrow time frame, this insightful book is likely to become a standard by which future biographies are measured."--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "[S]uperbly tempered... [T]hrough this robustly determined unearthing he rescues Kafka from the unearthliness of his repute... Shelley Frisch, Stach's heroic American translator, movingly reproduces his intended breadth and pace and tone... In this honest and honorable biography there is no trace of the Kafkaesque; but in it you may find a crystal granule of the Kafka who was."--Cynthia Ozick, New Republic "Stach's book succeeds brilliantly at clearing a path through the thick metaphysical fog that has hung about Kafka's work almost since his death... [I]lluminating... It is common to say of biography that it sends you back to the work. Stach's book does this in spades, but, importantly for English readers, it also presents new aspects of the work in Shelley Frisch's superb and lucid translations... Between them, she and Stach have produced a superbly fresh imaginative guide to the strange, clear, metaphor-free world of Kafka's prose."--Tim Martin, Telegraph "Stach reads the work and the life with minute care and sympathy. He has a deep understanding of the world that Kafka came from and this is matched by an intelligence and tact about the impulse behind the work itself."--Colm Toibin, Irish Independent "This work is a monumental accomplishment with a first-rate translation by scholar Frisch."--Library Journal (Starred Review) "Conclusion of a massive, comprehensive life of the famed Czech/German/Jewish writer, chockablock with neuroses, failures and moments of brilliance... An illuminating book built, like its subject's life, on small episodes rather than great, dramatic turning points. Essential for students and serious readers of Kafka."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) "With impressive insight into imaginative artistry, Stach illuminates the way Kafka responds to personal trauma and global firestorm, sometimes incorporating his negative circumstances into his fiction, but sometimes transcending those circumstances in metaphysical creations informed by a profoundly personal myth. This literary-biographical analysis will help scholars penetrate major Kafka works, including The Castle and The Trial, The Hunger Artist and The Burrow. Thanks to a lucid translation, English-speaking readers can now share the German enthusiasm for this masterful portrait."--Bryce Christensen, Booklist (Starred Review) "[T]he definitive biography of Kafka... [A] supple and accurate English translation by Shelley Frisch... Stach presents a full, nuanced treatment of Kafka's feelings about Jewishness. He is particularly adept in his depiction of Kafka's relationships with the women he loved."--David Mikics, Forward.com "[M]agnificent."--John Carey, Sunday Times "[S]uperlative, readable and ... genuinely gripping... Stach manages to recreate the worlds through which Kafka moved and in which he suffered in a manner that reads ... like high-quality fiction... Stach on Kafka is more than worthy to be put on a shelf of the magisterial literary biographies of the last few decades... It is quite splendid."--Kevin Jackson, Literary Review "No one will ever be able to write Kafka's story as well as he could, but Reiner Stach, a first-class German scholar, does remarkably well in Kafka: The Years of Insight."--Robert Fulford, National Post "The second volume of Reiner Stach's epic biography of Franz Kafka ... [is] a tangle of counter-grained and often under-sourced life stories, but reading Stach's magnificent narrative (wonderfully translated by Shelley Frisch) straight through brings death, not life, to the forefront. Stach is a compulsively readable writer... [A]s in the previous volume, the prose in The Years of Insight is supple and very appealingly complex--all of which, once again, is perfectly rendered by Frisch."--Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly "[H]ighly readable."--Ian Thomson, Financial Times "[M]onumental... [A] superb English-language translation by Shelly Frisch ... now reprinted in a handsome paperback by Princeton... In this first volume, Stach sifts through that rubble with huge amounts of energy and discretion (and Frisch follows him without a misstep; it feels like exactly the book I read ten years ago in its original language)... His letters and journals are marshaled with sometimes breathtaking ingenuity, and the sheer scope of the work allows Stach to be expansive when painting his backgrounds... Always in these recountings, Stach is searching for his elusive subject, trying--as all previous biographers have tried, though none so well--to hear Kafka's strange, singular voice in the noise... Kafka: The Decisive Years was greeted with a loud chorus of praise when it first appeared in English, and the passage of almost a decade has cast no doubt on that verdict. Princeton has re-issued this classic so that it can stand next to the following volume, Kafka: The Years of Insight, newly published in hardcover. No one interested in Kafka (or, by almost inevitable extension, 20th century literature) should miss either."--Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly "A definitive biography of a rare writer... [M]asterful... [T]his biography makes for an excellent read. Mr Stach, a German academic, expertly presents Kafka's struggles with his work and health against a wider background of the first world war, the birth of Czechoslovakia and the hyperinflation of the 1920s."--The Economist "A definitive biography of a writer as transcendent as Franz Kafka might be unattainable, but in his massive trilogy, Stach comes as close as one can."--Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs "[A] further passionate attempt to reinscribe works such as Metamorphosis, A Report To An Academy, and The Castle on 21st century readers... Stach does us a great service... By dint of a rhythmic sequencing of narration and discussion, Stach illuminates the symbiosis of Kafka's inner catastrophes and vocational ardour with the violent military devastation of Europe, the birth of the Czech Republic and his frail body's tortuous decline."--Gregory Day, The Age Praise for Kafka: The Years of Insight: "It would be impossible to describe the work and essence of this key artist of the twentieth century in a livelier and more vibrant style... A masterpiece of the art of interpretation and of empathy."--Der Tagesspiegel Praise for Kafka: The Years of Insight: "Reiner Stach has recounted Kafka's life more vividly than any other biographer. The reader moves through his Kafka biography, which reads like a novel, in breathless anticipation... No one has written about Kafka as suggestively and insightfully, and in such a beautiful and clear language, as Reiner Stach."--Ulrich Greiner, Die Zeit "[E]xtensive ... impeccably translated... Each volume is crafted such that one simply must read the other two: Stach peppers his writing with tantalizingly vague references and foreshadowings to elsewhere in the series, and his allusions compel the reader to absorb Kafka's complete biography from start to finish... The author's meticulous chronicle of Kafka's life by no means precludes examination of the literary legacy that it produced; rather, it sharpens our understanding of some of Kafka's most obscure and abstract works... An utterly thorough biography, the three-volume set will prove a treasure to any admirer of Franz Kafka--or good research."--Nat Bernstein, Jewish Book Council "Kafka: The Years of Insight ... wonderfully translated ... is Volume III of what will surely be the definitive biography. Kafka is brought to vivid life by an author at once scholarly and entertaining."--John Banville, New Statesman "Stach's declared aim is to find out what it felt like to be Kafka, and he succeeds."--John Banville, Irish Times "Countering the prevailing notion that Kafka was out of touch with reality, Stach details how this quixotic modernist was actually well informed about the crisis and how this knowledge altered the course of his writing. In addition to being a skillful biographer, Stach is an authority on Kafka, having worked for more than a decade on the definitive critical edition of Kafka's writings... [T]his biography is an extraordinary accomplishment."--Choice "Stach's riveting narrative, which reflects the latest findings about Kafka's life and works, draws readers in with a nearly cinematic power, zooming in for extreme close-ups of Kafka's personal life, then pulling back for panoramic shots of a wider world."--World Book Industry "Reiner Stach's biography of Franz Kafka, planned for three volumes, has assumed a commanding position in a crowded field: this is a work that simply must be studied by anyone with a serious interest in Kafka... The appearance in English of this groundbreaking work is a publishing event of major importance."--Peter Zusi, Slavic Review "Stach pursues what can be known of Kafka so far and so exhaustively... Sometimes I thought of Stach as the captive and Kafka as the captor... Vivid and valuable."--Rivka Galchen "Masterly ... Stach's great achievement is to place the literary work into a biographical context that emphasises the interplay of memory, experience and symbolism in the writing... A triumph of biography and literary scholarship."--PD Smith, Guardian "[A] brilliant, authoritative portrait."--John Yargo, The Millions "Superbly translated from German by Shelley Frisch... Illuminating facts and intelligent commentary... The three volumes are so carefully composed and densely woven--blending history, literary analysis, psychological insights, quotes and commentary from others--that it would be practically impossible to produce an abridged version in a single volume."--Alexander Adams, Spiked ReviewTable of ContentsPROLOGUE The Ants of Prague 1 CHAPTER ONE Stepping Outside the Self 8 CHAPTER TWO No Literary Prize for Kafka 31 CHAPTER THREE "Civilian Kavka": The Work of War 46 CHAPTER FOUR The Marvel of Marienbad 83 CHAPTER FIVE What Do I Have in Common with Jews? 105 CHAPTER SIX Kafka Encounters His Readers 129 CHAPTER SEVEN The Alchemist 141 CHAPTER EIGHT Ottla and Felice 157 CHAPTER NINE The Country Doctor Ventures Out 170 CHAPTER TEN Mycobacterium tuberculosis 186 CHAPTER ELEVEN Zurau's Ark 201 CHAPTER TWELVE Meditations 222 CHAPTER THIRTEEN Spanish Influenza, Czech Revolt, Jewish Angst 244 CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Pariah Girl 266 CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Unposted Letter to Hermann Kafka 287 CHAPTER SIXTEEN Merano, Second Class 311 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Milena 319 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Living Fires 332 CHAPTER NINETEEN The Big Nevertheless 353 CHAPTER TWENTY Escape to the Mountains 380 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Fever and Snow: Tatranske Matliary 387 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO The Internal and the External Clock 404 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE The Personal Myth: The Castle 423 CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Retiree and Hunger Artist 451 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE The Palestinian 475 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Dora 497 CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN The Edge of Berlin 512 CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Last Sorrow 546 EPILOGUE 573 Acknowledgments 577 Translator's Note 579 Key to Abbreviations 581 Notes 583 Bibliography 647 Photo Credits 665 Index 667

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Magic Of Terry Pratchett is the first full biography of Sir Terry Pratchett ever written. Sir Terry was Britain's best-selling living author, and before his death in 2015 had sold more than 85 million copies of his books worldwide. Best known for the Discworld series, his work has been translated into 37 languages, and performed as plays on every continent in the world, including Antarctica. Journalist, comedian and Pratchett fan Marc Burrows delves into the back story of one of UK's most enduring and beloved authors, from his childhood in the Chiltern Hills, to his time as a journalist, and the journey that would take him via more than sixty best-selling books to an OBE, a knighthood and national treasure status. The Magic Of Terry Pratchett is the result of painstaking archival research alongside interviews with friends and contemporaries who knew the real man under the famous black hat, helping to piece together the full story of one of British literature's most remarkable

Read more less

Book Synopsis*SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BOOK AWARDS 2020*'A bravura performance, highly entertaining' Evening StandardThe Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending takes us on a rich, witty tour of Belle Epoque Paris, via the life story of the pioneering surgeon Samuel Pozzi.In the summer of 1885, three Frenchmen arrived in London for a few days' shopping. One was a Prince, one was a Count, and the third was a commoner, who four years earlier had been the subject of one of John Singer Sargent's greatest portraits. The commoner was Samuel Pozzi, society doctor, pioneer gynaecologist and free-thinker - a scientific man with a famously complicated private life.Pozzi's life played out against the backdrop of the Parisian Belle Epoque. The beautiful age of glamour and pleasure more often showed its ugly side: hysterical, narcissistic, decadent and violent, with more parallels to our own age than we might imagine. **SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2019**Trade ReviewWhat a deliciously intelligent entertainment this is, couched in a prose of enviable suppleness… a master is at work here. -- Rupert Christiansen * Daily Telegraph *One of his best books, very handsomely published too… [The Man in the Red Coat is] a bravura performance, highly entertaining. -- David Sexton * Evening Standard, Book of the Week *Do not google Samuel Jean Pozzi. If you want to enjoy Julian Barnes’s The Man in the Red Coat — and believe me, it’s teeming with delights — stay away from search engines and trust the author to tell the story in his own way… punctuated by the sound of gunshot…[this is a] brilliant, defiantly unconventional book. -- Adam Begley * Spectator *The Belle Époque is brought to life through three colourful lives in this sparkling account stuffed with top fin-de-siècle tittle-tattle. -- Robbie Millen and James Marriott * The Times *The Best Books of 2019* *Julian Barnes’s wonderful The Man in the Red Coat surges round Belle Epoque Paris… a story full of digressions, white peacocks, missing limbs, amusing adverbs and fantastic clothes. An absolute tonic for grey winter days. -- Claire Harman * Evening Standard *Books of the Year* *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA rich, provocative, and lyrical study of one of Germany’s most important, world-famous, and imaginative writerTrade Review“A portrait of the poet as a crusader for truth and beauty in a world where both were in short supply.”—Adam Kirsch, Wall Street Journal“Prochnik provides a jaunty narrative of Heine’s schooldays in Bonn and Göttingen, journalistic career in Berlin, and twenty-five-year exile in Paris, detailing his literary feuds, scraps with censors, and unwavering belief in political liberty.”—New Yorker“Prochnik gives ample space to Heine’s emotional life [and] Heine’s attitude to his Jewish heritage proves to be a rewarding topic. . . . It is impossible to read about Heine without thinking how wonderful it would have been to meet him.”—Jonathan Rée, Literary Review“It is a highly recommendable study . . . told beautifully by Prochnik, and the book is a fitting addition to Yale University Press’s Jewish Lives series.”—Andreas Hess, Society“George Prochnik draws the historical background of Heine’s life with care and powerfully evokes a Jewish life in 19th century Germany with all its complexities, frustrations, and contradictions. Prochnik’s scrupulous analysis of the artist’s prose and poems allows for a deep understanding of this brilliant and tormented man.”—Anka Muhlstein, author of The Pen and the Brush

Read more less

Book SynopsisOver sixty years after Virginia Woolf drowned in the River Ouse, Olivia Laing set out one midsummer morning to walk its banks, from source to sea. Along the way, she explores the roles that rivers play in human lives, tracing their intricate flow through literature, mythology and folklore.Lyrical and stirring, To the River is a passionate investigation into how history resides in a landscape - and how ghosts never quite leave the places they love.Trade ReviewA beautifully written, elegant and subtle debut * * Financial Times * *A gentle, wise and riddling book -- ROBERT MACFARLANEMagical . . . By turns lyrical, melancholic and exultant, To the River just makes you want to follow Olivia Laing all the way to the sea -- PHILIP HOARE * * Daily Telegraph * *A beautifully written meditation on landscape * * The Sunday Times * *Wonderfully allusive . . . The book's subject and structure fuse pleasingly, weaving and meandering, pooling into biographical, mythical or historical backwaters * * Observer * *Without wanting to sound gushing, her writing at its sublime best reminds me of Richard Mabey's nature prose and the poetry of Alice Oswald . . . Laing seems to lack a layer of skin, rendering her susceptible to the smallest vibrations of the natural world as well as to the frailties of the human psyche * * The Times * *Has a Sebaldian edge to it that lifts it out of memoir and biography and into something far more tantalizing and suggestive * * Guardian * *This hugely accomplished first book draws on local lore and history, a vast range of research and some soaring lyrical writing * * Sunday Times * *Olivia Laing joins the best nature writers . . . Laing is a brilliant wordsmith and this is a beautifully accomplished book * * Independent * *Brave, distinctive, and deeply intelligent . . . The book has an intense, humming, cumulative effect * * Literary Review * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE''A marvellous book . . . I just loved it all, and have a permanently marked-up, dog-eared copy on my shelf for the next generation'' Tom Hanks''Furious and fascinating'' The Times*****Looking for wonder and some reprieve from the everyday, Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. As she watches him create his writing self, she tries to remember her own . . .When she uncovers his forgotten wife, it''s a revelation. Eileen O''Shaughnessy''s literary brilliance shaped Orwell''s work and her practical nous saved his life. But why - and how - was she written out of the story?Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells'' marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WWII in London. As she rolls up the screenTrade ReviewA marvelous book . . . I just loved it all, and have a permanently marked-up, dog-eared copy on my shelf for the next generation. * Tom Hanks *Simply, a masterpiece. Here, Anna Funder not only re-makes the art of biography, she resurrects a woman in full. -- Geraldine Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for FictionTruly wonderful... Anna Funder has written another brilliant human portrait. -- Claire TomalinElectrifying... Daring in both form and content, Funder's book is a nuanced, sophisticated literary achievement * Kirkus *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHoward Phillips Lovecraft had a short life, and he died of cancer in 1936 at the age of 46. But in that relatively short time he had a significant, varied and outstanding output, and although he was not a well-known writer during the time he lived, he has since been hailed as one of the great supernatural fiction writers. Although a huge influence on many writers since his death, and now someone with significant book sales every year, Lovecraft never managed to make a living from writing during his lifetime.Lovecraft spent much time battling various physical and mental issues, but he was able to form bonds and relationships with key people in his life, some of which influenced his thinking and his work. These included his mother, grandfather, aunt, wife and famous figures from the time including Harry Houdini and Robert E Howard; comments from many are included.Lovecraft's sensitivity comes through in his writing, and this book also contains numerous quotes from his famous fictional works. Samples from his poems, letters and other writings serve to paint a full portrait of this master of his chosen genre, horror, but who also contributed significantly to science fiction and fantasy; he truly possessed outstanding talent, as celebrated inside.SAMPLE QUOTE: 'The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.' - Francis Wayland Thurston sets the scene for indescribable horror in The Call of Cthulhu, HP Lovecraft, 1926. SAMPLE FACT: HP Lovecraft's work was the inspiration behind Arkham Asylum (Batman), Black Sabbath's album Behind the Wall of Sleep and The Book of the Dead from the Evil Dead movies.Table of Contents'Hideous': An exploration of the life and times of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and his family: mother and father, grandfather, aunts, and his wife. 'Madness': Lovecraft wrote a wide body of work, including fiction in various genres (horror, science fiction), poetry, journalism, criticism and letters. This chapter includes interesting quotes from Lovecraft himself, as well as his contemporaries, authors and critics. 'Nameless': Lovecraft's most famous creation, Cthulhu was born of horror. This chapter contains quotes relating to the fascinating universe and all things Cthulhu. 'Antiquarian': Science, travel, autobiography and philosophy. Quotes from Lovecraft, his work and others on these lesser-known works of the master. Influence: A look at some of the many places, people and characters that Lovecraft inspired, from books and movies to comic strips and television shows. Wit and Wisdom: A roundup of interesting, odd, amusing and sometimes downright disturbing quotes from Lovecraft and his commentators.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHilary Davidson delves into the clothing of one of the world’s great authors, providing unique and intimate insight into her everyday life and material worldTrade Review“[A] charming book, which examines what Austen actually wore on the evidence of voluminous letters exchanged with her sister Cassandra whenever they were separated. . . . A delightful companion.”—Maev Kennedy, Art Newspaper “This lavishly illustrated book offers readers a unique peek into the clothes worn by celebrated Regency author Jane Austen.”—History Revealed “Davidson’s engaging and illuminating study portrays a household in which appearances are important but budgets tight. . . . Nothing I have read has brought Austen so close.”—Rosemary Goring, The Herald “It’s by [an] evocation of the everyday real world that Jane Austen’s Wardrobe triumphs (that and its magnificent production values—the design is appropriately sumptuous). We turn these pages watching one of the world’s greatest novelists manage her appearance and sort out what she’ll wear day by day and what she’ll pay for it. . . . It’s captivating, particularly with [Davidson’s] historical insight as a guide.”—Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review “Rakewell is looking forward to the publication of Jane Austen’s Wardrobe by Hilary Davidson (Yale University Press).”—Rakewell column, Apollo Magazine “As gripping as a corset, this superb book is a must-read for Austen lovers and scholars.”—Philippa Stockley, The Oldie “A visual feast, as well as offering insight into Austen’s fabled attention to the minutiae of her own social class. It also sends a message to the modern [over] consumer.”—Jacqueline Riding, Country Life “[Davidson’s] book provides significantly more detail than is generally known about any individual wardrobe. . . . It provides as close to a comprehensive look at her wardrobe as is possible.”—Cassidy Percoco, History Today "go forth and read" —YouTuber and author Bernadette Banner “An intriguing and wholly original approach to Jane Austen. . . . A most delightful book and a must for every Austen reader.”—Claire Tomalin, author of Jane Austen: A Life “The definitive compendium of Jane Austen’s clothes, recreated from fragments, by an acknowledged mistress of the field. Open the book, the author invites, as you might a chest of drawers, to find anything but a dowdy spinster.”—Amanda Vickery, author of Behind Closed Doors “This gorgeously illustrated volume from the world’s leading expert on the fashion of the Regency era lifts the skirts on Jane Austen’s wardrobe.”—Paula Byrne, author of The Real Jane Austen “Hugely enjoyable, charmingly illustrated and beautifully produced, a book to linger over and which, moreover, sheds light on just how seriously Jane Austen took fashion.”—Claire Wilcox, author of Patch Work

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this vividly rendered and empathetic biography of two of the greatest poets of the 20th century—Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton—“the friendship and rivalry that the pair shared—not to mention the titular cocktails at a Boston hotel—is explored in fascinating detail” (Town & Country).Introduced at a poetry workshop in Boston University, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton formed a friendship that would soon evolve into a fierce rivalry, colored by jealousy and respect in equal terms. In the years that followed, these two women would not only become iconic figures in literature, but also lead curiously parallel lives haunted by mental illness, suicide attempts, self-doubt, and difficult personal relationships. With weekly martini meetings at the Ritz to discuss everything from sex to suicide, theirs was a relationship as complex and subversive as their poetry. Based on in-depth research and unprecedented archival access, Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz will leave you “hungering for more of what these two literary comets burned with: the power of a little poetry. Deliriously fast-paced and erudite, this is highly recommended” (Library Journal, starred review).

Read more less

Book SynopsisUnravel the history, themes, and language of Shakespeare''s plays, poems, and sonnets with this beautifully illustrated guide to his life and works.Comedy and romance, history, and tragedy, Shakespeare''s canon has it all. Some 400 years after they were written and first performed, his works still remain fresh and relevant today. Discover the work of the world''s most celebrated playwright with:- A clear and accessible format- Act-by-act plot summaries of all of his 39 plays with lists of characters- Guidance on how to read and interpret his great sonnets and narrative poems- Plays ordered by time and genre, helping readers to trace the development of Shakespeare''s topics, themes, and artistry- Sidebars that clarify the mythological, geographical, and historical context of each play and decode its language, dramatic action, and themesShakespeare fans will revel in the marvellous depiction of the Stratford-upon-Avon-born Bard hiTrade Review"Should one attempt a complete front-to-back reading, the result would be a thorough grounding in Shakespeare's work and an enlarged astonishment at the range of his imagination." (Previous Edition, 2004) * The New York Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA comprehensive, authoritative and highly original portrait of one of history's most unjustly infamous characters.Trade ReviewThe result is a life of Machiavelli that must surely be definitive in its faithfulness to the man and his experience of his time . . . Lee presents a novel interpretation of his subject's thinking. -- John Gray * New Statesman *Detailed, accessible and authoritative . . . an utterly absorbing month-by-month, often day-by-day account of Machiavelli's life and career. -- John Guy * Literary Review *A fine new biography. -- Simon Heffer * Telegraph *A superb work of scholarship, securely grounded in the turbulent Italy of Machiavelli's day, and unflinchingly truthful . . . Lee retells the stories of plagues and brush-offs, of brothels, betrayals and massacres, in a brisk and compelling style. -- Ferdinand Mount * Prospect *[A] weighty and impressively detailed biography -- Michael Prodger * The Times *[T]he definitive book on Machiavelli -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times *A wonderfully assured and utterly riveting biography that captures not only the much-maligned Machiavelli, but also the spirit of his time and place. A monumental achievement. -- Jessie Childs, author of God's TraitorsAlexander Lee’s Machiavelli: His Life and Times sets a wholly new standard for English-language biographies of the Florentine thinker, synthesising recent academic research and placing his subject in a vividly described context of Renaissance society and everyday life -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *His life and times are presented in their complex, contradictory fullness, as is Machiavelli himself . . . Lee is to be especially applauded for his even-handed treatment of a controversial historical figure. -- Joanne Paul * BBC History Magazine *From Lee's magisterial biography, rich in detail and light on speculation, the writer emerges as a flawed but markedly fascinating individual -- Nicholas Cranfield * Church Times *[A] fine new biography ... Lee tells his story with verve. -- Lauro Martines * Times Literary Supplement *Immensely readable . . . Machiavelli emerges from Lee’s account as one of the Italian Renaissance’s greatest figures. * Financial Times 'Books of the Summer' *Such is its hefty size that I set out to read Alexander Lee’s Machiavelli at a lick. However, it is so rich in granular detail – not just about the surprisingly hapless man himself, but about Florentine society and the wars that scudded across Renaissance Italy – that I was forced to take it slowly, and was rewarded handsomely. -- Michael Prodger * New Statesman 'Books of the Year' *Lee’s exhaustive, balanced and immensely readable work, sets a wholly new standard for English-language biographies of Machiavelli. -- Tony Barber * Financial Times 'Books of the Year' *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'That word, "vacation," makes me sweat.' Coco Chanel on taking a break'You must do it irregardless, or it will eat its way out of you.' Zora Neale Hurston on writing'One has to choose between the Life and the Project.' Susan Sontag on choosing artFrom Vanessa Bell and Charlotte Brontë to Nina Simone and Jane Campion, here are over one hundred and forty female writers, painters, musicians, sculptors, poets, choreographers, and filmmakers on how they create and work.Barbara Hepworth sculpted outdoors and Janet Frame wore earmuffs as she worked to block out noise. Kate Chopin wrote with her six children ‘swarming around her’ whereas the artist Rosa Bonheur filled her bedroom with the sixty birds that inspired her work. Louisa May Alcott wrote so vigorously – skipping sleep and meals – that she had to learn to write with her left hand to give her cramped right hand a break.From Isak Dinesen subsisting on oysters, champagne and amphetamines, to Isabel Allende's insistence that she begins each new book on 8 January, here are the working routines of over 140 brilliant female painters, composers, sculptors, writers, filmmakers and performers.Filled with details of the large and small choices these women made, Mason Currey's Daily Rituals Women at Work is a source of fascination and inspiration.'An admirably succinct portrait of some distinctly uncommon lives' - Meryle SecrestTrade ReviewUtterly fascinating . . . This book is the ultimate retort to the flaneurs who dream about the novel/screenplay/painting they would create if only they had the time -- Daisy Goodwin, Sunday Times on Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration and Get to WorkI just can't recommend this book enough -- Lena Dunham on Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration and Get to WorkA trove of entertaining anecdote and thought-provoking comparison -- Daily Telegraph, on Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration and Get to WorkA chance to see what great lives look like when the triumphs, dramas, disruptions and divorces have been all but boiled away. It will fascinate anyone who wonders how a day might best be spent, especially those who have wondered of their artistic heroes, as a baffled Colette once did of George Sand: how the devil did they manage? -- Guardian, on Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration and Get to WorkMason Currey has carefully compiled the daily habits and personal foibles of 161 great writers, artists, scientists and thinkers, including one who stood on his head to cure creative block. By the end of this book, our carpet-glue habit looks normal -- DBC Pierre, Guardian, on Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration and Get to WorkA fascinating little book -- Financial Times on Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration and Get to Work

Read more less