Biography: writers Books

4251 products


  • Writing America Literary Landmarks from Walden

    Rutgers University Press Writing America Literary Landmarks from Walden

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisWriting America takes readers on an eclectic tour of historic sites that have been pivotal to the making of American literature, reflecting the true diversity of the nation and its authors. Profusely illustrated, it is the literary gift book for 2015.Trade ReviewShelley Fisher Fishkin talks literature, place, and what it means to be American with Josh Logue (https://goo.gl/W1dgt7) * Inside Higher Ed *Winner of the John S. Tuckey 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award for Mark Twain Scholarship from The Center for Mark Twain Studies * The Center for Mark Twain Studies *"A vibrant and thoughtful guide through American literary history." * Chicago Tribune *"There is no one better suited to illuminate the connections between America’s great authors and the places in which they built their writing and their lives than Shelley Fisher Fishkin; give yourself a thoughtful treat and keep this book by your bedside to dip in and out of as the mood strikes." * Harper's Bazaar *"The depth of Fishkin's knowledge and the dynamism of her enthusiasm elevate this 'reader's companion' from superb resource to lustrous and delectable." * Booklist journal, starred review *"A must for book-loving travelers of the armchair and more intrepid kinds." * Library Journal, starred review *"Meeting at the intersection of physical place, history and literature, Writing America brings readers along for the ride, pinpointing the locales that fueled the imaginations of some of our most important writers." * Ms. Magazine *“Published on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Historic Preservation Act, [Writing America] traces the footsteps of William Faulkner, Allen Ginsberg, Zora Neale Hurston, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe and many others. With more than 60 illustrations, it's a fascinating trek.” * San Jose Mercury News *"Using the National Register of Historic Places as her guide, the author sparks interesting questions regarding how writers influence, and are influenced by, place … Fishkin's book offers a diverse look at our nation's literary landscape and history." * Publishers Weekly *"The Langston Hughes House, the Angel Island Immigration Station, and Hollywood Boulevard…they're all here, having influenced the writing of America's great literary geniuses. But the most poignant and memorable pages aren't about buildings and places; they're about the daily lives, crises, and interactions that motivated these writers to record fascinating, beautiful, and painful passages of history." * American Road *"Perfect for the armchair traveler or the reader who enjoys hitting the road, Shelley Fisher Fishkin’s Writing America is a meticulously researched, beautifully written survey of the nation’s most beloved literary sites ... A vivid mosaic of the cultures, voices and geographies that inform America’s literary inheritance ... It’s the ultimate trip advisor for lovers of literature and history." * BookPage *"Big, handsome, well-illustrated ... A book to own and read over and over again." * Booklist online *"Writing America is a triumph of scholarship and passion, a profound exploration of the many worlds which comprise our national canon . . . a book that redraws the literary map of the United States." -- Junot Díaz * author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao *"Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the best guide you could have through American literature and the places that inspired it. She writes like an angel. She appreciates the diversity and humor of the American spirit. Read her!" -- Erica Jong * poet and author *"Writing America is designed for those who love not only literature, but also history and landscape, and the conversation they have with one another. I could not stop reading." -- Philip Deloria * author of Playing Indian *"Shelley Fisher Fishkin's Writing America is an uncommon travel narrative. Fishkin takes the National Register of Historic Places as a starting point to develop a diverse literary itinerary for the nation … For Fishkin and those who travel with her, literature makes these places and their histories come to life - and this can inspire us all to look anew at the historic places around us." * The Journal of American History *"Writing America is an intelligent, meandering look at the rich interplay between writers and their places… Fishkin writes like a favorite college professor speaks: throwing out quotable lines, grabbing our attention with revelatory anecdotes, making us laugh at the human comedy, making us cry at inhumane injustice - while all the time, whetting our appetite to read more American literature. Highly recommended." * The Journal of American Culture *"A splendid travel guide for readers." * Yale Alumni Magazine *“When landscape and literature meet in Writing America, the life and work of great authors light up as in vivid Technicolor.” * Stanford Report *"Through the prism of more than 150 National Register historic sites, this eclectic, essential work honors authors’ voices both mainstream and underrepresented. Thought- and even tear-provoking, Writing America will leave you in awe of the writers whose worlds and words comprise our country’s canon. Lovers of American lit, commence salivating." * Swarthmore College Bulletin *"An impressive body of exceptional and detailed scholarship. Highly recommended." * Midwest Book Review *"Filled to the brim with literary treasures; it is a fine traveling companion for those with a little time to wander - and to wonder about America's literary past." * Book Chase *"This book cuts straight to the soul of America in all its shades and colors. I don't think anyone has ever put together a book that’s quite so extraordinary. I certainly have never read one." -- Hal Holbrook * actor, Mark Twain Tonight!, author, Harold *"Just when you thought you knew American literature, along comes Shelley Fisher Fishkin to show you what you've missed . . . and to make you think about it. She ushers us into both familiar and unusual spaces with prose as accessible as it is learned, observations that are clear and sometimes quirky, and quotations that prove the synergy between literature and place. She takes American literature out of the library and relocates it in the public square, revealing its essence as the most eloquent tour guide imaginable." -- David Bradley * author of South Street and The Chaneysville Incident *"What a fine, informative, and welcome book by Professor Fishkin. In brief, a first class piece of work that has been long in coming. It not only deserves a warm reception, it is also to be treasured by professionals as well as by beginners." -- Rolando Hinojosa * novelist and essayist *"This absorbing and wondrous book is a glorious cornucopia of America's literary memory. Writing America is necessary, delicious, and nourishing food for the American artist, reader and writer." -- Min Jin Lee * author of Free Food for Millionaires *"Smartly introduced, lavishly illustrated, and beautifully designed, Writing America treats the reader to sites associated with American authors and puts houses, landmarks, memorials, and museums into a vivid relationship with texts." -- Werner Sollors * coeditor with Greil Marcus of A New Literary History of America *"Writing America presents us with an exquisitely rendered geography, in word and image alike, of the nation's diverse literary heritage." -- Eric J. Sundquist * Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Johns Hopkins University *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: The Literary Landscape1 Celebrating the Many in One Walt Whitman Birthplace, Huntington, Long Island, New York2 Living in Harmony with Nature Walden Pond, Concord, Massachusetts3 Freedom’s Port The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, New Bedford, Massachusetts4 The House that Uncle Tom’s Cabin Built Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Hartford, Connecticut5 The Irony of American History The Mark Twain Boyhood Home, Hannibal, Missouri, and the Mark Twain House, Hartford, Connecticut6 Native American Voices Remember Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota7 “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” The Paul Laurence Dunbar House, Dayton, Ohio8 Leaving the Old World for the New The Tenement Museum, New York City9 The Revolt from the Village The Original Main Street, Sauk Centre, Minnesota10 Asian American Writers and Creativity in Confinement Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco, California, and Manzanar National Historic Site, Independence, California11 Harlem and the Flowering of African American Letters The 135th Street Library / The Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture, New York City12 Mexican American Writers in the Borderlands of Culture Roma, La Lomita, San Agustin de Laredo, and San Ygnacio Historic Districts, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas13 American Writers and Dreams of the Silver Screen Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District, Los Angeles, California Index of Authors Index of Historic Sites

    3 in stock

    £32.30

  • Writing America Literary Landmarks from Walden

    John Wiley & Sons Writing America Literary Landmarks from Walden

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWriting America takes readers on an eclectic tour of historic sites that have been pivotal to the making of American literature, reflecting the true diversity of the nation and its authors. Profusely illustrated, it is the literary gift book for 2015.Trade Review"A vibrant and thoughtful guide through American literary history." * Chicago Tribune *Winner of the John S. Tuckey 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award for Mark Twain Scholarship from The Center for Mark Twain Studies * The Center for Mark Twain Studies *"There is no one better suited to illuminate the connections between America’s great authors and the places in which they built their writing and their lives than Shelley Fisher Fishkin; give yourself a thoughtful treat and keep this book by your bedside to dip in and out of as the mood strikes." * Harper's Bazaar *"Meeting at the intersection of physical place, history and literature, Writing America brings readers along for the ride, pinpointing the locales that fueled the imaginations of some of our most important writers." * Ms. Magazine *Shelley Fisher Fishkin talks literature, place, and what it means to be American with Josh Logue (https://goo.gl/W1dgt7) * Inside Higher Ed *"The depth of Fishkin's knowledge and the dynamism of her enthusiasm elevate this 'reader's companion' from superb resource to lustrous and delectable." * Booklist journal, starred review *"A must for book-loving travelers of the armchair and more intrepid kinds." * Library Journal, starred review *"Using the National Register of Historic Places as her guide, the author sparks interesting questions regarding how writers influence, and are influenced by, place … Fishkin's book offers a diverse look at our nation's literary landscape and history." * Publishers Weekly *"Perfect for the armchair traveler or the reader who enjoys hitting the road, Shelley Fisher Fishkin’s Writing America is a meticulously researched, beautifully written survey of the nation’s most beloved literary sites ... A vivid mosaic of the cultures, voices and geographies that inform America’s literary inheritance ... It’s the ultimate trip advisor for lovers of literature and history." * BookPage *“Published on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Historic Preservation Act, [Writing America] traces the footsteps of William Faulkner, Allen Ginsberg, Zora Neale Hurston, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe and many others. With more than 60 illustrations, it's a fascinating trek.” * San Jose Mercury News *"The Langston Hughes House, the Angel Island Immigration Station, and Hollywood Boulevard…they're all here, having influenced the writing of America's great literary geniuses. But the most poignant and memorable pages aren't about buildings and places; they're about the daily lives, crises, and interactions that motivated these writers to record fascinating, beautiful, and painful passages of history." * American Road *"Writing America is a triumph of scholarship and passion, a profound exploration of the many worlds which comprise our national canon . . . a book that redraws the literary map of the United States." -- Junot Díaz * author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao *"Writing America is designed for those who love not only literature, but also history and landscape, and the conversation they have with one another. I could not stop reading." -- Philip Deloria * author of Playing Indian *"What a fine, informative, and welcome book by Professor Fishkin. In brief, a first class piece of work that has been long in coming. It not only deserves a warm reception, it is also to be treasured by professionals as well as by beginners." -- Rolando Hinojosa * novelist and essayist *"Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the best guide you could have through American literature and the places that inspired it. She writes like an angel. She appreciates the diversity and humor of the American spirit. Read her!" -- Erica Jong * poet and author *"Shelley Fisher Fishkin's Writing America is an uncommon travel narrative. Fishkin takes the National Register of Historic Places as a starting point to develop a diverse literary itinerary for the nation … For Fishkin and those who travel with her, literature makes these places and their histories come to life - and this can inspire us all to look anew at the historic places around us." * The Journal of American History *"Filled to the brim with literary treasures; it is a fine traveling companion for those with a little time to wander - and to wonder about America's literary past." * Book Chase *"Big, handsome, well-illustrated ... A book to own and read over and over again." * Booklist online *"An excellent companion for any lover of American literature." * New Jersey Monthly *"Writing America is an intelligent, meandering look at the rich interplay between writers and their places… Fishkin writes like a favorite college professor speaks: throwing out quotable lines, grabbing our attention with revelatory anecdotes, making us laugh at the human comedy, making us cry at inhumane injustice - while all the time, whetting our appetite to read more American literature. Highly recommended." * The Journal of American Culture *"A splendid travel guide for readers." * Yale Alumni Magazine *“When landscape and literature meet in Writing America, the life and work of great authors light up as in vivid Technicolor.” * Stanford Report *"Through the prism of more than 150 National Register historic sites, this eclectic, essential work honors authors’ voices both mainstream and underrepresented. Thought- and even tear-provoking, Writing America will leave you in awe of the writers whose worlds and words comprise our country’s canon. Lovers of American lit, commence salivating." * Swarthmore College Bulletin *"An impressive body of exceptional and detailed scholarship. Highly recommended." * Midwest Book Review *"This book cuts straight to the soul of America in all its shades and colors. I don't think anyone has ever put together a book that’s quite so extraordinary. I certainly have never read one." -- Hal Holbrook * actor, Mark Twain Tonight!, author, Harold *"This absorbing and wondrous book is a glorious cornucopia of America's literary memory. Writing America is necessary, delicious, and nourishing food for the American artist, reader and writer." -- Min Jin Lee * author of Free Food for Millionaires *"Just when you thought you knew American literature, along comes Shelley Fisher Fishkin to show you what you've missed . . . and to make you think about it. She ushers us into both familiar and unusual spaces with prose as accessible as it is learned, observations that are clear and sometimes quirky, and quotations that prove the synergy between literature and place. She takes American literature out of the library and relocates it in the public square, revealing its essence as the most eloquent tour guide imaginable." -- David Bradley * author of South Street and The Chaneysville Incident *"Writing America presents us with an exquisitely rendered geography, in word and image alike, of the nation's diverse literary heritage." -- Eric J. Sundquist * Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Johns Hopkins University *"Smartly introduced, lavishly illustrated, and beautifully designed, Writing America treats the reader to sites associated with American authors and puts houses, landmarks, memorials, and museums into a vivid relationship with texts." -- Werner Sollors * coeditor with Greil Marcus of A New Literary History of America *"A vibrant and thoughtful guide through American literary history." * Chicago Tribune *Winner of the John S. Tuckey 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award for Mark Twain Scholarship from The Center for Mark Twain Studies * The Center for Mark Twain Studies *"There is no one better suited to illuminate the connections between America’s great authors and the places in which they built their writing and their lives than Shelley Fisher Fishkin; give yourself a thoughtful treat and keep this book by your bedside to dip in and out of as the mood strikes." * Harper's Bazaar *"Meeting at the intersection of physical place, history and literature, Writing America brings readers along for the ride, pinpointing the locales that fueled the imaginations of some of our most important writers." * Ms. Magazine *Shelley Fisher Fishkin talks literature, place, and what it means to be American with Josh Logue (https://goo.gl/W1dgt7) * Inside Higher Ed *"The depth of Fishkin's knowledge and the dynamism of her enthusiasm elevate this 'reader's companion' from superb resource to lustrous and delectable." * Booklist journal, starred review *"A must for book-loving travelers of the armchair and more intrepid kinds." * Library Journal, starred review *"Using the National Register of Historic Places as her guide, the author sparks interesting questions regarding how writers influence, and are influenced by, place … Fishkin's book offers a diverse look at our nation's literary landscape and history." * Publishers Weekly *"Perfect for the armchair traveler or the reader who enjoys hitting the road, Shelley Fisher Fishkin’s Writing America is a meticulously researched, beautifully written survey of the nation’s most beloved literary sites ... A vivid mosaic of the cultures, voices and geographies that inform America’s literary inheritance ... It’s the ultimate trip advisor for lovers of literature and history." * BookPage *“Published on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Historic Preservation Act, [Writing America] traces the footsteps of William Faulkner, Allen Ginsberg, Zora Neale Hurston, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe and many others. With more than 60 illustrations, it's a fascinating trek.” * San Jose Mercury News *"The Langston Hughes House, the Angel Island Immigration Station, and Hollywood Boulevard…they're all here, having influenced the writing of America's great literary geniuses. But the most poignant and memorable pages aren't about buildings and places; they're about the daily lives, crises, and interactions that motivated these writers to record fascinating, beautiful, and painful passages of history." * American Road *"Writing America is a triumph of scholarship and passion, a profound exploration of the many worlds which comprise our national canon . . . a book that redraws the literary map of the United States." -- Junot Díaz * author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao *"Writing America is designed for those who love not only literature, but also history and landscape, and the conversation they have with one another. I could not stop reading." -- Philip Deloria * author of Playing Indian *"What a fine, informative, and welcome book by Professor Fishkin. In brief, a first class piece of work that has been long in coming. It not only deserves a warm reception, it is also to be treasured by professionals as well as by beginners." -- Rolando Hinojosa * novelist and essayist *"Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the best guide you could have through American literature and the places that inspired it. She writes like an angel. She appreciates the diversity and humor of the American spirit. Read her!" -- Erica Jong * poet and author *"Shelley Fisher Fishkin's Writing America is an uncommon travel narrative. Fishkin takes the National Register of Historic Places as a starting point to develop a diverse literary itinerary for the nation … For Fishkin and those who travel with her, literature makes these places and their histories come to life - and this can inspire us all to look anew at the historic places around us." * The Journal of American History *"Filled to the brim with literary treasures; it is a fine traveling companion for those with a little time to wander - and to wonder about America's literary past." * Book Chase *"Big, handsome, well-illustrated ... A book to own and read over and over again." * Booklist online *"An excellent companion for any lover of American literature." * New Jersey Monthly *"Writing America is an intelligent, meandering look at the rich interplay between writers and their places… Fishkin writes like a favorite college professor speaks: throwing out quotable lines, grabbing our attention with revelatory anecdotes, making us laugh at the human comedy, making us cry at inhumane injustice - while all the time, whetting our appetite to read more American literature. Highly recommended." * The Journal of American Culture *"A splendid travel guide for readers." * Yale Alumni Magazine *“When landscape and literature meet in Writing America, the life and work of great authors light up as in vivid Technicolor.” * Stanford Report *"Through the prism of more than 150 National Register historic sites, this eclectic, essential work honors authors’ voices both mainstream and underrepresented. Thought- and even tear-provoking, Writing America will leave you in awe of the writers whose worlds and words comprise our country’s canon. Lovers of American lit, commence salivating." * Swarthmore College Bulletin *"An impressive body of exceptional and detailed scholarship. Highly recommended." * Midwest Book Review *"This book cuts straight to the soul of America in all its shades and colors. I don't think anyone has ever put together a book that’s quite so extraordinary. I certainly have never read one." -- Hal Holbrook * actor, Mark Twain Tonight!, author, Harold *"This absorbing and wondrous book is a glorious cornucopia of America's literary memory. Writing America is necessary, delicious, and nourishing food for the American artist, reader and writer." -- Min Jin Lee * author of Free Food for Millionaires *"Just when you thought you knew American literature, along comes Shelley Fisher Fishkin to show you what you've missed . . . and to make you think about it. She ushers us into both familiar and unusual spaces with prose as accessible as it is learned, observations that are clear and sometimes quirky, and quotations that prove the synergy between literature and place. She takes American literature out of the library and relocates it in the public square, revealing its essence as the most eloquent tour guide imaginable." -- David Bradley * author of South Street and The Chaneysville Incident *"Writing America presents us with an exquisitely rendered geography, in word and image alike, of the nation's diverse literary heritage." -- Eric J. Sundquist * Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Johns Hopkins University *"Smartly introduced, lavishly illustrated, and beautifully designed, Writing America treats the reader to sites associated with American authors and puts houses, landmarks, memorials, and museums into a vivid relationship with texts." -- Werner Sollors * coeditor with Greil Marcus of A New Literary History of America *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: The Literary Landscape1 Celebrating the Many in One Walt Whitman Birthplace, Huntington, Long Island, New York2 Living in Harmony with Nature Walden Pond, Concord, Massachusetts3 Freedom’s Port The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, New Bedford, Massachusetts4 The House that Uncle Tom’s Cabin Built Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Hartford, Connecticut5 The Irony of American History The Mark Twain Boyhood Home, Hannibal, Missouri, and the Mark Twain House, Hartford, Connecticut6 Native American Voices Remember Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota7 “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” The Paul Laurence Dunbar House, Dayton, Ohio8 Leaving the Old World for the New The Tenement Museum, New York City9 The Revolt from the Village The Original Main Street, Sauk Centre, Minnesota10 Asian American Writers and Creativity in Confinement Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco, California, and Manzanar National Historic Site, Independence, California11 Harlem and the Flowering of African American Letters The 135th Street Library / The Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture, New York City12 Mexican American Writers in the Borderlands of Culture Roma, La Lomita, San Agustin de Laredo, and San Ygnacio Historic Districts, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas13 American Writers and Dreams of the Silver Screen Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District, Los Angeles, California Index of Authors Index of Historic Sites

    1 in stock

    £17.09

  • Critical Companion to Emily Dickinson

    Critical Companion to Emily Dickinson

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisPresents the life and works of Emily Dickinson, one of the most famous and widely studied American poets of the 19th century. This book contains close readings and critical analyses of more than 150 of Dickinson's best-known poems. It discusses the different aspects of Dickinson's life that influenced her work - family, friends, and many others.

    1 in stock

    £63.75

  • Flannery OConnor

    Flannery OConnor

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisExamines Flannery O'Connor's life and works, and includes critical analyses of some of the themes in her writing, as well as entries on related topics and relevant people, places, and influences.

    1 in stock

    £60.00

  • Fool for Love

    University of Minnesota Press Fool for Love

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFool for Love is Scott Donaldson's masterful biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald-written from a fresh and highly intimate perspective. Fool for LoveTrade Review"The most penetrating psychological examination of the author ever written." —James L. W. West III, editor of The Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald"A stunning portrait. Full of intriguing insights. Donaldson comes close to what the inner man must have been." —Publishers Weekly"Written with great polish and researched as fully as any work on Fitzgerald." —CHOICETable of ContentsContentsPreface1. A Man with No People2. Princeton ‘173. “I Love You, Miss X”4. Darling Heart5. Genius and Glass6. The Glittering Things7. War Between the Sexes8. Running Amuck9. Cracking Up10. Demon Drink11. The Worst Thing12. “a writer only”NotesIndex

    1 in stock

    £15.19

  • First Thought

    University of Minnesota Press First Thought

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Beat Generation's best-known poet, in previously uncollected interviews, on reading and writing, poetry and politicsTrade Review"With a knowledge born out of personal interviews conducted with Allen Ginsberg himself, Michael Schumacher understands more about Ginsberg’s poetry than anyone alive. This book presents Ginsberg’s own words in a thought-provoking, entertaining, and intelligent way. It is destined to be a perfect companion to any study of Ginsberg, the poet."—Bill Morgan, author of The Typewriter is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation"Michael Schumacher has dug deep and come up with a treasure trove of Ginsbergian thought—on topics ranging from sex and drugs and rock & roll to the genesis of "Howl" and On the Road. We even get a writing how-to via the transcript of a Naropa classroom discussion between Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, and William S. Burroughs. This fascinating compendium is the perfect addition to the Beat canon."—Holly George-Warren, author of A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton and editor of The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats "Schumacher provides an introduction to First Thought that ought to make Ginsberg fans scream with joy."—San Francisco Chronicle"First Thought reacquaints us with a wonderfully authentic person and poet."—PopMatters"The collection is genuinely worthwhile."—Rain TaxiTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction: Ginsberg’s Visions of Ordinary Mind Michael SchumacherPortrait of a BeatAl Aronowitz, 1960Ginsberg Makes the World SceneRichard Kostalanetz, 1965Ginsberg in Washington: Lobbying for TendernessDon McNeill, 1966A Conversation between Ezra Pound and Allen GinsbergMichael Reck, 1968Identity GossipGordon Ball, 1974A Conversation with Allen GinsbergJohn Tytell, 1974An Interview with Allen GinsbergJames McKenzie, 1978Slice of Reality LifeStephen M. H. Braitman, 1974Visions of Ordinary Mind (1948–1955): Discourse, with Questions and Answers, June 9, 1976Paul Portuges, 1976Allen Ginsberg Talks about PoetryKenneth Koch, 1977Words and Music, Music, MusicMitchell Feldman, 1982William Burroughs, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg: How to Notice What You Notice, How to Write a Bestseller, How to Not Solve a Crime in AmericaAllen Ginsberg, 1985Dreams, Reconciliations, and “Spots of Time”: An Interview with Allen GinsbergMichael Schumacher, 1986No More Bagels: An Interview with Allen GinsbergSteve Silberman, 1987Ginsberg Accuses Neo-Conservatives of Political CorrectnessKathleen O’Toole, 1995A Conversation with Allen GinsbergTom McIntyre, 1995The Beats and the Boom: A Conversation with Allen GinsbergSeth Goddard, 1995Allen Ginsberg: An InterviewGary Pacernick, 1997ChronologyBooks by Allen Ginsberg

    3 in stock

    £15.19

  • Ingrid Jonker  Poet under Apartheid

    Ohio University Press Ingrid Jonker Poet under Apartheid

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisNelson Mandela brought the poetry of Ingrid Jonker to the attention of South Africa and the wider world when he read her poem “Die kind” (The Child) at the opening of South Africa’s first democratic parliament on May 24, 1994.

    1 in stock

    £12.99

  • The First Woman in the Republic  A Cultural

    Duke University Press The First Woman in the Republic A Cultural

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTrade Review"A monumental scholarly achievement."—Joan Hedrick, author of Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life"The definitive biography of a major figure in American literary and political history.—Richard Slotkin, author of Gunfighter Nation"This is a magnificent book. Child’s character emerges as a model for what a woman can be."—Jane Tompkins, author of West of Everything“Child’s was a ‘household name’ during her lifetime, Carolyn Karcher writes, . . . yet since then her works and influence have been all but ‘erased from history.’ Ms. Karcher hopes to restore that reputation and to familiarize the modern reader with Child’s writings through a literary biography based on ‘extensive quotation and detailed literary analysis.’ Ms. Karcher’s goal is an admirable one; Child’s importance and influence should be reasserted.” * New York Times Book Review *“Karcher convincingly argues that Child deserves recognition as one of the handful of leading women intellectuals of her day: indeed, of leading intellectuals of either sex.” * London Review of Books *“Karcher details Child’s life in a thoroughly researched manner that emphasizes Child’s own writings.” * Library Journal *“Karcher has prodigiously researched nineteenth-century life in America to place her subject in historical context for this definitive biography.” * Publishers Weekly *“Karcher’s biography of Child is a monumentally thorough scholarly work.” * Women's Review of Books *“Lydia Maria Child’s rich and expansive life has finally been accorded the voluminous treatment it deserves.” * American Historical Review *“This valuable portrait of a complex and talented woman may be most notable for indicating the extent to which she was of—rather than ahead of—her time.” * Kirkus Reviews *Table of ContentsIllustrations ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi Chronology xix Abbreviations xxvi Prologue: A Passion for Books 1 1. The Author of Hobomok 16 2. Rebels and "Rivals": Self Portraits of a Conflicted Young Artist 38 3. The Juvenile Miscellany: The Creation of an American Children's Literature 57 4. A Marriage of True Minds: Espousing the Indian Cause 80 5. Blighted Prospects: Indian Fiction and Domestic Reality 101 6. The Frugal Housewife: Financial Worries and Domestic Advice 126 7. Children's Literature and Antislavery: Conservative Medium, Radical Message 151 8. "The First Woman in the Republic": An Antislavery Baptism 173 9. An Antislavery Marriage: Careers at Cross Purposes 195 10. The Conditions of Women: Double Binds, Unresolved Conflicts 214 11. Schisms, Personal and Political 249 12. The National Anti-Slavery Standard: Family Newspaper or Factional Organ? 267 13. Letters from New York: The Invention of a New Literary Genre 295 14. Sexuality and Marriage in Fact and Fiction 320 15. The Progress of Religious Ideas: A "Pilgrimage of Pennance" 356 16. Autumnal Leaves: Reconsecrated Partnerships, Personal and Political 384 17. The Example of John Brown 416 18. Child's Civil War 443 19. Visions of a Reconstructed America: The Freedmen's Book and A Romance of the Republic 487 20. A Radical Old Age 532 21. Aspirations of the World 573 Afterword 608 Notes 617 Works of Lydia Maria Child 757 Index 773

    1 in stock

    £131.75

  • The First Woman in the Republic  A Cultural

    Duke University Press The First Woman in the Republic A Cultural

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTrade Review"A monumental scholarly achievement."—Joan Hedrick, author of Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life"The definitive biography of a major figure in American literary and political history.—Richard Slotkin, author of Gunfighter Nation"This is a magnificent book. Child’s character emerges as a model for what a woman can be."—Jane Tompkins, author of West of Everything“Child’s was a ‘household name’ during her lifetime, Carolyn Karcher writes, . . . yet since then her works and influence have been all but ‘erased from history.’ Ms. Karcher hopes to restore that reputation and to familiarize the modern reader with Child’s writings through a literary biography based on ‘extensive quotation and detailed literary analysis.’ Ms. Karcher’s goal is an admirable one; Child’s importance and influence should be reasserted.” * New York Times Book Review *“Karcher convincingly argues that Child deserves recognition as one of the handful of leading women intellectuals of her day: indeed, of leading intellectuals of either sex.” * London Review of Books *“Karcher details Child’s life in a thoroughly researched manner that emphasizes Child’s own writings.” * Library Journal *“Karcher has prodigiously researched nineteenth-century life in America to place her subject in historical context for this definitive biography.” * Publishers Weekly *“Karcher’s biography of Child is a monumentally thorough scholarly work.” * Women's Review of Books *“Lydia Maria Child’s rich and expansive life has finally been accorded the voluminous treatment it deserves.” * American Historical Review *“This valuable portrait of a complex and talented woman may be most notable for indicating the extent to which she was of—rather than ahead of—her time.” * Kirkus Reviews *Table of ContentsIllustrations ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi Chronology xix Abbreviations xxvi Prologue: A Passion for Books 1 1. The Author of Hobomok 16 2. Rebels and "Rivals": Self Portraits of a Conflicted Young Artist 38 3. The Juvenile Miscellany: The Creation of an American Children's Literature 57 4. A Marriage of True Minds: Espousing the Indian Cause 80 5. Blighted Prospects: Indian Fiction and Domestic Reality 101 6. The Frugal Housewife: Financial Worries and Domestic Advice 126 7. Children's Literature and Antislavery: Conservative Medium, Radical Message 151 8. "The First Woman in the Republic": An Antislavery Baptism 173 9. An Antislavery Marriage: Careers at Cross Purposes 195 10. The Conditions of Women: Double Binds, Unresolved Conflicts 214 11. Schisms, Personal and Political 249 12. The National Anti-Slavery Standard: Family Newspaper or Factional Organ? 267 13. Letters from New York: The Invention of a New Literary Genre 295 14. Sexuality and Marriage in Fact and Fiction 320 15. The Progress of Religious Ideas: A "Pilgrimage of Pennance" 356 16. Autumnal Leaves: Reconsecrated Partnerships, Personal and Political 384 17. The Example of John Brown 416 18. Child's Civil War 443 19. Visions of a Reconstructed America: The Freedmen's Book and A Romance of the Republic 487 20. A Radical Old Age 532 21. Aspirations of the World 573 Afterword 608 Notes 617 Works of Lydia Maria Child 757 Index 773

    1 in stock

    £33.30

  • William Wordsworth  A Poetic Life

    Fordham University Press William Wordsworth A Poetic Life

    Book SynopsisThis biography of William Wordsworth attempts to tell the story of his life through a rigourous reading of key and representative works of the poet. Its reading of the poems, in tune with current theoretical practice, offers a sense of the continuities in Wordsworth's life.Trade Review"Literary biography is flourishing these days, and now it's Wordsworth's turn in this examination of the "episodes in a poetic life," or moments when the poems and life intersect. Mahoney (Boston Coll.; The English Romantics, 1978) gives a cautious nod here to deconstruction, which he sees as exposing the different and often opposed meanings of a text, as well as the New Historicism, which deepens the reader's sense of the poet's engagement with the world. But while Mahoney's approach is enriched by both of these contemporary strategies, his larger goal is to write neither a critical study nor a life per se but something more like a biography of the poet's career, when Wordsworth was, in the fullest sense, his most writerly self." -Library Journal

    £31.50

  • The AuthorCat

    ME - Fordham University Press The AuthorCat

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAt the end of his long life, Samuel Clemens felt driven to write a truthful account of what he regarded as the flaws in his character and the errors of his ways. Tracing the theme of bad faith in all of Clemens' major writing, this book sheds light on a tormented moral life.Trade Review...Robinson has created a valuable inroad for a deeper understanding of Clemens and his work.. * —American Literary Realism *Illuminating and provocative . . . well worth the attention of anyone who cares about this complex and intriguing author.---—Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Stanford UniversityRemind[s] us of the source of Twin's dark ramblings—his own horror- and grief-filled experience—and to consider in compelling, and sometimes ingenious, ways how they are revealed in the author's fiction. * —The New England Quarterly *Forrest Robinson's The Author-Cat is fine cognac distilled from the life and works of Twain. He eloquently explores the author's psyche and art. Robinson does more in two-hundred pages than many do in a thousand -- and in delicious prose."---—Terrell Dempsey, author of Searching for Jim: Slavery in Sam Clemens's WorldRobinson helps to prove one of his fundamental assumptions, that we are seldom able to separate authors' lives, their intentions, and their works. * —M/C Reviews *Robinson obviously wants to be careful with his psychoanalyzing, trying not to overstep what he feels can be claimed from the texts. In addition, his textual evidence is comprehensive, found not just in fictions but in letters and manuscripts, composing a persuasive image of Samuel Clemens and his bad faith performances. * —Studies in American Humor *An interesting topic, this book would be worth reading along with Twain's 'Autobiography,' Twain's final attempt to reveal his dark side. * —Santa Cruz Sentinel *To read this book is to participate in a study of Samuel Clemens' creative imagination and the guilty conscience that drove him toward auto-biographical confession. Yet, it was fiction and its forms—stories, novels, dreams—that gave his imagination access to the rich material of his experience. Writing with patience, clarity, and perception, Robinson literally feels his way into the lives and psychic enery of Mark Twain's characters. This book is both a gift and a challenge: a comprehensive reading of Mark Twain's major work that will help every reader; and a critical vision of Samuel Clemens' writiing that will confront every future writer on the subject. ---—James M. Cox, Professor Emeritus, Dartmouth CollegeRobinson succeeds in presenting a portrait of Samuel Clemens as a tortured soul who never escaped guilt and who was an ineffectual 'author-cat' at burying his shame. * —Mark Twain Forum *

    1 in stock

    £45.00

  • Pure Act

    Fordham University Press Pure Act

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA biography of experimental poet and spiritual seeker Robert Lax, who inspired Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac and many others. Using information and stories drawn from journal entries, letters, interviews and the author’s personal recollections, the book chronicles the development of Lax’s distinctive poetic style and a spontaneous, spiritual approach to life he called pure act.Trade Review"Presenting Lax as an embodiment of the "wisdom of simplicity" and himself as a "naive boy who had washed up on his shores", McGregor becomes both unobtrusive character and reliable narrator in this text, connected to Lax by the author's own need for personal searching." -The Merton Seasonal "This is a biography to which I will return for inspiration." -Rev. Ted Huffman "Biographer Michael McGregor periodically visited [Lax] in Greece starting in 1985; his authorial reflections set the tone and character for his excellent biography, revealing the tug-and-pull of the particular in Lax's life." -American Catholic Studies "McGregor, who discovered Lax after reading Merton's classic book The Seven-Storey Mountain as a young man, subtitles his biography The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax. The poet, who spent most of his life living an austere, quiet life in Greece, latterly on the island of Patmos, regarded his dwelling place as 'like living in a church.'" -The Catholic Herald "[Pure Act] will help re-awaken your idealism." -Ron Rolheiser, OMI "Pure Act is a homage, a love letter, an apologia for a curious poetics, and a well-considered story about an uncommon man and his very uncommon life. For us, it may prove something of a wake-up call as well." -- -Scott Cairns The Christian Century "Pure Act is an admiring biography, one that is well-researched and written with affection...While Lax's strange life--McGregor calls it an "uncommon" life--will not cause readers to emulate it, it will provoke them to ponder what it is to be fully human. This is, of course, one of the principal functions of biography, needed now more than ever." -- -Dana Greene National Catholic ReporterTable of ContentsPrologue: Going Back 1. A Mutual Wonder-field 2. Ends and Means 3. Portals to a Land of Dusk 4. The Cottage 5. Lo, the sun walks forth! 6. Suicide Notes 7. The Scream 8. Aquinas and the Circus Beckon 9. The Siren Call of Hollywood 10. On the Road with the Cristianis 11. Being a Presence in Postwar Marseilles 12. Entering the Lion's Mouth 13. Paris, Jubilee, and Kerouac 14. Inspiration in a Greek Diner 15. A New Poetics 16. "Original Child Bomb" and an Island Home 17. The Sorrow of the Sponge Diver 18. A Saint of the Avant-Garde 19. Alone in the World 20. A Galapagos of the Spirit 21. All Thoughts as They Come 22. The Flaw in the Ideal 23. Hell Hath No Fury 24. Finding a Common Language 25. Pure Act Becomes Pure Love 26. The Peacemaker's Handbook Epilogue: The Singer and the Song Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments Photographs follow page

    1 in stock

    £16.99

  • Queer Compulsions

    University of Hawai'i Press Queer Compulsions

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThrough the romantic life of Yone Noguchi, Queer Compulsions narrates how even the queerest of intimacies can more provocatively serve as a reflection of rather than a revolt from existing social inequality.

    1 in stock

    £22.36

  • The Life of Mark Twain

    University of Missouri Press The Life of Mark Twain

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTrade ReviewGary Scharnhorst's monumental biography sets a new standard for comprehensiveness. This will prove to be the standard biography for our generation."" - Alan Gribben, author of Mark Twain's Literary Resources: A Reconstruction of His Library and Reading""Clear and engaging, Scharnhorst's prose keeps you rolling happily through this consummate American adventure."" - Bruce Michelson, author of Printer's Devil: Mark Twain and the American Publishing Revolution‘Scharnhorst’s thorough and careful research results in a scholarly biography that will undoubtedly be considered definitive’ -Publishers Weekly"A lively, richly detailed, and sharply perceptive biography." — Kirkus

    1 in stock

    £46.50

  • The Life of Mark Twain

    University of Missouri Press The Life of Mark Twain

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe last installment of Scharnhorst's three-volume biography chronicles the life of Samuel Clemens between his family's extended trip to Europe in 1891 and his death in 1910. During this period, Clemens grapples with bankruptcy, the lecture circuit, loses two daughters and his wife, and writes some of his darkest, most critical works.

    3 in stock

    £46.50

  • UNIV OF MISSOURI PR The Life of Mark Twain 3 Volume Set

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisA three-volume, hardcover set of Gary Scharnhorst’s biography of Samuel Clemens that includes The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years, 1835-1871; The Life of Mark Twain: The Middle Years, 1871-1891; and The Life of Mark Twain: The Final Years, 1891-1910.

    2 in stock

    £91.80

  • Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens  Reportage

    Seagull Books Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens Reportage

    Book SynopsisA memoir of the author's travels in China.Trade Review"The narrator travels through modern 'global', yet somehow still Maoist, China, trying to reach the past, trying to see what remains of the Middle Kingdom's ancient cultural riches, and trying to reach the city of Jiuhuashan (always asking: 'This still isn't Jiuhuashan, is it?'). But the last thing Krasznahorkai is ever going to offer us is false hope or neat resolutions."--Epler, Barbara "TANK Magazine "

    £18.04

  • One Day a Year

    Seagull Books London Ltd One Day a Year

    Book SynopsisTable of Contents1. My 27th of September: Preface to 'One Day a Year, 1960–2000'2. Editor’s NoteGerhard Wolf3. One Day a Year, 2001–20114. Facsimiles of Handwritten Pages 5. Notes

    £11.77

  • Forging Fame

    Cornell University Press Forging Fame

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIf poets are liars by profession, Sharmel Iris was truly professional. Poet, plagiarist, imposter, and forger, Iris engaged in a lifelong campaign of self-promotion that linked him to a constellation of leading writers and public figures, among them T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Joyce Kilmer, Ezra Pound, Dame Edith Sitwell, Diego Rivera, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Wrigley, and Woodrow Wilson. Of poets writing today, there is no greater, states a preface, signed by W. B. Yeats, to one of Iris''s volumes of poetryalthough at the time of publication Yeats had been dead for several years. Examining Iris'' grandiose fantasy, Craig Abbott exposes his forgery, plagiarism, and imposture.As a child, Iris had emigrated from Italy with his mother, who arrived in Chicago in pursuit of the American dream. Driven by ambition and narcissism, he began publishing poetry in 1905, participated in the Chicago Renaissance, and contiTrade ReviewOnce picked up, cannot easily be put down. * Midwest Book Review *Jaw-dropping in places, Abbott's book entertains beyond a constant escalation of Iris' audacity and narcissism. There is also much wit. * Chronicle of Higher Education *Table of ContentsPreface 1. Youth of Genius, 1889–1913 2. New Poet, 1913–1922 3. Apparitional Schemer, 1923–1939 4. Nonpublishing Poet, 1940–1949 5. Resurrected Genius, 1950–1953 6. International Poet in Residence, 1954–1959 7. Autobiographer, 1950s and 1960s 8. Local Celebrity, 1960–1967 Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £24.29

  • Fyodor DostoevskyIn the Beginning 18211845

    Cornell University Press Fyodor DostoevskyIn the Beginning 18211845

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisMore than a century after his death in 1881, Fyodor Dostoevsky continues to fascinate readers and reviewers. Countless studies of his writing have been publishedmore than a dozen in the past few years alone. In this important new work, Thomas Marullo provides a diary-portrait of Dostoevsky''s early years drawn from the letters, memoirs, and criticism of the writer, as well as from the testimony and witness of family and friends, readers and reviewers, and observers and participants in his life. Marullo''s exhaustive search of published materials on Dostoevsky sheds light on many unexplored corners of Dostoevsky''s childhood, adolescence, and youth. Speakers of excerpts are given maximum freedom: Anything they said about the writerthe good and the bad, the truth and the liesare included, with extensive footnotes providing correctives, counter-arguments, and other pertinent information.The first part of this volume, All in the Family, focuses on Dostoevsky''s early formaTrade Review[This book] gives a fascinating insight into Dostoevskii's early development as a writer. Marullo's selection is very revealing of Dostoevsky's creative process and his personality. * Slavic & East European Journal *Young Dostoevsky emerges from these pages as a complex individual, similar to the most fascinating and captivating characters of his mature fiction-embracing contradictions, reconciling conflicts, and resisting definitions. Any Dostoevsky admirer, whether a reader or a scholar, will find the book to be a valuable addition to extant Dostoevsky scholarship. * The Russian Review *Assembling the thrilling facts and legends about Dostoevsky, Marullo has invented a new genre of biography, 'a portrait of the writer in a new and seminal way.' Readers can not only form their own opinions about disputed events but also trace the origins of various legends. * New York Review of Books *[Marullo's] exhaustive research into every aspect of Dostoevsky's life over this period results in a vivid account of the writer's recurring patterns. Readers can look forward to how volume three projects these patterns across the period of Dostoevsky's greatest works, which were yet to come. Highly recommended. * Choice *

    7 in stock

    £97.20

  • Irving Wallace a Writers Choice

    MP-WIS Uni of Wisconsin Irving Wallace a Writers Choice

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £21.21

  • The Life of George Eliot

    John Wiley and Sons Ltd The Life of George Eliot

    Book SynopsisThe life story of the Victorian novelist George Eliot is as dramatic and complex as her best plots. This new assessment of her life and work combines recent biographical research with penetrating literary criticism, resulting in revealing new interpretations of her literary work. A fresh look at George Eliot''s captivating life story Includes original new analysis of her writing Deploys the latest biographical research Combines literary criticism with biographical narrative to offer a rounded perspective Trade Review“It is no surprise that this book is now available in paperback: compact and hugely suggestive, bringing us new things to think about, showing us old myths to discard; in its productive disruption of commonplace fact/fiction approaches to the life and works mode, it enriches and enlarges our understanding of the writer and her writings.” (Cercles, 1 June 2015)Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi List of Abbreviations xiii 1 The History of a Writer: George Eliot and Biographies 1 2 Early Years: 1819–50 22 3 London and Lewes: 1850–4 64 4 Marian Lewes and George Eliot: 1855–60 95 5 Silas Marner and Romola: 1860–4 120 6 Felix Holt and The Spanish Gypsy: 1865–9 153 7 Middlemarch: 1870–2 181 8 Daniel Deronda: 1873–6 207 9 Impressions of Theophrastus Such: 1877–9 235 10 The Final Years: 1879 to Cross’s Life 255 Bibliography 271 Index 287

    £29.40

  • The Life of the Author John Milton

    John Wiley and Sons Ltd The Life of the Author John Milton

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisTHE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR An expansive biography of John Milton, including an assessment of his poetry and prose and an account of the ways in which he has been presented over the past three and a half centurieswritten by a leading scholar in the fieldIt is hard to overstate the role that John Milton played in the historical, political and literary controversies of seventeenth century England; his writings and very life challenged the status quo. Living through one of the most tumultuous periods in British history, Milton was involved at every turn. Struggling to reconcile his private beliefs with his involvement with a radical political experiment, a republic which involved the killing of the monarch, his star rose and fell several times during his life. Married three times, struck blind at a cruelly early age, he was a famed pamphleteer and political activist whose revolutionary political credos placed him in mortal danger after the Restoration. Milton's varied life makes fTable of ContentsAcknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Part One Life 3 1 The City of London 5 2 Cambridge 15 3 Preparation 28 4 Travels 42 5 The Civil War 48 6 The Cromwellian Republic 69 7 The Restoration 98 8 Paradise Lost 104 9 Milton's Last Years and Paradise Regained 130 Part Two Lives After Death 139 10 The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 141 11 The Romantics and the Victorians 147 12 The Twentieth Century 157 13 Critical Theory 167 Abbreviations and Referencing 198 Bibliography 199 Index 206

    7 in stock

    £19.90

  • The Planter of Modern Life

    WW Norton & Co The Planter of Modern Life

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisWinner of the 2021 IACP Award for Literary or Historical Food Writing Longlisted for the 2021 Plutarch Award How a leading writer of the Lost Generation became America's most famous farmer and inspired the organic food movement.Trade Review"Heyman applies keen narrative skills to tell the story of Bromfield’s celebrity-studded life—two lives, really—as an author and farmer. The result is a rattling good yarn." -- Barry Estabrook - The Wall Street Journal"Inspirational...Bromfield’s original insight was seeing the crucial importance of soil health before science really understood why this matters, or how to build it." -- David R. Montgomery - Nature"The Planter of Modern Life is an inspiriting read in its entirety — the kind that restores your faith in the humans that make humanity." -- Maria Popova - The Marginalian"Mesmerizing. Abounding in wit, insight, elegance, and narrative talent, The Planter of Modern Life is at once terribly entertaining and subtly illuminating—rather like Bromfield himself, a man at ease in the most rarified Parisian gatherings and bumping along on a tractor on his Ohio farm. This original, ardent visionary of the American environmental future still has much to teach us." -- Victoria Johnson, author of American Eden"This is more than a sparkling biography; it’s a botanical adventure story of a full, plant-based bohemian life, following the journey of a modern Johnny Appleseed from Ohio to World War I France to Hollywood to our dinner plates." -- Michael W. Twitty, author of The Cooking Gene"The astounding tale of Louis Bromfield, a rare and accomplished figure who has vanished from collective memory, despite his importance to issues ranging from organic food to the ephemeral nature of fame. An engaging and fascinating book on many levels." -- Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod and Salt"If Stephen Heyman had written Louis Bromfield’s life as a novel, readers would have found the tale too tall to believe." -- Deirdre Bair, author of Parisian Lives"A brilliant, engaging read about the life of a literary icon and, until now, unrecognized founder of the organic movement." -- Dan Barber, chef of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, author of The Third Plate"I couldn’t put this book down. In this wonderful biography, Stephen Heyman pulls the curtain back so those of us who practically idolized this bigger-than-life soil spokesman can finally understand the complicated man behind the legend." -- Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farm, author of Folks, This Ain’t Normal"Heyman turns the story of this novelist, screenwriter, nonfiction author, and pioneering farmer into an utterly engrossing account of both his life and his times…[The Planter of Modern Life] is a biography of dual landscapes—literary and pastoral—as much as a chronicle of a man…An outstanding debut." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"In this delightful and exhilarating page-turner…Heyman does an impressive job of combining all of Bromfield’s interests into a cohesive narrative that captivates as both intriguing history and a significant look at early environmentalism." -- Booklist (starred review)

    10 in stock

    £19.94

  • Fanny Hill in Bombay

    Johns Hopkins University Press Fanny Hill in Bombay

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisReconnecting Cleland's writing to its literary and social milieu, this study offers new insights into the history of authorship and the literary marketplace and contributes to contemporary debates on pornography, censorship, the history of sexuality, and the contested role of literature in eighteenth-century culture.Trade ReviewAn impressively learned, scrupulously detailed study. -- Terry Eagleton London Review of Books Cleland's life story is a puzzle with many pieces still missing. But Gladfelder's careful, painstaking reconstructions have brought the fascinating picture into much clearer focus. Choice Anyone interested in the history of pornography or Cleland cannot afford to be without this study of the writer and his work. -- Julie Peakman Times Literary Supplement Lucid and engaging. -- Paul Baines Review of English Studies Fanny Hill in Bombay will prove to be of essential reading to scholars of many kinds: of the novel; print culture; social; legal and colonial history; and translation. -- Gregory Lynall Women's History Review Intelligently conceived, intensely researched, gracefully articulated, Mr. Gladfelder's Fanny Hill in Bombay has 'made'... the 'literary career' of Cleland as a perversely exemplary 'miscellaneous writer' on the cusp of modernity. -- William H. Epstein The ScriblerianTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsJohn Cleland: A Chronology1. Fanny Hill in Bombay (1728–1740)2. Down and Out in Lisbon and London (1741–1748)3. Sodomites (1748–1749)4. Three Memoirs (1748–1752)5. The Hack (1749–1759)6. The Man of Feeling (1752–1768)7. A Briton (1757–1787)Epilogue: AfterlifeAppendix: Cleland's Mémoire to King João V of Portugal (1742)NotesBibliographyIndex

    1 in stock

    £45.00

  • The Making of Jane Austen

    Johns Hopkins University Press The Making of Jane Austen

    Book SynopsisWhether you're a devoted Janeite or simply Jane-curious, The Making of Jane Austen will have you thinking about how a literary icon is made, transformed, and handed down from generation to generation.Trade ReviewAusten fans have another book to add to their libraries. Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsIntroduction: Jane Austen MattersPart I: Jane Austen, Illustrated1. Austen's First English Illustrator: Ferdinand Pickering's Vioctorian Sensationalism2. Visual Austen Experiments: From Lush Landscapes to Bearded Heroes3. A Golden Age for Illustrated Austen: From Peacocks to PhotoplaysPart II: Jane Austen, Dramatized4. Austen's First Dramatist: Rosina Filippi's Duologues for Every Cultivated Amateur5. Playing Mr. Darcy before Laurence Olivier: Cross Dressing, Consuming Passion, and Cracking the Whip6. Dear Jane: Christian Spinster, Feminist Flirt, and Shadow Actress7. Stage to Screen Pride and Prejudice: Hollywood's Austen and Its Unrealized ScreenplaysPart III: Jane Austen, Politicized8. The Night of the Divine Jane: Men's Club Clashes and Politics in the Periodical Press9. Stone-Throwing Jane Austen: Suffragist Street Activism, Grand Pageants, and Costume PartiesPart IV: Jane Austen, Schooled10. The First Jane Austen Dissertation: George Pellew and the Human Telephone11. Textbook Austens: From McGuffey's Readers to National LampoonCoda: Twenty-First Century Jane AustenAfterwordAcknowledgmentsAppendix: Suggested Further ReadingNotesBibliographyIndex

    £22.50

  • The Romance of Real Life

    Johns Hopkins University Press The Romance of Real Life

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1994. The Romance of Real Life aims to reconstruct historically the life and writings of Charles Brockden Brown in terms of their cultural connection. Watts examines in detail Brown's early and later writings. By looking at these often-neglected works more closely, he offers a new perspective on the well-known novels from the late 1790s. Watts's synthetic look at genre as well as chronology reveals broader connections between Brown's literature and American society and culture in the decades of the early republic. Furthermore, Watts situates Brown's writings in terms of the interplay of text, context, and the self, with each factor recognized as mutually shaping the others. The Romance of Real Life incorporates sensitivity to the social history of ideas, in which both the form and content of language remain rooted in the material experience of real life.Trade ReviewBright and literate.—Stephen F. Pickering, Journal of the Early RepublicTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. The Novel and the Market in the Early Republic Chapter 2. The Lawyer and the Rhapsodist Chapter 3. The Young Artist as Social Visionary Chapter 4. The Major Novels (I): Fiction and FragmentationChapter 5. The Major Novels (II): Deception and DisintegrationChapter 6. The Writer as Bourgeois MoralistChapter 7. The Writer and the Liberal EgoNotesBibliographic EssayIndex

    5 in stock

    £35.10

  • Becoming T. S. Eliot

    Johns Hopkins University Press Becoming T. S. Eliot

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Apprentice Alone in His Workshop: The Inventions Notebook1. Indebted and Well-Bred: Literary Models and Authority in the Juvenilia2. The Notebook, Begun: The Clash of Laforgue and Baudelaire in the Poems of November 19093. Clearing the Throat: The Poems of Early 19104. Raising the Voice: The Sequence Poems of Fall 19105. Trembling with Pathos: The Paris Poems of Late 1910 and Early 19116. The Short and Surprisingly Private Life of King Bolo: The Bawdy Poems and Their Audiences7. "Prufrock," Abandoned: How the Poem Was Written, How It Was Received, and How It Works8. Mumbling the Denouement: The Last and Undated Poems of the Notebook, late 1911-1915NotesWork CitedIndex

    5 in stock

    £76.05

  • Becoming T. S. Eliot

    Johns Hopkins University Press Becoming T. S. Eliot

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisHow did an ordinary, if intelligent, boy who wrote unremarkable poems becomewith no help, and in record timethe author of one of the most significant and beloved poems of the twentieth century?T. S. Eliot's juvenilia show little inclination to question the social, cultural, religious, or domestic values he had inherited. How did a young man who wrote uninspired doggerel about wilting flowers transform himselfin a mere twenty monthsinto the author of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock? In Becoming T. S. Eliot, Jayme Stayerpraised by Christopher Ricks as a scholar who is scrupulous in acknowledging the contingencies that will always preclude perfectionexplains this staggering accomplishment by tracing Eliot's artistic and intellectual development. Relying on archival research and original analysis, this is the first book dedicated entirely to Inventions of the March Hare, Eliot's youthful notebook, which was once thought lost but was rediscovered after Eliot's death. Stayer places EliotTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Apprentice Alone in His Workshop: The Inventions Notebook1. Indebted and Well-Bred: Literary Models and Authority in the Juvenilia2. The Notebook, Begun: The Clash of Laforgue and Baudelaire in the Poems of November 19093. Clearing the Throat: The Poems of Early 19104. Raising the Voice: The Sequence Poems of Fall 19105. Trembling with Pathos: The Paris Poems of Late 1910 and Early 19116. The Short and Surprisingly Private Life of King Bolo: The Bawdy Poems and Their Audiences7. "Prufrock," Abandoned: How the Poem Was Written, How It Was Received, and How It Works8. Mumbling the Denouement: The Last and Undated Poems of the Notebook, late 1911-1915NotesWork CitedIndex

    15 in stock

    £27.45

  • Dorian Unbound

    Johns Hopkins University Press Dorian Unbound

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £67.15

  • Dorian Unbound

    Johns Hopkins University Press Dorian Unbound

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisA bold reimagining of the literary history of Decadence through a close examination of the transnational contexts of Oscar Wilde's classic novelThe Picture of Dorian Gray. Building upon a large body of archival and critical work on Oscar Wilde's only novel, Dorian Unbound offers a new account of the importance of transnational contexts in the forging of Wilde's imagination and the wider genealogy of literary Decadence. Sean O'Toole argues that the attention critics have rightly paid to Wilde's backgrounds in Victorian Aestheticism and French Decadence has had the unintended effect of obscuring a much broader network of transnational contexts. Attention to these contexts allows us to reconsider how we read The Picture of Dorian Gray, what we believe we know about Wilde, and how we understand literary Decadence as both a persistent, highly mobile cultural mode and a precursor to global modernism. In developing a transnational framework for reading Dorian Gray, O'Toole recovers a subter

    7 in stock

    £26.10

  • Naturalisme pas mort

    University of Toronto Press Naturalisme pas mort

    Book Synopsis Paul Alexis was a novelist, journalist, and dramatist, one of the naturalistes, and a friend of Emile Zola. This volume brings together for the first time the 229 letters still in existence from him to Zola. Written over a period of thirty years, from the beginning of Rougon-Macquart to the Dreyfus affair, they are a  rich source of information on a particularly fertile period in French literature. The letters are intimate, lacking all pretensions to elegance and stylistic constraints; taken together they describe vividly the private life and thoughts of this fervent naturaliste. Alexis was the first to write a biography of Emile Zola, and his letters will be of interest to literary historians and critics for the fresh light they shed on Zola and on the history of naturalisme. Throughout the correspondence Alexis writes of his activities as a free-lance journalist, and provides a first-hand account of the press in France during the nineteenth

    £41.65

  • Jacques Chessex

    University of Toronto Press Jacques Chessex

    Book SynopsisDespite an impressive body of poems, novels, short stories, and literary criticism; high praise for his writing by French and Swiss critics; and a collection of honours that includes the prestigious Prix Goncourt, awarded for his novel L’Ogre in 1973, Jacques Chessex is relatively unknown outside France and Switzerland. With this book, David J. Bond provides the first comprehensive study of his work in any language—a study that reveals Chessex’s deep ambivalence towards his Calvinist heritage and his efforts to resolve this dilemma through his texts.Born in 1934 in Payerne, in the region of French-speaking Switzerland known as the Vaud, Chessex grew up amid the pervasive influence of the Calvinist church. His writing, which tells of Vaud society and the hypocrisy of many of its leading members, reveals his preoccupation with a rigid morality, sin, remorse, and death. Bond shows that while Chessex uses his texts to escape this heritage and affirm alt

    £19.79

  • University of Toronto Press Karl Philipp Moritz

    Book SynopsisThis is the first complete biographical and critical study of Karl Philipp Moritz (1756–93), German novelist, teacher, journalist, and philologist. His psychological novel, Anton Reiser, replete with insights into the sociological and psychological life of the time, was one of the most important eighteenth-century German novels. Moritz was in close touch with most of the major intellectual currents in Weimar and Berlin—from aesthetics and linguistics on the one hand to pietistical and mystical movements on the other—and he was a friend of Goethe and of other significant German literary figures as well. His career was a turbulent one, made all the more difficult by his many-sided psychological problems, which play a large role in his autobiographical writings.Karl Philipp Moritz has never been totally forgotten, but scholarly interest in him has increased dramatically in the last few decades. His works, particularly Anton Reiser, have als

    £26.99

  • D. H. Lawrence

    University of Texas Press D. H. Lawrence

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis Croydon, England, was the setting of the famous three-way friendship of D. H. Lawrence, Jessie Chambers, and Helen Corke, all of whom made literary records of their association, and all of whom appeared as characters in Lawrence novels. Perhaps the most objective of these records were Helen Corke’s, which became difficult to acquire. Their scarcity and their continuing usefulness were the stimulus for publication of this volume, which contains in four statements Helen Corke’s “major comment on Lawrence the man and Lawrence the artist.” The “Portrait of D. H. Lawrence, 1909–1910,” a section from Corke’s unpublished autobiography, gives the reader glimpses into the earliest stages of the Lawrence-Corke friendship, when Lawrence worked to bring meaning back into Corke’s life after she had suffered a tragic loss. The “Portrait” tells of conversations before a log fire, German lessons, the reading of poetry, and sTable of Contents Introduction Preface Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Portrait of D. H. Lawrence, 1909–1910 D. H. Lawrence’s "Princess": A Memory of Jessie Chambers Concerning The White Peacock Lawrence & Apocalypse Index

    1 in stock

    £15.19

  • The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel

    University of Texas Press The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel

    Book SynopsisWhen Stoner was published in 1965, the novel sold only a couple of thousand copies before disappearing with hardly a trace. Yet John Williams’s quietly powerful tale of a Midwestern college professor, William Stoner, whose life becomes a parable of solitude and anguish eventually found an admiring audience in America and especially in Europe. The New York Times called Stoner “a perfect novel,” and a host of writers and critics, including Colum McCann, Julian Barnes, Bret Easton Ellis, Ian McEwan, Emma Straub, Ruth Rendell, C. P. Snow, and Irving Howe, praised its artistry. The New Yorker deemed it “a masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man.”The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel traces the life of Stoner’s author, John Williams. Acclaimed biographer Charles J. Shields follows the whole arc of Williams’s life, which in many ways paralleled that of his titular character, from their Trade Review[An] engrossing short biography. * The New Yorker *An excellent biography. * Wall Street Journal *Shields…hoovers up the available evidence and shapes it into an episodic narrative without giving much sense of what he makes of his subject…Shields's book is a handy corrective for anyone who's nostalgic for the days when American writers and publishers routinely ran up large bar tabs. * London Review of Books *A fine biography of Williams by Charles J. Shields, published by University of Texas Press * Texas Monthly *This rich biography gives new insight into the enigmatic man behind Stoner, a novel quickly forgotten after its 1963 publication but more recently recognized as a midcentury American classic. * Publishers Weekly, “The Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2018” *The Williams that emerges is not unlike Stoner himself: self-obsessed, given to petty feuds, and insecure about his abilities...It is to Shields’s credit that by the end of this finely crafted biography readers will feel they have some insight into this talented, troubled enigma of a man. * Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review *Despite obvious parallels with his fictional university protagonist, John Williams is both different and interesting enough to merit a book of his own, Charles J. Shields's The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel. It certainly helps that, like Williams, Shields know how to tell a good story, one that will appeal especially to those interested in the ins and outs of the publishing industry and the ups and downs of a writer's life. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Charles Shields has done us all a service by pointing up and pointing out the novelist's unyielding ambition and rigor. * New York Journal of Books *[An] exemplary biography, the first devoted to the life of one of America's most unusual writers. * Financial Times *[A] sharp-eyed biography. * Booklist *Through exhaustive research and sharp prose, Shields has composed a portrait of the complicated author and the particular darknesses that drove Williams to write, to overcompensate, to philander, to mansplain. * The Millions *Brief but compelling...The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel is a welcome reminder that even in the rarefied world of literature, good sometimes prevails. * Waterbury Republican-American *Shields' writing is captivating and reveals much about the wounded psyches of the GI Bill generation of American (male) authors. * Shepherd Express *Shields describes Williams's development and motivations and explains persuasively why a writer hungry for fame didn't go in for the postmodernist experiments of his time. * New Criterion *Shields accomplishes an admirable feat of objectivity in a biography published during our riven age of identity and tribal politics. * American Book Review *[John Williams's Stoner] has in recent decades become the sort of book that people adore, give to their friends, fiercely identify with, and dub 'the perfect novel.' And full credit to Charles Shields for going behind the scenes to fill in the picture of Williams's own—somewhat similarly miserable—life…Stoner's rediscovery reflects well on the artisanship of John Williams, a novelist whose accomplishments and foibles Charles Shields has brought ably into view. * Western American Literature *Charles Shields's biography of John Williams invites us to enrich our understanding of Stoner—and Williams's other writings as well—in The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel. Through his accessible style, his scrupulous attention to detail, and his use of source material and interviews, Shields provides us with a balanced study of a writer whose work has the power to transform the unremarkable into the astonishing. * Journal of American Culture *Charles J. Shields' subtitle accurately captures the scope, purpose, and content of the book. It's a biography of John Williams. It's a description of how Williams's major work came to be, and it's a reflection on the writing life, as lived by John Williams. I found Shields to be fair in his approach to all three. * Concho River Review *Table of Contents Introduction Part I. Nothing But the Night Chapter One: He Comes from Texas Chapter Two: “Ho, Ho! Wasn’t I the Character Then?” Chapter Three: Rough Draft Chapter Four: Key West Chapter Five: Alan Swallow Chapter Six: Love Part II. Butcher’s Crossing Chapter Seven: The Winters Circle Chapter Eight: “Natural Liars Are the Best Writers” Chapter Nine: Butcher’s Crossing Chapter Ten: Fiasco Part III. Stoner Chapter Eleven: “It Was That Kind of World” Chapter Twelve: “The Williams Affair” Chapter Thirteen: Stoner Part IV. Augustus Chapter Fourteen: Bread Loaf and “Up on the Hill” Chapter Fifteen: The Good Guys Chapter Sixteen: “Long Life to the Emperor!” Part V. The Sleep of Reason Poem: “An Old Actor to His Audience” Chapter Seventeen: “How Can Such a Son of a Bitch Have Such Talent?” Chapter Eighteen: In Extremis Epilogue. John Williams Redux Acknowledgments Notes Works Consulted A John Williams Bibliography Index

    £22.79

  • Leaving the Gay Place

    University of Texas Press Leaving the Gay Place

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe award-winning author of The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion traces the cultural upheavals of mid-century America through the life of Billy Lee Brammer, author of the classic political novel The Gay Place.Trade ReviewThe book is by turns a strong, clear biography (with shades of rock n roll memoir), a poetic ode to various places and people in midcentury Texas and an oral history, all of it plugging in to an increasingly turned-on, tuned-in and dropped-out Brammer. * Texas Observer *A comprehensive and compelling account of a life lived by a unique character against the background of a tumultuous era. * Texas Monthly *Daugherty recounts Brammer's saga and the times in which he lived in compelling fashion, which makes Leaving the Gay Place one of this year's best nonfiction books about Texas. * Dallas Morning News *Mr. Daugherty paints a persuasive picture of a young man as an ambitious novelist, feeling the frustration, in draft after draft, of trying to get a book exactly right. * Wall Street Journal *[A] superbly gauged and powerfully evocative new biography. * Bookforum *Stellar…For decades, the questions longtime devotees of The Gay Place have asked are: Where did this one-of-a-kind masterpiece come from? And what the hell happened to its author? Daugherty's biography tells us. * The American Interest *Daugherty does a very good job of describing both the promise and the sheer waste of Brammer's life. * Western American Literature *Daugherty offers those interested in the rise and fall of American liberalism and [Lyndon] Johnson a unique and personal window into this turbulent time. * Journal of Southern History *[Daugherty] has produced a rigorously researched and highly readable portrait that should expand interest in [Billy Lee Brammer], no small achievement when dealing with a figure whose standing in his home state is (in true Texas fashion) both immense and shrouded in obscurity...In Leaving the Gay Place, Texas has gotten the thoughtful, flesh-and-blood account of this larger-than-life border-crosser it has long awaited. * Resources for American Literary Study *A captivating new biography. * Porter House Review *Table of ContentsPrologue: New Frontiers Part One: Rural Electrification Part Two: Electronic Noise Part Three: Electrical Violations Part Four: The Body Electric Epilogue: The Great Society Acknowledgments Notes Index

    15 in stock

    £15.19

  • William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock n Roll

    University of Texas Press William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock n Roll

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe little-known history of William S. Burroughs's impact on some of the biggest names in music, from the Beatles to Bowie, and his role as a secret architect of the rock 'n' roll genre itself.Trade ReviewThere's a brilliant idea behind Casey Rae's William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll, which is that if you simply follow Burroughs through the rock 'n' roll years you'll see him achieve a flickering ubiquity—lurking here, eavesdropping there, photobombing the whole parade. It becomes a kind of alternative history. * New York Times *Melding personal reflections with scholarly research and interviews with those close to Burroughs, Rae has unearthed a trove of information sure to shake the foundation of even the most die-hard Burroughs junkie or rock fanatic. * Billboard *[Rae] writes with the passion of a teenager discovering new sounds, and the control and self-assuredness of a seasoned academic…William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll celebrates not only the gifted mind and bizarre life of a writer who changed literature forever with his magic and ideas; it also finally gives him the place he deserves in the pantheon of rock and roll. * NPR *Rae meticulously details the connections [between Burroughs and arty rockers]…The book is at its best when tracing the lyric and sonic collages of art rock and its offshoots to Burroughs's groundbreaking use of literary cut-ups—the snipping and resassembling of texts to form new texts. * Washington Post *Rae’s account is compelling, capturing the strangeness of Burroughs’s itinerant lifestyle, his bizarre obsessions (guns and the occult, mostly) and his Herculean appetite for drugs. * The Guardian *Maybe more rock stars romanticized his life and addiction than actually read his books, and some tried "to boost their own hipness through association," but Rae builds a convincing case that Burroughs has been underacknowledged in rock history. [Rae's book] nudges a legendary legacy from the cultural margins toward the mainstream. * Kirkus *Casey Rae has uncovered a vast, vast number of links between Burroughs and the music world, and he has put together an extraordinary book…will inform and delight anyone interested in the Beat icon. * Beatdom *[Rae's] focus on Burroughs' inspiring connections to literary rock stars of exceptional talent and renown makes for a welcome addition to the Burroughs shelf. * Booklist *A fluid, wide-ranging biography of influence…Essential reading for fans of Burroughs, Bowie, Reed, or Smith. * Library Journal *Casey Rae tells the whole story of a heroin addict who refused to hide his homosexuality during a time of saccharine conformity writ large across the American cultural landscape. * Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *I was consistently surprised and impressed by the wealth of information Rae had gathered for this book. William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll will no doubt enlighten and entertain its readers, even the ones who think that they know everything there is about El Hombre Invisible. * American Book Review *[Rae] discerns that some pop artists were looking 'to boost their own hipness' by seeking an association with Burroughs. But he also asks what it was about the dark, peculiar, and never popular author that made the likes of Deborah Harry, Richard Hell, and Nick Cave want to tie their names to his. * Washington Free Beacon *Rae offers thoughtful, generous analysis. As Burroughs's own cut-ups might, Rae renders a portrait of Burroughs's influence akin to a reflection in a disco ball: fragmented, refracted, multiple and beautiful. * Shelf Awareness *Rae’s account is almost as fascinating as its subject, and reaches many points across a multi-dimensional reality from which Burroughs’ ideas came and where they led. * Shepherd Express *A fundamentally comprehensive look at Burroughs' influence on the songs and culture of rock music...Written by a fan of the music and the work of the writer, the text provides a critical and informed analysis of both in a style that is both interesting and intellectually engaging. * CounterPunch *A strength of [William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll] is that [Rae] doesn't write from the perspective of a fan: none of the characters in these stories are idealized. Rather, it is their strangeness and their flawed human nature that are central to the narrative. * PopMatters *Casey Rae offers the most in-depth study yet of Burroughs' influence on and Zelig-like ubiquity within contemporary music. * Chicago Tribune *[A] captivating new book…marvelous. * Critics At Large *[William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll] evidences why some call Burroughs the godfather of punk, right next to Iggy Pop. * Alternative Press, "Top 10 Music-Related Books of 2019" *William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll is the rollercoaster and the wait all in one, patiently escorting you to the high points and still letting you enjoy the ride. * San Francisco Book Review *Rae sees Burroughs as a figurehead for generations of self-fashioned outcasts, drawn to the author through his appeal to rock musicians and the scandalous allure of his life…Throughout, Rae maintains a steadfast adherence to the lure of the bohemian outsider...Rae's stories are engaging...William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll endorses Burroughs as perennial outlaw. * Times Literary Supplement *[In William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll] you can learn much more about Burroughs' major influence on rock and roll in the 60s, 70s, 80s. * Open Culture *[A] rather excellent book...A passing knowledge of Burroughs’ work, his obsessions, and his philosophy – and all are expertly explained by Rae – make the connections sought and made by these musicians easy to understand, for Burroughs' subversive life-long battle against the forces of control, using his art as his weapon, is the very stuff that rock n’ roll claims to be made of. * Hot Press *[A] fascinating new book...Rae is an engaging storyteller and often an enlightening one...I’m grateful for Rae’s study and recommend it highly, not only to those (still) interested in Burroughs and rock music, but to anyone curious about the possibilities for creative synergy between the arts. * Journal of Popular Music Studies *Table of ContentsIntroductionNirvana the Hard WaySubterranean Homesick BurroughsHere, There, and EverywhereWatch That ManMusic and Other Dark ArtsBunkers, Punkers, and JunkiesHere to GoThe Western LandsAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

    15 in stock

    £14.24

  • Jose Marti

    University of Texas Press Jose Marti

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisThoroughly researched, written from a nonpartisan perspective, and as lively as a novel, this is the definitive biography of the revered Cuban patriot and martyr whose revolutionary movement eventually ended the Spanish colonial domination of Cuba.Trade ReviewThe life, the history and the facts are all here in López’s volume. It is thorough, compelling and a generally lively account... * The Washington Post *Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Mariano and Leonor Part One: Before the Fall (1853–1870) Chapter One. An Unlikely Prodigy A Boy's First Letter Chapter Two. The Teacher Appears Chapter Three. Trial by Fire Havana Farewell Part Two: Exile (1871–1880) Chapter Four. Spain Chapter Five. A Young Man's Travels Chapter Six. Discovering America (1): Mexico A Secret Mission Chapter Seven. Discovering America (2): Guatemala Chapter Eight. Homecoming, Interrupted Part Three: The Great Work (1881–1895) Chapter Nine. New York (1): A False Start In the Land of Bolívar Chapter Ten. New York (2): No Country, No Master Chapter Eleven. New York (3): The Great Work Begins Chapter Twelve. New York (4): The Final Push Chapter Thirteen. Farewells and Rowboats A Narrow Escape—and One Last Letter for His Patria Chapter Fourteen. "My Life for My Country" Epilogue: A Hero's Afterlife Notes Bibliography Index

    10 in stock

    £30.60

  • Pastures of the Empty Page

    University of Texas Press Pastures of the Empty Page

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA collection of essays that offers an intimate view of Larry McMurtry, America's preeminent western novelist, through the eyes of a pantheon of writers he helped shape through his work over the course of his unparalleled literary lifeTrade ReviewA conclave of writers gathers to consider the late Larry McMurtry (1936-2021). . . . Sprinkled with surprising revelations, this is a good collection for every McMurtry fan’s library. * Kirkus *The elegiac remembrances offer intimate glimpses into McMurtry’s life (collaborator Diana Ossana recalls the “emotional breakdown” he suffered after a heart attack), with no shortage of surprises. . . . McMurtry’s fans will want to track this down. * Publishers Weekly *More than three dozen writers contemplate the legacy of Texas’s most beloved author. . . a moving tribute. -- Andrew Graybill * Texas Monthly *McMurtry, who died in 2021, famously referred to himself as a 'minor regional writer.' In this Festschrift, a host of authors and close friends, including his longtime screenwriting partner Diana Ossana, argue the opposite in essays that celebrate the author’s talents, contributions to literature, and mentoring of other writers. * Alta *This book is part eulogy, part memoir, part literary criticism. All of it is absorbing . . . Among the pleasures of Pastures of the Empty Page are the short biographical sketches of the contributors dangled like literary gifts at the end of each piece. * Austin-American Statesman *The essays in Getschow's book consider McMurtry's position in the pantheon of great literature — along with a critical take on how he wrote about minority groups. * Axios Dallas *In Pastures of the Empty Page, Getschow defines how each writer, by various avenues, was dealt an education in storytelling by McMurtry, the sensitive but formidable master of chronicling this region’s built and behavioral vernaculars. * Patron Magazine *On the whole, the quality of the [contributed] pieces is gratifyingly high. Some of the richest essays are evocative reminiscences by intimates, among them Ossana, Gregory Curtis, Mike Evans, and Beverly Lowry, all of whom served as sources for Daugherty. * The Times Literary Supplement *Pastures of the Empty Page: Fellow Writers on the Life and Legacy of Larry McMurtry (University of Texas Press) edited by George Getchow, contains essays from a who’s who list of Texas writers about Larry McMurtry’s influence on Texas culture and their lives. It includes an array of reflections on history and the writing process as well as anecdotes about McMurtry’s off-beat and innovative life. * Texas Observer *Table of Contents George Getschow, Acknowledgments Stephen Graham Jones, Foreword George Getschow, Introduction Native Ground Charlie McMurtry, In Awesome Wonder Paulette Jiles, The Boy with the Lamp Skip Hollandsworth, The Larry McMurtry I Knew Erik Calonius, The Master Geologist of Archer County Joe W. Specht, Larry’s Oil-Patch Legacy Teacher and Apprentices William Broyles, Leave His Saddle on the Wall Gregory Curtis, McMurtry’s Mild Discouragement Mike Evans, “Mike, It’s Larry. I’m in Trouble.” Myth Buster and Myth Maker Geoff Dyer, Ranging across Texas Doug J. Swanson, Gus, Call, Danny, and the Rangers Oscar Cásares, Snakes in a River Sarah Bird, Finding Home Reader and Bookman Bill Marvel, Larry McMurtry, Reader Greg Giddings, An Afternoon with Larry Brandon Kennedy, On Book Scouting and Ghostwritten Erotica Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Runaways Kathryn Jones, Bonding over Books Collaborators and Confidants Diana Ossana, Stirring the Memories Michael Korda, The Moby-Dick of the Plains Carol Flake Chapman, My Long Trail to Lonesome Dove Susan Freudenheim, An Unlikely Bond Sherry Kafka Wagner, Not So Silent Women Beverly Lowry, Scenes from a Friendship Katy Vine, Road Trip Tips from Larry McMurtry Critic and Champion John Nova Lomax, To Hell with the Sunny Slopes Jim Black, Writer, Pass By Elizabeth Crook, Loving Gus Workshopper Kathy Floyd, Somewhere, a Writer . . . Eric Nishimoto, McMurtry’s Rebuff Dianne Solis, At the Intersection of Aspiration and Asphyxiation Cathy Booth Thomas, Reckoning at Idiot Ridge Dave Tarrant, “Furthur” Legacy Stephen Harrigan, Writing Plainly and Unforgettably Alfredo Corchado, The Borderlands: A Home for Misfits Like Me and McMurtry’s Danny Deck W. K. Stratton, All My Friends Are Going to Be Larry Lawrence Wright, McMurtry Passes By

    1 in stock

    £22.79

  • Atlantis an Autoanthropology

    Duke University Press Atlantis an Autoanthropology

    Book SynopsisIn this literary memoir and autoethnography, poet and anthropologist Nathaniel Tarn reflects on a life lived in an array of times, cultures, and environments, from the Battle of Britain and postwar Paris to conducting fieldwork in Guatemala and the halls of academe and beyond.Trade Review“Nathaniel Tarn doesn’t fit our whole world within his imagined autobiographical Atlantis, but he comes intoxicatingly close by way of a rigorous and expansive investigation of his lifelong quest to achieve a science of spirituality. ‘Completion,’ Tarn declares, ‘is not a word that should ever come near this book.’ Likewise, no reader interested in the myriad histories and personae of the self will wish for it either.” -- Albert Mobilio“What a great pleasure it is to read such a thoughtful, original, and necessary book, one that touches on so many aspects of culture, the life of the mind, the sources and resources of the creative imagination, all indelibly arrayed against a long life full of exotic travels and memorable human encounters. There is so much to savor in this fabulously inviting work of courageous generosity.” -- Jed Rasula"A work of brilliant originality, simultaneously a memoir, an ethnography, a sweeping masterpiece of travel literature, and above all, a poetic testimony of unflinching intelligence and grand passion." -- Norman Finkelstein * Restless Messengers *"It’s singularly interesting experience to ingest this book, to be amid it, even to be overwhelmed by it. Atlantis, is a readable avalanche, a discontinuous (but still chronological) memoir, a Big Bricolage of notations, essayistic forays, diary squibs of living life, field notes and polemics, giving the reader charming and telling vignettes . . . these being anecdotes of rare drollery, along with polemics of incisive, and sometimes got-a-bee-in-bonnet challenges...." -- Rachel Blau DuPlessis * Restless Messengers *"Tarn brings to life a seven-decade career lived traveling and writing throughout the world. Impressive in his ability to conjure up meetings with publishers and conversations with friends that took place more than 50 years ago, Tarn builds on his experiences to create an ethnographic study of himself that reads like a biography that is an autobiography. Enthusiasts of anthropology, poetry, academic life, and self-writing will enjoy Tarn’s approach and the insider’s perspective he brings to a life spent translating, publishing, editing, teaching, and traveling. . . . Recommended. Graduate students through faculty." -- S. Batcos * Choice *"At its heart, it is an exploration of poetry: what it is and how it comes about within the mind of the creator. There are insights into the visionary poetry of Wordsworth and Blake, the need for the poet not merely to give pleasure but crucially to become part of the very spin of the world in motion. It is also about the many different sides of Tarn. . . . Although, at times, the writing is introspective, his style is always engaging and often conversational with a good dose of humour." -- Neil Leadbeater * North of Oxford *Table of ContentsForeword xi Preface xvii Throw One 1 Throw Two 7 Throw Three 16 Throw Four 22 Throw Five 31 Throw Six 39 Throw Seven 46 Throw Eight 57 Throw Nine 69 Throw Ten 80 Throw Eleven 93 Throw Twelve 103 Throw Thirteen 118 Throw Fourteen 127 Throw Fifteen 141 Throw Sixteen 149 Throw Seventeen 161 Throw Eighteen 170 Throw Nineteen 177 Throw Twenty 188 Throw Twenty-One 197 Throw Twenty-Two 205 Throw Twenty-Three 214 Throw Twenty-Four 225 Throw Twenty-Five 233 Throw Twenty-Six 242 Throw Twenty-Seven 255 Throw Twenty-Eight 265 Throw Twenty-Nine 273 Throw Thirty 278 Throw Thirty-One 284 Throw Thirty-Two 291 Throw Thirty-Three 296

    £75.65

  • Atlantis an Autoanthropology

    Duke University Press Atlantis an Autoanthropology

    Book SynopsisIn this literary memoir and autoethnography, poet and anthropologist Nathaniel Tarn reflects on a life lived in an array of times, cultures, and environments, from the Battle of Britain and postwar Paris to conducting fieldwork in Guatemala and the halls of academe and beyond.Trade Review“Nathaniel Tarn doesn’t fit our whole world within his imagined autobiographical Atlantis, but he comes intoxicatingly close by way of a rigorous and expansive investigation of his lifelong quest to achieve a science of spirituality. ‘Completion,’ Tarn declares, ‘is not a word that should ever come near this book.’ Likewise, no reader interested in the myriad histories and personae of the self will wish for it either.” -- Albert Mobilio“What a great pleasure it is to read such a thoughtful, original, and necessary book, one that touches on so many aspects of culture, the life of the mind, the sources and resources of the creative imagination, all indelibly arrayed against a long life full of exotic travels and memorable human encounters. There is so much to savor in this fabulously inviting work of courageous generosity.” -- Jed Rasula"A work of brilliant originality, simultaneously a memoir, an ethnography, a sweeping masterpiece of travel literature, and above all, a poetic testimony of unflinching intelligence and grand passion." -- Norman Finkelstein * Restless Messengers *"It’s singularly interesting experience to ingest this book, to be amid it, even to be overwhelmed by it. Atlantis, is a readable avalanche, a discontinuous (but still chronological) memoir, a Big Bricolage of notations, essayistic forays, diary squibs of living life, field notes and polemics, giving the reader charming and telling vignettes . . . these being anecdotes of rare drollery, along with polemics of incisive, and sometimes got-a-bee-in-bonnet challenges...." -- Rachel Blau DuPlessis * Restless Messengers *"Tarn brings to life a seven-decade career lived traveling and writing throughout the world. Impressive in his ability to conjure up meetings with publishers and conversations with friends that took place more than 50 years ago, Tarn builds on his experiences to create an ethnographic study of himself that reads like a biography that is an autobiography. Enthusiasts of anthropology, poetry, academic life, and self-writing will enjoy Tarn’s approach and the insider’s perspective he brings to a life spent translating, publishing, editing, teaching, and traveling. . . . Recommended. Graduate students through faculty." -- S. Batcos * Choice *"At its heart, it is an exploration of poetry: what it is and how it comes about within the mind of the creator. There are insights into the visionary poetry of Wordsworth and Blake, the need for the poet not merely to give pleasure but crucially to become part of the very spin of the world in motion. It is also about the many different sides of Tarn. . . . Although, at times, the writing is introspective, his style is always engaging and often conversational with a good dose of humour." -- Neil Leadbeater * North of Oxford *Table of ContentsForeword xi Preface xvii Throw One 1 Throw Two 7 Throw Three 16 Throw Four 22 Throw Five 31 Throw Six 39 Throw Seven 46 Throw Eight 57 Throw Nine 69 Throw Ten 80 Throw Eleven 93 Throw Twelve 103 Throw Thirteen 118 Throw Fourteen 127 Throw Fifteen 141 Throw Sixteen 149 Throw Seventeen 161 Throw Eighteen 170 Throw Nineteen 177 Throw Twenty 188 Throw Twenty-One 197 Throw Twenty-Two 205 Throw Twenty-Three 214 Throw Twenty-Four 225 Throw Twenty-Five 233 Throw Twenty-Six 242 Throw Twenty-Seven 255 Throw Twenty-Eight 265 Throw Twenty-Nine 273 Throw Thirty 278 Throw Thirty-One 284 Throw Thirty-Two 291 Throw Thirty-Three 296

    £18.99

  • Avidly Reads Board Games

    New York University Press Avidly Reads Board Games

    Book SynopsisHow we should think about board games, and what do they do to us as we play them?Writer and critic Eric Thurm digs deep into his own experience as a board game enthusiast to explore the emotional and social rules that games create and reveal, telling a series of stories about a pastime that is also about relationships. From the outdated gender roles in Life and Mystery Date to the cutthroat, capitalist priorities of Monopoly and its socialist counterpart, Class Struggle, Thurm thinks through his ongoing rivalries with his siblings and ponders the ways games both upset and enforce hierarchies and relationshipsfrom the familial to the geopolitical. Like sitting down at the table for family game night, Board Games is an engaging book of twists and turns, trivia, and nostalgia. Avidly Reads is a series of short books about how culture makes us feel. Founded in 2012 by Sarah Blackwood and Sarah Mesle, Avidlyan online magazine supported by the Los Angeles Review of Booksspecializes in shorTrade ReviewReaders with an avid devotion to a hobby bordering on obsession could empathize, and this is one of the charms of Avidly Reads: where a nonfiction author who is enthusiastic about their subject matter strives to maintain an even tone, here, their devotion for board games shines through. * Popmatters *Avidly Reads Board Games puts this marvelous form of group entertainment center stage and explores both the author’s personal connection with the genre and how different games create different experiences, both intentionally and unintentionally. * Manhattan Book Review *

    £11.39

  • Avidly Reads Board Games

    New York University Press Avidly Reads Board Games

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisHow we should think about board games, and what do they do to us as we play them?Writer and critic Eric Thurm digs deep into his own experience as a board game enthusiast to explore the emotional and social rules that games create and reveal, telling a series of stories about a pastime that is also about relationships. From the outdated gender roles in Life and Mystery Date to the cutthroat, capitalist priorities of Monopoly and its socialist counterpart, Class Struggle, Thurm thinks through his ongoing rivalries with his siblings and ponders the ways games both upset and enforce hierarchies and relationshipsfrom the familial to the geopolitical. Like sitting down at the table for family game night, Board Games is an engaging book of twists and turns, trivia, and nostalgia.Avidly Reads is a series of short books about how culture makes us feel. Founded in 2012 by Sarah Blackwood and Sarah Mesle, Avidlyan online magazine supported by the LosTrade Review"Readers with an avid devotion to a hobby bordering on obsession could empathize, and this is one of the charms of Avidly Reads: where a nonfiction author who is enthusiastic about their subject matter strives to maintain an even tone, here, their devotion for board games shines through." * Popmatters *"Avidly Reads Board Games puts this marvelous form of group entertainment center stage and explores both the author’s personal connection with the genre and how different games create different experiences, both intentionally and unintentionally." * Manhattan Book Review *

    2 in stock

    £58.50

  • Josep Pla

    University of Toronto Press Josep Pla

    Book SynopsisJosep Pla is Catalonia’s foremost twentieth-century prose writer. He witnessed and wrote about some of the twentieth-century’s most notable events including the Spanish Civil War and the foundation of the state of Israel. Due to a lack of translations of his work he is only now being discovered by the international audience and will soon join the ranks of major realist writers in world literature. In Josep Pla, Joan Ramon Resina teases out the writer’s deep-seated intellectual concerns and challenges the assumption of Pla as an anti-intellectual. Resina condenses Pla’s forty-seven volumes of work, including travel books, narrative fiction, and history, into eleven thematic units: including time, memory, perception, life, religion, metaphysics, utopia, and self-delusion. Resina acutely explores the writer’s authorial gaze and invites the reader to see the world through the eyes of one of the most underappreciated observers and writersTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1. Journalism as Literary Praxis Chapter 2. Journalism on the High End Chapter 3. The Gray Notebook: Between Chronicle and Memoir Chapter 4. Difficulty of the Novel Chapter 5. Rural Roots of Catalan Modernity Chapter 6. The Catalan Landscape Seen As a Painting Chapter 7. Remembering the Region Chapter 8. Shipwrecks with Monsters Chapter 9. A Sui Generis Liberal Chapter 10. Of Women and Days Chapter 11. Encroaching Death Works Cited Index

    £49.30

  • The Canadian Constitution in Transition

    University of Toronto Press The Canadian Constitution in Transition

    Book SynopsisThe Canadian Constitution in Transition reflects on the ideas that will shape the development of Canadian constitutional law in the decades to come.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Constitution of Canada in a New Key Richard Albert, Paul Daly, and Vanessa MacDonnell 1. The Most Opaque Branch? The (Un)accountable Growth of Executive Power in Modern Canadian Government Mary Liston 2. The Future of Constitutional Change in Canada: Examining Our Legal, Political, and Jurisprudential Straitjacket Emmett Macfarlane 3. Section 96: Striking a Balance between Legal Centralism and Legal Pluralism Paul Daly 4. Canada’s "Constitution outside the Courts": Provincial Non-enforcement of Constitutionally Suspect Federal Criminal Laws as Case Study Wade K. Wright 5. Cooperative Federalism in Canada and Quebec’s Changing Attitudes Noura Karazivan 6. Religious and Political Communities in the Canadian Judicial Imagination: Two Tensions, Two Questions Howard Kislowicz 7. Collective Diversity and Jurisdictional Accommodations in Constitutional Perspective Asha Kaushal 8. Difference and Inclusion: Reframing Reasonable Accommodation Vrinda Narain 9. Freeing Inherent Aboriginal Rights from the Past David Milward 10. False Western Universalism in Constitutionalism? The 1867 Canadian Constitution and the Legacy of the Residential Schools Sujith Xavier 11. The Unstable Scope of Constitutionalized Property Rights in Canada: Public, Indigenous, and Private Dwight Newman 12. A Role for Human Dignity under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Emily Kidd White 13. Is the Permanent Campaign the End of the Egalitarian Model for Elections? Michael Pal 14. Immutability, Immigration Status, and the Limits of Equality Protection Efrat Arbel and Eileen Myrdahl Contributors Index

    £30.60

  • The Stoic Strain in American Literature

    University of Toronto Press The Stoic Strain in American Literature

    Book SynopsisMarston LaFrance (1927-75) was a stoic for most of his life, although the basic humanitas of the man softened what otherwise might have been mere grim endurance. This tribute to him is a new kind of festschrift: the papers in it are unified by their strict critical focus on stoicism in American literature. The strain is evident in both the tension in the works of various important American writers and in the philosophical vein of stoicism which runs through several genres, over long periods of time.Of Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience (1849), LaFrance said: ‘It seems to me to be the best available statement of a distinctive philosophical position – the assertion of a moral self reliance – which is found throughout American literature … a peculiar strain of cussedness which seems to me to be an essential property of the American mind.’ That ‘strain of cussedness’ is explored in various ways in this book. These are

    £21.59

  • Arthur Irwin

    University of Toronto Press Arthur Irwin

    Book SynopsisFrom 1925 to 1950, Arthur Irwin was the driving force behind the success of Maclean's Magazine, first as an associate editor, then managing editor, and, finally, as an editor. He had strong views on what it meant to be Canadian, and under his direction Maclean's was moulded into 'Canada's National Magazine,' mirroring the development of Canada as an independent nation in the twentieth century. In the years before the outbreak of the Second World War, he was at the centre of the Maclean Company’s investigation of the Department of National Defence's system of defence contracting, or what has become known as the 'Bren Gun Scandal.' In the 1940s Irwin actively sought out writers of talent and potential and gradually added to the magazine's staff many Canadian writers who went on to distinguished careers, including Ralph Allen, Pierre Berton, Blair Fraser, and Scott Young. After leaving Maclean's in 1950, Irwin was appointed film commissioner at the

    £29.70

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