ELT & Literary Studies Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for What's Good:". . . this ode to rap is sure to surprise and delight. . . . Open to any bite-sized chapter and you're sure to find some tantalizing tidbit worth your time."—Grace Utomo, Rain Taxi Review of Books "Written in short, savorably dense chapters, What's Good manages to be many kinds of books at the same time. It’s exhaustive — in its command of rap lyrics, in its ear for modulations in meaning and tone, in its ability to straddle the complexities of race and identity as they converge in rap . . . "—Aaron Peck, Los Angeles Review of Books "A book filled with such love and thoughtfulness and fun has to come from a fan; who but a genuine devotee would use his introductory chapter to provide a deep reading of 50 Cent’s 'In Da Club?'"—Adam Ellsworth, The Arts Fuse "Music aficionados and hip-hop lovers will savor every bit."—Publishers Weekly "His book performs a unique and exciting rhetorical move, presenting itself as a sort of freestyle in its own right: short, punchy chapters that each focus on a single lyric."—ALTA "There is so much I admire about Daniel Levin Becker's What's Good: how knowledgeable it is, how synoptic, how precise, persuasive, and risky; I love its savvy politics, its passion, its aching, tragic heart."—David Shields, author of Black Planet: Facing Race during an NBA Season "All in all, What's Good is an enlightening, self-aware, and deeply satisfying look at the wondrous ways rap music uses language. It is absolutely essential reading on hip-hop—and one of the smartest books about music I've read."—Ian Port, author of The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll "What's Good: Notes on Rap and Language is a celebration of the artistry and craft of rap lyrics written in a way that only Daniel Levin Becker could, with his sharp eye for linguistic experimentation and his appreciation for the ways rappers have been able to turn English inside out. His fascination is contagious as he revels in the incredible vitality of this ever-morphing lexicon, from its rhymes to its slang to its creation of new modes of meaning. It's the book us lovers of music and language had no idea we needed."—Emma Ramadan, Riffraff Books, Providence, RI "Characterized with a clear love for hip-hop, Daniel Levin Becker's What's Good is a joyful and deep dive into the many wonders of hip-hop as an art form."—Bennard Fajardo, Politics and Prose Bookstore, Washington DC "Exceptionally well written, impressively informed and informative, and an absorbing read from cover to cover, What's Good: Notes on Rap and Language will have particular interest for poets, literary critics, authors and lyricists. Thoughtful and thought-provoking, What's Good: Notes on Rap and Language is an extraordinary and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Criticism collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists."—Micah Andrew, Midwest Library Review"What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language is a studied, well-researched, critical, and loving exploration of the wit, humor, nuance, intelligence, meaning-making, truth telling, occasional hyperbolic absurdity, and craft of the MC and, in turn, Hip Hop culture. Becker approaches the topic with the care, competence, and appreciation of a lifelong Hip Hop aficionado and, as a result, What’s Good is a remarkable achievement that deserves a place in any Hip Hop studies collection."—Craig Arthur, Virginia Tech, College & Research Libraries

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Book SynopsisDiscover wisdom from our greatest writers and philosophers to help you tackle life's big questions.

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Book SynopsisThis is the OCR-endorsed edition covering the Latin AS and A-Level (Group 1) prescription of Cicero''s pro Caelio, 5158, 6168, and the A-Level (Group 2) prescription of 3350, giving full Latin text, commentary and vocabulary, with a detailed introduction that also covers the prescribed material to be read in English for A Level. Pro Caelio is one of Cicero's finest and funniest speeches. In 56 BC, he defended Marcus Caelius Rufus who was being prosecuted on charges of violence, including the attempted poisoning of Roman noblewoman Clodia with whom Caelius previously had an affair. Cicero's primary tactic was to blacken the character and reliability of Clodia, whom he depicts as the woman scorned, prosecuting Caelius out of revenge. Drawing on characters well known from Roman comedy, Cicero casts Caelius as the decent young man victimized by the aggressive courtesan, thereby shaming Clodia and glossing over the more awkward charges levelled at his client.Supporting resourcTrade ReviewExtremely helpful in clarifying less obvious grammatical quirks and ... also picks out relevant rhetorical techniques and gives relevant explanations for ideas, terms and events ... a very helpful book. * Journal of Classics Teaching *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Text Commentary Notes Vocabulary

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Book SynopsisTaking the reader through the fragmentary text of Petronius' Satyrica in a coherent sequence, this book gives a deeper understanding of the fascinating aesthetic, literary and social issues raised within the text. Petronius'' Satyrica has long been popular with readers of Latin: it is one of the few texts that offers a glimpse into non-elite society in the early Roman imperial period. It is also one of only a handful of ancient novels to survive in any form, and certainly the most racy and controversial. Supported by a detailed contextualising introduction and companion website resources, these selections from the Latin text are carefully annotated for students and a full vocabulary can be found at the end of the book.The selections in this edition put at centre stage the figure of Eumolpus: poet, storyteller and would-be critic, as well as charlatan, swindler and lecher. He is one of the major characters in what survives of the Satyrica; h

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Book SynopsisThe only exam-board approved book for the texts examined as part of OCR's AS and A Level in Classical Greek for examinations in 202628.

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Book Synopsis**LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2021****SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2021** **SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE****FINALIST FOR THE 2022 PLUTARCH AWARD**D. H. Lawrence is no longer censored, but he is still on trial and the jury is still out on the verdict. Delving into the memoirs of those who both loved and loathed him, Burning Man follows Lawrence from the peninsular underworld of Cornwall in 1915 to post-war Italy to the mountains of New Mexico, and traces the author's footsteps through the pages of his lesser-known work. Wilson presents a complex, courageous and often comic fugitive, careering around a world in the grip of apocalypse, in search of utopia; and, in bringing the true Lawrence into sharp focus, shows how he speaks to us now more than ever. ''A work of art in its own right'' OBSERVER ''Utterly enthralling'' GEOFF DYER ''Brilliantly unconventional'' RICHARD HOLMES ''A red-hot, pTrade ReviewWilson’s Dantesque excursion detracts only marginally from the brilliance of her book. Her great strength is the aliveness of her writing, which constantly interweaves glowing phrases from Lawrence into its fabric -- JOHN CAREY * SUNDAY TIMES *D. H. Lawrence’s reputation has plummeted in recent decades. This defiantly positive biography sets out to rescue him from his critics and place him back on a literary pedestal * THE TIMES, 100 Best Books for Summer 2022 *[A] brilliant biography * THE TIMES, Best Paperbacks of 2022 *I cannot remember the last time one left me feeling so exhilarated, so challenged and absorbed ... Burning Man is a work of art in its own right, as wanton and as magnificently flawed as anything Lawrence ever wrote … The chorus of voices builds and builds. Sometimes ecstatic and sometimes shrill, it brings Lawrence alive in all his derangement: his ridiculousness as well as his glory; his perspicacity and his blindness … Wilson writes so brilliantly, and with such conviction. If you believe, as I do, that to live life well is to fail in ways that may be unimaginably huge, this strange and confounding book is for you -- RACHEL COOKE * OBSERVER *Not only does Frances Wilson revive her subject, she lifts the whole genre. Biography of this calibre is rare ... Our most original biographer * NEW STATESMAN *[Wilson] gives it to you straight … and leaves you to decide for yourself … This is a red-hot, propulsive book. The impression it leaves is of Lawrence not so much as a phoenix (his chosen personal emblem) rising from the flames, but of a moth coming too close to a candle and, singed and frantic, flying into and into and into the wick * THE TIMES *DH Lawrence’s reputation has plummeted in recent decades. This defiantly positive biography sets out to rescue him from his critics and place him back on a literary pedestal. “Her great strength,” John Carey said in his review of Wilson’s book, “is the aliveness of her writing" * THE TIMES, 100 Best Books for Summer 2022 *The challenge for any biographer of one Lawrence is to come to terms with his many contradictions - his rage, impotence, silliness and genius. This elegantly written, intelligent and witty account lays them all bare with admirable skill * EVENING STANDARD *Wilson tells the story well. It was a period of uncertainty, of bonds being shed and reforged; of the immense growth of Lawrence’s reputation -- PHILIP HENSHER * SPECTATOR *Wilson’s Guilty Thing, her life of Thomas De Quincey, is one of the finest recent literary biographies ... Burning Man is in the same league. … This is a book that performs a rare and laudable task: of saving a writer, posthumously, from himself. We are all beneficiaries of Wilson’s articulate and persuasive advocacy -- David Wheatley * Literary Review *Heady, entrancing, comedic… Outstanding … Without condoning Lawrence’s temper at all – quite the opposite, indeed – Wilson reveals an achingly flawed, ultimately sympathetic human being, who wrote mostly imperfect novels, but whose immense contribution to the twentieth-century literary scene is worth both acknowledging and commemorating. And whatever you have thought of Lawrence, or will think after reading this book, Frances Wilson’s Burning Man is a virtuoso performance in the art of biography-writing -- Gerri Kimber * TLS *A brilliantly unconventional biography, passionately researched and written with a wild, playful energy. Above all Frances Wilson’s great achievement is to liberate Lawrence from the old, heavy, moth-eaten “priest of love” mythology, instead breathing new life into his big novels as contemporary “autofiction”, and lovingly stoking the furious fires in his letters, poetry and short stories. A new Lawrence emerges: a thinker, travel writer and essayist of strange, absurd, irrepressible genius -- RICHARD HOLMES‘"How can biography do justice to Lawrence's complexities?" asks this book. Frances Wilson shows us exactly how. Hers is the most original voice in life-writing today -- LUCASTA MILLER, author of KeatsNo biography of Lawrence that I have read comes close to Burning Man in getting across both his unquenchable fire and his appalling ruthlessness. After reading almost every page, you think "what a monster!" but then at the same time "what an eye!" - for people, landscape, birds, the whole world really. It’s a wonderful book -- FERDINAND MOUNT, author of Kiss Myself GoodbyeDare we hope that Lawrence might soon assume his rightful place – neither messiah nor pariah – as a writer of boundless freshness, originality and breadth? If so Frances Wilson’s stimulating and utterly enthralling book will be seen to play a vital role in the long-awaited rehabilitation of the man who, in the words of poet Tony Hoagland, “burned like an acetylene torch/ from one end to the other of his life” -- GEOFF DYER[An] engrossing, entertaining and illuminating biography … Wilson, whose previous books include a compelling life of Thomas de Quincey, eloquently makes the case for Lawrence’s genius and the need for his revaluation -- Rosemary Goring * HERALD *This is in many ways a superb biography … Her writing about him is gloriously vivid * THE WEEK, Book of the Week *Meticulously researched and energetic … She converts this seemingly incendiary and unapologetic radical into a patron saint of passionate intensity … It is a job well done in illuminating Lawrence’s many complexities -- Nicholas Opfermann * REACTION, Books Digest *Wilson captures the ferocity and aggression of this driven author … Burning Man presents a rounded, empathetic portrait of Lawrence -- Martin Chilton * INDEPENDENT, Books of the Month *Beautifully written * THE TIMES *A vivid picture of a complex, difficult, haunted man whose art was driven by conflict * BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE *Thrillingly unusual ... If you want a cool, dispassionate biography, this is not it ... At times she seems to be almost channelling Lawrence, especially in her landscape descriptions, which are as good as Lawrence’s own. * DAILY TELEGRAPH *[A] witty and rigorous reappraisal of this divisive, divided figure * STANDPOINT *Frances Wilson's spirited defence of D. H. Lawrence is a work of art in its own right ... Burning Man is a work of both non-fiction and imagination, impeccably handled by a writer in command of her craft * NEW ZEALAND LISTENER *

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Book SynopsisThe Beauty Hunters offers a rare insight into Sudanese Bedouin poetry, its evolution, aesthetics, and impact.Trade Review“The clouds of neglect have parted, and an enchanting book of classical African poetry has come forth shining. The Bedouin poetry of Sudan, a descendant perhaps of the pre-Islamic poetry of Arabia, can also sit alongside the Chinese Book of Songs and Hāla’s Sattasaī of India, pure poetry bearing the scent of the land and woven with silk-fine imagery and exquisite lyricism. The Beauty Hunters is a tour de force, proving once again that Africa is the heart of the world’s beauty and light. Thank you, Adil Babikir, for this wonder of a book.”—Khaled Mattawa, author of Fugitive Atlas“Here the legacy and enduring appeal of al-Ḥārdallo, Sudan’s preeminent nineteenth-century poet, is showcased with thoroughness and panache. Oryxes, heavy rains, and dancing women blaze through a vivid pastoral landscape of nomadic tribes and journeys guided by the stars. Adil Babikir’s moving and vibrant translations capture the exuberance and pathos of this Afro-Arab poet, caught in the crosshairs of imperialism. The Beauty Hunters bears witness to the richness and range of Arabic as it mingles with the local Beja and Nubian languages of Africa.”—Leila Aboulela, author of Minaret and The TranslatorTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Notes on Transliteration Introduction: A Life’s Journey in Search of Beauty 1. Al-Ḥārdallo’s Time 2. Romance 3. The Nature Lover 4. Al-Ḥārdallo’s Style 5. The Musdār: A Historical Context 6. Musdār al-Nijūm: A Journey across the Stars 7. Musdār Rufāʾa: A Terrestrial Journey across the Buṭāna 8. The Role of Bedouin Poetry in Shaping Sudan’s Aesthetic Taste 9. The Bedouin Poem: A Living Legacy 10. The Musdār and the Ḥaqība 11. Contemporary Musdārs 12. Al-Ḥārdallo’s Poems Musdār al-Ṣayd Miscellaneous Quatrains Nostalgia Romance Heartbreak The Ordeal Farewell Arabic Glossary of Local Terms Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe book presents a systematic method of interpreting Shakespeare film adaptations based on their cinematic genres. Its approach is both scholarly and reader-friendly, and its subject is fundamentally interdisciplinary, combining the findings of Shakespeare scholarship with film and media studies, particularly genre theory. The book is organised into six large chapters, discussing films that form broad generic groups. Part I looks at three genres from the classical Hollywood era (western, melodrama and gangster-noir), while Part II deals with three contemporary blockbuster genres (teen film, undead horror and biopic). Beside a few better-known examples of mainstream cinema, the volume also highlights the Shakespearean elements in several nearly forgotten films, bringing them back to critical attention.Trade Review'Kinga Földváry’s new book is a masterful treatment of numerous genres that not only provides crucial descriptions and historical information but also lucidly explains the intersections between various generic discourses and their disparate iterations.'Melissa Croteau, Adaptation'[T]his is a well-structured study that examines a wide variety of movies in some detail. It provides a useful reference for the genre, adaptation, and Shakespeare studies and is an entertaining addition to the discourse on screen Shakespeare.'Peter Lewis, Cahiers Élisabéthains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Shakespeare meets genre filmPart I: Classical Hollywood cinema1 Will in the Wild West: western adaptations of Shakespeare2 Shakespeare the tear-jerker: from woman’s film to global melodrama3 Dark-minded Othellos, mobster Macbeths: film noir, gangster, gangster noirPart II: Contemporary blockbusters4 Back to school, Will: Shakespeare the teen idol5 Shakespeare the undead: a renaissance of vampires and zombies6 Will, Bill and the Earl: versions of the author in contemporary biopicsConclusionIndex

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Book Synopsis** The Sunday Times Best Literary Book of 2023**** A Waterstones Best Book of 2023**'All Sorts of Lives is a beautiful, fastidiously researched and fascinating exploration of Mansfield's life and work' A.L. KENNEDYRestless outsider, masher-up of form and convention, Katherine Mansfield’s career was short but dazzling. She was the only writer Virginia Woolf admitted being jealous of, yet by the 1950s was so undervalued that Elizabeth Bowen was moved to ask, 'Where is she – our missing contemporary?'In this inventive and intimate study, Claire Harman takes a fresh look at Mansfield’s life and achievements, through the form she did so much to revolutionise: the short story. Exploring ten pivotal works, we watch how Mansfield’s desire to grow as a writer pushed her art into unknown territory, and how illness sharpened her extraordinary vitality: ‘Would you not like to try all sorts of lives – one is so very small.’‘What a gift to the biographer, this life of adventure and sickness and sex and celebrity… Brilliant’ Sunday Times‘A searching, incisive and compulsive book. A lesson in how to read and connect and understand’ Sunjeev SahotaTrade ReviewAll Sorts of Lives is a beautiful, fastidiously researched and fascinating exploration of Mansfield's life and work. This is great as an introduction to an unjustly neglected author and a joy for those of us who already love her writingIn this sensitive and comprehensive biography, Claire Harman uncovers some steamy new details about Mansfield’s bisexuality, but doesn’t let the life distract from the blisteringly intense stories * The Times, *Books of the Year* *What a gift to the biographer, this life of adventure and sickness and sex and celebrity - and that's before you start on Mansfield as a leading modernist . . . It's hard to imagine a more compelling advocate for Mansfield's fiction, or a better introduction to it . . . brilliant -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *A wonderful book to mark the centenary of Mansfield's death . . . [her] clever insistence on placing the life and work side by side allows her to give brief but powerful accounts of Mansfield's relations with other writers -- Ruth Scurr * Spectator *Harman combines literary criticism with uncovering the life of the influential modernist writer, via chapters linked to individual short stories. The best literary biographies make you want to go back to the subject’s work with renewed passion, and Harman more than succeeds. In fact, her enthusiasm goes some way into bringing Mansfield’s own vitality to the page * Independent, Books of the Year *A kind of masterclass on the short story, taking the ideal practitioner as its focus . . . a valuable reminder of why - a hundred years after her death - we should still be reading and marvelling at Katherine Mansfield's stories -- Sarah Watling * Daily Telegraph *A worthy addition to the corpus of Mansfield interpretation . . . Like all the best writer biographies, All Sorts of Lives makes you reach again for the works -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *Step aside, Virginia Woolf - it was Katherine Mansfield who ushered in the modern age -- Frances Wilson * Daily Telegraph *An excellent, sensitively written introduction -- Miranda Seymour * The Times *An engaging, perceptive critical work, that is inseparable from the rich expanse of Mansfield biography. What the book so insists on, and so compellingly brings home, is Mansfield's utter commitment to the demands of writing -- Vincent O'Sullivan * Newsroom *What a searching, incisive and compulsive book. A lesson in how to read and connect and understand, it achieves a beautiful synthesis between Mansfield's stories, her life and our apprehension of both these things -- Sunjeev SahotaSensitive and comprehensive -- Susie Goldsbrough * The Times *Harman's book does that thing that all good literary biographies do. It sends us straight back into the delicate, exhilarating, risking world of Mansfield's fiction -- Kirsty Gunn * The Times Literary Supplement *[A] lucent biography * Tablet *This biography, graced by Harman's deep understanding as a reader, allows the work and the life to unfold side by side, a pairing designed for maximum impact... puts art - the beating heart of a writer's life - centre stage -- Lyndall Gordon * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisIn this personal portrait of Edward Said written by a close friend, Dominique Eddé offers a fascinating and fresh presentation of his oeuvre from his earliest writings on Joseph Conrad to his most famous texts, Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism. Eddé weaves together accounts of the genesis and content of Said's work, his intellectual development, and her own reflections and personal recollections of their friendship, which began in 1979 and lasted until Said's death in 2003. Throughout, she traces the connection between personal history and theoretical options, illuminating the evolution of Said's thought. Both specialists of Said's work and newcomers will find much to learn in this rich portrait of one of the twentieth century's most important intellectuals.Trade ReviewPraise for Kamal Jann:A beautiful book, beautifully written with a pen dipped in line accuracy, the accuracy of the look, the talent of the sketch, without sacrificing the complexity of thought that underlies. This powerful fresco exposes the relationship between power and family, corruption and repression, sheds new light on what was believed to [be known of] Syria and the Middle East. * Huffington Post *Praise for Kamal Jann:This novel is masterfully impressive. * Marie-Claire *Praise for Kamal Jann:Beautifully written. * Times Literary Supplement *Praise for The Crime of Jean Genet:Eddé's book is an intelligent but not reverential account of the way in which Jean Genet fascinated and intimidated her. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisDistilled over many years from Henry Louis Gates Jr's legendary Harvard course in African American Studies, The Black Box: Writing the Race is the story of Black self-definition in America through the prism of the writers who have led the way. From Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, to Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, these writers used words to create a liveable world a home for Black people destined to live in a bitterly racist society. This is a community that defined and transformed itself in defiance of oppression and lies; a collective act of resistance and transcendence that is at the heart of its self-definition. Out of that contested ground has flowered a resilient, creative, powerful, diverse culture formed by people who have often disagreed markedly about what it means to be 'Black', and about how best to shape a usable past out of the materials at hand, to call into being a more just and equitable future. This is the epic story of how, through essays and speeches, novels, plays and poems, a long line of creative thinkers has unveiled the contours of and resisted confinement in the black box that this nation within a nation has been assigned, from its founding to today. It is a book that records the compelling saga of the creation of a people.

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Book SynopsisHumorous tales, cautionary tales, tall tales, fairy tales, heroic tales the depths of Swedish folklore hold all of the above and more besides. From cunning folk and helpful Tomtar, to sinister Näcken and the Stallos of Sami legend (and with plenty of romance and derring-do in-between) this book covers centuries-worth of Sweden's folk tales, telling stories that have never been translated into English as well several oral tales published in writing for the first time.

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Book SynopsisWhat do we mean when we claim affinity with an object or picture, or say affinities exist between such things? Affinities is a critical and personal study of a sensation that is not exactly taste, desire, or allyship, but has aspects of all. Approaching this subject via discrete examples, this book is first of all about images that have stayed with the author over many years, or grown in significance during months of pandemic isolation, when the visual field had shrunk. Some are historical works by artists such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Dora Maar, Claude Cahun, Samuel Beckett and Andy Warhol. Others are scientific or vernacular images: sea creatures, migraine auras, astronomical illustrations derived from dreams. Also family photographs, film stills, records of atomic ruin. And contemporary art by Rinko Kawauchi, Susan Hiller and John Stezaker. Written as a series of linked essays, interwoven with a reflection on affinity itself, Affinities is an extraordinary book about the intimate and abstract pleasures of reading and looking.Trade Review‘Brian Dillon is always invigoratingly brilliant. His sentences, his stylistic innovations, the range and potency of his intellectual adventures; he is a true master of the literary arts and a writer I would never hesitate to read, whatever his subject.’ — Max Porter, author of Shy ‘Dillon’s discussion of these photographs forestalls this reading – close attention is one thing. Loving attention, another. And Dillon does love. That shines out from each essay. An affinity can be a relation of significance: of blood, of temporary likeness, of marriage. Dillon notes that the word also once meant a gathering of like-minded people. The images collected together in this book become, in Dillon’s hands, an affinity. And, by looking at them with him, he makes an affinity of us, too. This is key…Dillon’s book is an invitation to look together. It is one of life’s intimate pleasures to attend closely in the company of someone else. Done properly, it opens us to the other’s world.’ — Anil Gomes, Guardian‘Affinities completes a triptych of recent books by Dillon that have been daring and multifarious: textual analysis of everyone from John Donne to Joan Didion giving way to flowing autobiography.’ — Jonathan McAloon, Financial Times‘In this engaging and exhilarating Wunderkammer of a book, he offers us the world — in this case, the visual world — as he experiences it: his way of seeing, and of being, in a web of thrilling, sometimes unexpected, connection.’ — Claire Messud, New York Times‘Affinities is a book of enthrallments. Brian Dillon “performs” and “embodies” that tautology of fascination, its unspeakability. On titans like Julia Margaret Cameron, Claude Cahun, Francesca Woodman and Tacita Dean, Dillon is revelatory. Conceived during the pandemic, Affinities shares the eccentric pain of the moment, the intimate revelations of self-doubt imposed on us all. Affinities is a book after my heart.’ — Moyra Davey, author of Index Cards‘Brian Dillon’s essays match discernment and critical thinking with a sense of pleasure in finding a work of art that speaks to him and lures him into contemplating its mystery and intricacy. His writing is exact and calm; rather than explain he explores, playing what is tentative against what is certain.’ — Colm Tóibín, author of The Magician‘In Affinities, Brian Dillon has woven a sparking electric web of aesthetic attention, an astonishingly deft and slantwise autobiography through the images of others. With this third panel in his brilliant triptych – with Essayism and Suppose a Sentence – Dillon has made himself a quiet apostle of close looking, drawing such intimate connections between such disparate things that he reveals marvel after marvel, and miraculously passes his affinities along to the reader. His project, it seems to me, is a nearly holy one, borne of deep generosity and love for the world.’ — Lauren Groff, author of Matrix‘Brian Dillon’s Affinities eloquently describes the relationships we have – both physical and mental – with works of art. Dillon reflects on the nature of these relationships, the affinities for the selected works, through his research and personal history with them while intermittently allowing us insight into his mediations about the complexity of affinity itself.’ — Hans Ulrich Obrist, author of Ways of Curating‘[Brian Dillon] spins language’s roulette wheel with a finesse and seriousness that recalls the severe yet secretly florid tones of Sontag, Sebald, Benjamin, and other principled foragers in the realm of the buried, the overlooked, the ecstatic. I feel safer in the world, knowing that a diviner as keen-eyed as Brian Dillon is operating the control panel of the sentence.’ — Wayne Koestenbaum, author of Figure it Out‘Brian Dillon set himself firmly in the postmodernist tradition established by European, especially French, critics in the last third of the twentieth century, with its emphasis on close reading and aesthetic autonomy.... His taste in these essays is for the hovering, liminal quality in a wide range of work and personalities.... [F]ascinating and moving.’ — John Banville, Times Literary Supplement ‘This is a deeply personal enterprise but Dillon goes to great lengths to keep at a distance. The collection may amount to a sort-of autobiography but each essay is about the life of the artist or the work itself, not about him. He is careful of his subjects and scrupulous in neither over-interpreting them nor projecting his emotions on to them. Nevertheless, each means something profound to him and each is a pixel that builds into a creative work of his own: a picture of his own aesthetic and the constituent parts of its canon.’ — Michael Prodger, New Statesman‘It is a self-portrait of the critic as, evanescently but beautifully, an artist in his own right.’ — Kevin Power, Irish Times‘[Dillon] succeeds in capturing the resistance of certain images or characters to elucidation. The blurry, the obscure, the fugitive qualities of things are deftly described – from the ‘abstract blurs’ of Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographs to Claude Cahun’s portraits of herself, a strange duality of play-acting and authenticity.’ — James Cahill, Literary Review

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Book SynopsisThis book contains everything you need to write better A-Level and Undergraduate English essays on William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, all presented in a helpful and entertaining way to make study and revision easier. There are clear notes on the characters, themes, language techniques and critical context, plus practice questions to make sure you understand the main points. There’s also a section dedicated to writing about ‘Hamlet’ to help you improve your grades.

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Book SynopsisA reappraisal of Lope's literary career, bringing out the complexities of his dramatic texts. This book offers a radical re-evaluation of Lope's theatre, which will affect the way in which the comedia in general is read. It spans Lope's literary career, discussing (pseudo-)historical, tragic and peasant plays in order to show Lope's texts as complex negotiations between author and public, between conservatism and subversion, between representations of the ideal of kingship and its political reality, in a period of social and political change. Drawing on contemporary Spanish political philosophy, McKendrick shows that far from glorifying monarchy and advocating absolutism (the orthodox view in the Hispanic world), Lope's political plays constitute an informed critiqueof kingship; she also challenges the received wisdom that the comedia was an instrument of stage and that its playwrights were the conscious propagandists of an aristocratic elite. With the help of insights and models provided by the speech act theory, the stratagems and techniques utilised by Lope to follow the path of prudence between the acceptable and the unacceptable in political commentary in the commercial theatre are scrutinised, illustrating how richly nuanced texts produce not an ideologically monolithic and complacent drama but one which is at once politically anxious and probing. MELVEENA MCKENDRICK is Professor of Spanish Literature, Culture and Societyat the University of Cambridge.Trade ReviewA milestone in Lope studies. * MLR *A very important, indeed a necessary book. * BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES *Will be an indispensable guide. * CALIOPE *Providing detail that is finely woven and rich in texture, McKendrick shows how Lope's court and popular theatre reveal his ambivalence toward the contemporary conduct of royal life... intelligently written, nuanced discussion...should be in every library supporting study of Spanish literature at the upper-division undergraduate level and above. * CHOICE *Excellent... sophisticated and convincing study: Lope de Vega's intricate and sometimes ambiguous dialogue with Spanish history provides one of the most eloquent commentaries on the moral and political complexity of his age. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT [B W Ife] *A study of major importance, not simply for all who work on the comedia, but also for those concerned with the broader question of the relation between literature and society in Golden Age Spain.... As a study of Lope this book succeeds magnificently...[and] will become a standard work in discussions of the complex relationship between societyand literature in early modern Spain. * BULLETIN OF HISPANIC STUDIES *Table of ContentsReconsiderations; monarchy and the theatre; historical transformations - fractured icons I; historical transformations -fractured icons II; " decir sin decir" - patterns of communications; the politics of tragedy - absolutism and reason of state; political antinomies - rebels within the system; conclusions. List of works consulted.

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Book Synopsis“There never was a wilder story imagined,” wrote one reviewer on the first publication of Frankenstein in 1818: “we do not well see why it should have been written.” The admiring Sir Walter Scott felt that Frankenstein’s “unexpected and fearful events… shook a little even our firm nerves”. The prophetic power of novel’s imagery in reflecting the dehumanising effects of science, technology, empire, business and the mass media has never abated. Writing in 2002, Jay Clayton said: “As a cautionary tale, Frankenstein has had an illustrious career; virtually every catastrophe of the last two centuries – revolution, rampant industrialism, epidemics, famines, World War 1, Nazism, nuclear holocaust, clone, replicants and robots – has been symbolized by Shelley’s monster. Perhaps more than any other novel, Frankenstein has been interpreted as a warning impeding events.” For some readers these warnings have produced a monstrous creation in place of Mary Shelley’s own. “Frankenstein is a product of criticism, not a work of literature,” argues Fred Botting. Yet if the metaphorical interpretations of the novel appear to exceed the adolescent fantasy which gave rise to them, this is in itself a tribute to the original work, concludes Levine: “The book is larger and richer than any of its progeny and too complex to serve as mere background… The novel has qualities that allow it to exfoliate as creatively and endlessly as any important myth.” In this book, Josie Billington looks at the story and its legacy, and sifts the vast repertoire of critical opinion to give us the most interesting verdicts on the novel.

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Book SynopsisWhat do we mean by ‘Scottish literature’? Why does it matter? How do we engage with it? Bringing infectious enthusiasm and a lifetime’s experience to bear on this multi-faceted literary nation, Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, sets out to guide you through the varied and ever-evolving landscape of Scottish literature. A comprehensive and extensive work designed not only for scholars but also for the generally curious, Scottish Literature: an introduction tells the tale of Scotland’s many voices across the ages, from Celtic pre-history to modern mass media. Forsaking critical jargon, Riach journeys chronologically through individual works and writers, both the famed and the forgotten, alongside broad overviews of cultural contexts which connect texts to their own times. Expanding the restrictive canon of days gone by, Riach also sets down a new core body of ‘Scottish Literature’: key writers and works in English, Scots, and Gaelic.Ranging across time and genre, Scottish Literature: an introduction invites you to hear Scotland through her own words.Trade Review‘Obviously indispensable; I am learning new facts and possibilities on every page.’ – Neal Ascherson ‘It takes women and men of prodigious faculty to advance the institution of a National Literature.’ – Niyi Osundare ‘The presiding spirit over this book is Hugh MacDiarmid…’ – Stuart Kelly ‘Scottish Literature: An Introduction, Alan Riach’s magnum opus, is all that the term implies. It is encyclopaedic, refreshing, personal and yet detached, and it has provoked me into buying Gavin Douglas’s Aeneid, The Eneados, which is a bloody good read, as is the book that prompted its purchase!’ – John Purser ‘Alan Riach’s Scottish Literature: An Introduction is excellent – incredibly comprehensive! I think it is pitched at exactly the right level for the audience it’s aimed it at. I’m already well into it and am looking forward to reading the whole book.’ – Ronald Renton

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Book SynopsisAN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024'A masterclass in masterpieces' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'Epic, personal, smart, wise, witty' JOSHUA COHEN'Sizzles with passion' TOM McCARTHYFor more than two decades, Edwin Frank has introduced readers to forgotten or overlooked texts as director of the acclaimed publisher New York Review Books. In Stranger than Fiction, he offers a legendary editor's survey of the key works that defined the twentieth-century novel. Starting with Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, Frank shows how its twitchy, self-undermining narrator established a voice that would echo through the coming century. He illuminates Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway's reinvention of the American sentence; Colette and André Gide's subversions of traditional gender roles; and the monumental ambitions of works such as Mrs Dalloway, The Magic Mountain and The Man Without Qualities to encompass their times. Also included are Japan's Natsume Soseki and Nigeria's Chinua Achebe, as well as Vasily Grossman, Hans Erich Nossack and Elsa Morante. Later chapters range from Ralph Ellison and Marguerite Yourcenar to Gabriel García Márquez and WG Sebald. Frank makes sense of the century by mixing biographical portraiture, cultural history and close encounters with great works of art. In so doing he renews our appreciation of the paradigmatic art form of our times.

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Book SynopsisFifty Forgotten Books is a very special sort of book about books, by a great bookman and for book-people of all ages and levels of experience. Not quite literary criticism, not quite an autobiography, it is at once a guided tour through the dusty backrooms of long vanished used bookstores, a love letter to bookshops and bookselling, and a browser's dream wish list of often overlooked and unloved novels, short story collections, poetry collections and works of nonfiction. In these pages, R. B. Russell, publisher of Tartarus Press, doesn't only discuss the books of his life, but explains what they have meant to him over time, charting his progress as a writer and publisher for over thirty years . . . and a bibliophile for many more. Here is living proof of how literature, books, and book collecting can be an intrinsic part of one's personal, professional and imaginative life, and as not only a solitary act, but a social one, resulting in treasured friendships, experiences, and loves one might never, otherwise, have enjoyed. Filled with a lively nostalgia for the era when finding strange new books meant pounding the pavement and not just filling in search engines, Fifty Forgotten Books is for anyone who wishes they could still browse the dusty bookshelves of their youth, and who can't wait to get back out into the world in quest of the next text liable to change their life.Trade Review‘A groovy and delicious and intimate jigsaw of memories and passions and books, and schisms and oddities and books – Ray Russell is a bibliomaniac that it is a delight to spend time with. Falling in love with books voraciously, whilst growing up ferociously, has never been so beautifully described – a memoir that is as accurate and enthralling as it is dreamlike – just like the books about which he writes with such love!’ David Tibet ---- ‘R. B. Russell’s beautifully told part-memoir gives us the story of a life lived alongside books, and the joyous way in which those dusty first editions often reverberate throughout our lives.’ Ed Parnell ---- ‘A compelling celebration of reading, writing, publishing and the unexpected treasures to be found in second hand bookshops. Ray Russell writes so eloquently about his deep love of books as things in themselves but also his joy of discovering the new, the strange – those books that act as life’s waymarkers.’ Andrew Michael Hurley ---- ‘This is a book to send you scurrying to the dusty mote-filled light of the secondhand book shop, to the chilliness of the jumble sale, to late nights at the blue screen of the laptop, seeking out the books you don’t know and can’t wait to know, and to renew old acquaintances. A memoir and commonplace book as delicate, suggestive and enchanting as the books themselves.’ Stuart Maconie ---- ‘Absolutely wonderful. A unique and enchanting memoir like no other. A book lover’s paean to the volumes that made him, which also opens a window on his soul. Charming, vivid and singularly evocative.’ Jeremy Dyson ---- ‘Decadents, bohemians, cult musicians, the odd (very odd) spy, shady publishers, backstreet booksellers, writers of the weird and wayward, they’re all here. R. B. Russell’s memoir gives us literature on the edge, in all its wonderful strangeness.’ Mark Valentine ---- ‘Whether Russell is remembering his discovery of Arthur Machen, chronicling his sometimes comic negotiations with the crafty bookdealer George Locke, or reflecting on his own personal library of tatty paperbacks, signed firsts and rare association copies, he makes clear that a bookish life can be an enviably rewarding one, replete with the quiet satisfactions of the study, the rowdy pleasures of the literary conference, and warm friendships with the learned, the widely read and, not least, the winningly eccentric.’ Michael Dirda

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Book SynopsisBOOK BUDDIES: DON'T TALK TO ME WHILE I'M READING is a celebration of all things bookworm-from the sweet to the snarky, including puns, quotes, and other delights. A playful illustration of an owl in a library represents knowledge is power, with an accompanying bookmark that says, "Owl save your place!" Another spread includes ten of the best first lines in novels-from Pride and Prejudice to "Call me Ishmael"-with an accompanying bookmark "don't judge a book by its cover-it's what's inside that counts." Another illustrates that feeling when:-you miss your subway stop reading-you're late because you were finishing a chapter-you don't know where the day went because you spent all of it readingwith an encouraging bookmark to finish "just one more chapter!"

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Book SynopsisThe publication of The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose is a literary event; this comprehensive volume is the first anthology of the period to reflect the breadth of seventeenth-century studies in recent decades. Over one hundred writers are included, from John Chamberlain at the beginning of the century to Elisabeth Singer Rowe at its end. There are generous selections from the work of all major writers, and a representation of the work of virtually every writer of significance. The work of women writers figures prominently, with extensive selections not only from canonical writers such as Behn and Bradstreet, but also from other writers (such as Katherine Philips and Margaret Cavendish) who have been receiving considerable scholarly attention in recent years.The anthology is broadly inclusive, with writing from America as well as from the British Isles. Memoirs, letters, political texts, travel writing, prophetic literature, street ballads, and pamphlet literature are all here, as is a full representation of the literary poetry and prose of the period, including the poetry of Jonson; the prose of Bacon; the metaphysical poetry of Donne, Herbert, Marvell, and others; the lyric verse of Herrick; and substantial selections from the poetry and prose of Milton and Dryden. (While Samson Agonistes is included in its entirety, Milton’s epic poems have been excluded, in order to allow space for other works not so readily accessible elsewhere.)The editors have included complete works wherever possible. A headnote by the editors introduces each author, and each selection has been newly annotated.Trade ReviewPraise for The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose:“There are many good things to be said about The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose—not least that it comes to help relieve a quarter-of-a-century’s dearth of decent anthologies, that it covers the whole century, and that it includes a number of women writers…This ambitious and thoughtful anthology deserves a large audience.” — Tom Clayton, Regents Professor of English, University of MinnesotaTable of ContentsMARY SIDNEY HERBERT, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE The Psalms of David Psalm 52 Quid Gloriaris?Psalm 58 Si Vere UtiquePsalm 74 Ut Quid, DeusPsalm 120 Ad Dominum MICHAEL DRAYTONTo the Virginian VoyageTo the Cambro-Britons, and their Harp, his Ballad of AgincourtSonnet 61THOMAS CAMPIONfrom A Book of AirsLet him that will be free and keep his heart from careFollow your Saint, follow with accents sweetfrom Two Books of AirsSweet, exclude me not, nor be dividedAs by the streams of Babylonfrom The Third Book of AirsIf Love loves truth, then women do not lovefrom The Fourth Book of AirsThere is a garden in her faceHENRY WOTTONOn his Mistress, the Queen of BohemiaThe Character of a Happy LifeUpon the Death of Sir Albert Morton’s WifeOn a Bank as I Sat a-Fishing: A Description of the SpringDe MorteAEMILIA LANYER Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (excerpts)To All Virtuous Ladies in GeneralThe Author’s Dream to the Lady MarySalve Deus Rex Judaorum (excerpts)The Description of Cooke-hamJOHN DONNE Songs and Sonnets The ApparitionThe FleaThe Good-MorrowLove’s Alchemy The IndifferentThe AnniversaryThe Sun RisingThe CanonizationConfined LoveAir and AngelsTwicknam GardenA Valediction: of WeepingThe EcstasyFarewell to LoveA Valediction: forbidding MourningA Nocturnal upon S. Lucy’s Day being the shortest dayThe Relic Elegies Elegy VIElegy VIIElegy VIII The ComparisonElegy IX The AutumnalElegy XIX To His Mistress Going to BedElegy [XVIII] Love’s Progress Satires Satire III Divine PoemsHoly Sonnets VIVIIIXXXIXIIXIIIXIVXV Holy Sonnets from the Westmoreland MS XVIIXVIIIXIXGood Friday, 1613. Riding WestwardA Hymn to Christ, at the Author’s last going into GermanyA Hymn to God my God, in my sicknessA Hymn to God the Father BEN JONSONTo the ReaderTo AlchemistsOn Something that Walks SomewhereTo William CamdenOn My First DaughterOn My First SonOn Lucy, Countess of BedfordTo Sir Henry SavileTo Sir Thomas RoeTo the SameInviting a Friend to SupperTo PenshurstTo HeavenSong To CeliaHer TriumphAn Epistle to Master John SeldenAn Epistle Answering to One that Asked to be Sealed of the Tribe of BenAn Ode. To HimselfTo the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair, Sir Lucius Gary and Sir H. MorisonThe Praises of a Country LifeOn The New Inn Ode. To HimselfTo the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr William ShakespeareClerimont’s SongA Vision of BeautyRICHARD CORBETTUpon an Unhandsome Gentlewoman, who made Love unto himThe Fairies Farewell: Or God-a-Mercy WillThe Distracted PuritanEDWARD, LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURYAn Ode upon a Question moved, Whether Love should continue for ever?LADY MARY WROTH Pamphilia to Amphilanthus 1 When night’s black mantle could most darkness prove8 Love, leave to urge, thou know’st thou hast the hand13 Cloyed with the torments of a tedious night15 Dear famish not what you yourself gave food16 Am I thus conquered? Have I lost the powers22 Come darkest night, becoming sorrow best25 Like to the Indians, scorched with the sun26 When everyone to pleasing pastime hies39 Take heed mine eyes, how you your looks do cast40 False hope which feeds but to destroy, and spill48 If ever Love had force in human breast?Song 74 Love, a child, is ever crying,A Crown of Sonnets Dedicated to Love 77 In this strange labyrinth, how shall I turn?78 Is to leave all, and take the thread of Love79 His flames are joys, his bands true lovers’ might80 And be in his brave court a glorious light81 And burn, yet burning you will love the smart82 He may our prophet, and our tutor prove83 How blest be they then, who his favours prove84 He that shuns love doth love himself the less85 But where they may return with honour’s grace86 Be from the Court of Love, and Reason torn87 Unprofitably pleasing, and unsound88 Be given to him who triumphs in his right89 Free from all fogs but shining fair, and clear90 Except my heart which you bestowed before103 My muse, now happy, lay thy self to rest WILLIAM BROWNEOn the Countess Dowager of PembrokeROBERT HERRICKTo the Most Illustrious, and Most Hopeful Prince, Charles, Prince of WalesThe Argument of his BookWhen he would have his verses readThe Difference Betwixt Kings and SubjectsUpon the Loss of His MistressesCherry-RipeTo the King and Queen,Upon Their Unhappy DistancesDelight In DisorderDuty to TyrantsTo DianemeCorinna’s Going A MayingTo live merrily, and to trust to Good VersesTo the Virgins, To make much of TimeThe Hock-cart, or Harvest home:To Anthea, who may command him anythingTo MeadowsUpon Prudence Baldwin her sicknessOn himselfCasualtiesTo DaffodilsMatins, or morning PrayerEvensongThe Bracelet to JuliaThe Departure of the Good DaemonThe Power in the PeopleTo His BookShame, no StatistFresh Cheese and CreamHis Winding-SheetHis Prayer to Ben. JonsonAn Ode for himMy BenThe bad season makes the Poet sadHis return to LondonHis Grange, Or Private WealthUpon Julia’s ClothesA Thanksgiving to God, for his HouseHis Litany, to the Holy SpiritFRANCIS QUARLESEmblem III (from Book III)Emblem VII (from Book III)Epigram III (from Book IV)Eclogue VIIIHENRY KINGAn Exequy to his Matchless never to be forgotten FriendUpon the Death of my ever Desired Friend Dr Donne Dean of Paul’sSic VitaGEORGE HERBERTThe AltarRedemptionEaster WingsAffliction (I)Prayer (I)Jordan (I)The H. Scriptures IThe H. Scriptures IIChurch-monumentsThe WindowsDenialVanity (I)VirtueThe Pearl. Matth. 13:45ManLifeJordan (II)The QuipProvidenceParadiseThe PilgrimageThe CollarThe PulleyThe FlowerAaronThe ElixirLove (III)L’EnvoyTHOMAS CAREWA deposition from LoveDisdain returnedTo SaxhamA RaptureTo Ben JonsonAn Elegy Upon the Death of the Dean of Pauls, Dr. John DonneTo a Lady that desired I would love herA SongThe second RaptureIn praise of his MistressJAMES SHIRLEY“The glories of our blood and state”RACHEL SPEGHTThe DreamTHOMAS RANDOLPHThe Second Epode of Horace TranslatedAn Elegy upon the Lady Venetia DigbyUpon his PictureAn Ode to Master Anthony Stafford, to hasten him into the CountryAn Answer to Master Ben. Jonson’s OdeOn the Death of a NightingaleA Pastoral CourtshipWILLIAM HABINGTONNox nocti indicat ScientiamEDMUND WALLEROn a GirdleGo, Lovely Rose!Upon His Majesty’s Repairing of Paul’sOn St. James’s Park, As Lately Improved by His MajestyOf the last verses in the bookJOHN MILTONOn the Morning of Christ’s NativityL’AllegroII PenserosoLycidasSonnet 7Sonnet 12 On the detraction which followed upon my writing certain treatisesSonnet 18 On the Late Massacre in PiedmontSonnet 19On the New Forcers of Conscience under the Long ParliamentSonnet 15 On the Lord General Fairfax at the Siege of ColchesterSamson Agonistes SIR JOHN SUCKLINGTo the ReaderSongA Ballad. Upon a WeddingThe Constant LoverA Barley-breakSonnet ISonnet IISonnet IIIThe WitsA CandleGERHARD WINSTANLEYThe Diggers’ SongANNE BRADSTREETThe PrologueA Dialogue between Old England and New Concerning their Present TroublesThe Flesh and the SpiritThe Author to Her BookTo My Dear and Loving HusbandAnotherIn Memory of my Dear Grandchild Elizabeth BradstreetSome Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666RICHARD CRASHAWWishes. To his (supposed) MistressSaint Mary Magdalene or The WeeperA Hymn to the Name and Honour of the Admirable Saint TeresaJOHN CLEVELANDThe King’s DisguiseThe Rebel ScotEpitaph on the Earl of StraffordThe General EclipseSAMUEL BUTLER Hudibras (excerpts)ROWLAND WATKYNSTo the ReaderThe AnabaptistUpon the mournful death of our late Soveraign Lord Charles the first, King of England, &cThe Common PeopleThe holy SepulchreThe new illiterate Lay-TeachersSIR JOHN DENHAMCooper’s HillRICHARD LOVELACETo Lucasta, Going to the WarsThe GrasshopperTo Lucasta. From PrisonTo my Worthy Friend Mr. Peter LillyTo Althea, From PrisonThe AntTo a Lady with child that asked an Old ShirtABRAHAM COWLEYThe WishThe GrasshopperThe Innocent 111On the Death of Mr. CrashawTo Mr. HobbesBrutusTo the Royal SocietySors VirgilianaOf SolitudeALEXANDER BROMEThe Levellers rantThe New-CourtierThe Saints’ EncouragementA Satire on the RebellionLUCY HUTCHINSON“All Sorts of Men”ANDREW MARVELLFlecknoe, an English Priest at RomeThe CoronetThe GalleryThe Definition of LoveTo His Coy MistressAn Horatian Ode Upon Cromwell’s Return From IrelandThe Picture of Little T.C. in a Prospect of FlowersThe Nymph Complaining for the Death of Her FawnUpon the Hill and Grove at BilbroughUpon Appleton HouseThe GardenOn a Drop of DewA Dialogue between the Soul and BodyThe Mower against GardensDamon the MowerThe Mower to the Glow-wormsThe Mower’s SongThe Character of HollandBermudasThe First Anniversary of the Government under His Highness the Lord ProtectorOn Mr. Milton’s "Paradise Lost"HENRY VAUGHANA RhapsodyUpon a Cloak Lent Him by Mr. J. RidsleyRegenerationThe Retreat“Joy of my life! while left me here”The Morning-Watch“And do they so?”“I walked the other day”“They are all gone into the world of light!”Cock-CrowingThe KnotThe NightThe BookTo His BooksMARGARET CAVENDISH, DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLEThe Poetress’s Hasty ResolutionA Discourse of BeastsThe Hunting of the HareThe Pastime of the Queen of the Fairies, when she comes upon earth out of the centerHer Descending Down“I Language want”JOHN DRYDEN Annus MirabilisAbsalom and AchitophelMac FlecknoeReligio Laid or A Layman’s Faith (excerpt)A Song for St Cecilia’s Day, 1687To the Memory of Mr. OldhamJuvenal’s Sixth Satire (excerpts)The Empress MessalinaThe learned wifeThe gaudy gossipJuvenal’s Tenth Satire (excerpt)SejanusThe Secular Masque KATHERINE PHILIPSUpon the Double Murder of K. Charles I in Answer to a Libelous Copy of Rimes by Vavasour PowellOn the Numerous Access of the English to wait upon the King in FlandersOn the 3 of September, 1651Friendship’s Mystery, To My Dearest LucasiaA Retired Friendship, To ArdeliaWiston VaultTo My Excellent Lucasia, On Our FriendshipA Country LifeOrinda to Lucasia parting October 1661 at LondonOrinda Upon Little Hector PhilipsOrinda to LucasiaA Married StatePHILO-PHILIPPATo the Excellent OrindaTHOMAS TRAHERNEWonderInnocenceThe PreparativeThe InstructionThe DemonstrationThe AnticipationCHARLES SACKVILLE, EARL OF DORSETMy OpinionSIR CHARLES SEDLEYYoung Coridon and PhillisAPHRA BEHNSong “I Led my Silvia to a Grove”The Golden Age. A Paraphrase on a Translation out of FrenchSong “Love Armed”On a Juniper Tree, Cut Down to Make BusksThe DisappointmentOn the Death of the late Earl of RochesterA Pindaric on the Death of our Late SovereignTo the fair ClarindaJOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTERSongUpon His Leaving His MistressA Satire Against Reason and MankindThe Disabled DebaucheeSongThe Imperfect EnjoymentA Ramble in St. James’s ParkA Song of a Young Lady to her Ancient LoverSignior DildoImpromptu on Charles IIELINOR JAMESAn Injured Prince Vindicated, or, A Scurrilous and Detracting Pamphlet AnsweredTHOMAS WHARTONLilli BurleroJANE BARKERAn Invitation to my Friends at CambridgeA Virgin LifeThe Prospect of a Landscape, Beginning with a GroveTo My Young LoverTo My Friends Against PoetryJOHN OLDHAMAn Imitation of HoraceUpon a BooksellerANNE KILLIGREWA Farewell to Worldly JoysThe Complaint of a LoverOn a Picture Painted by Herself, Representing Two Nymphs of Diana’sUpon the Saying that my Verses were Made by AnotherThe DiscontentCloris’ Charms Dissolved by EudoraJOHN TUTCHINThe ForeignersELIZABETH SINGER ROWE "PHILOMELA"Platonic LoveA Poetical Question concerning the Jacobites, sent to the AtheniansThe Athenians’ AnswerA Pindaric, to the Athenian SocietyTo CelindaThe Reply to Mr.——A MISCELLANYBALLADSTom o’ BedlamA sweet and pleasant Sonnet, entitled: My mind to me a kingdom isDitties Lamentation for the cruelty of this ageThe King’s Last Farewell to the WorldThe Royal Health to the Rising SunA Looking-Glass for Men and MaidsNo ring, no WeddingPOEMS ON THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAMUpon the Duke of BuckinghamEpitaph on the Duke of BuckinghamEpitaphCOURT SATIRE (1682)INDEXESINDEX OF FIRST LINESINDEX OF AUTHORS AND TITLES

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Book SynopsisThe life, work and history of Aphra Behn: seventeenth century dramatist, poet, novelist, political propagandist, bisexual writer, and spy. Praise for the first hardback edition: Fascinating scholarship. Todd conveys Behn's vivacious character and the mores of the time. the New York Times Ground-breakingit reads quickly and lightly. Even Todd s throwaway lines are steeped in learning and observation. Ruth Perry, MIT, Women s Review of Books A major biography; of interest to everyone who cares about women as writers. Times Higher Education Supplement Fascinating, a page-turner and a delight, an astonishingly thorough book. Emma Donoghue All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn...For it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. Virginia Woolf Aphra Behn, a spy in the Netherlands and the Americas, was the first professional woman writer. The most prolific dramatist of her age, innovative novelist, translator, lyrical and erotic poet, she expresses a frank sexuality addressing impotence, orgasm and bisexuality, whilst serving as political propagandist for the monarch. This revised biography of the extraordinary, ground-breaking writer, who is emblematic of the Restoration period, a time of masks and self-fashioning, is set in conflict-ridden England, Europe, and in the mismanaged slave colonies, following the Puritan republic in 1660. Janet Todd, novelist and internationally renowned scholar, was President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and a Professor at Rutgers, NJ. An expert on women s writing and feminism, she has published on many writers, including Jane Austen, the Shelley Circle, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Aphra Behn. "

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Book SynopsisIntroducing a new generation to the book that changed humanities scholarship.Trade ReviewOne of the most influential texts in gender studies, men's studies and gay studies. New York Times Book Review Groundbreaking... Between Men not only put Sedgwick on the map as a queer theorist, it helped to establish the field of queer literary analysis. -- Jane Hu Page-Turner blog, The New Yorker Strikingly relevant now. -- J. Bryan Lowder Slate Between Men will lead you into the small corners where vast plains open up-the perspective-defying, vertiginous angles that Sedgwick has the power to reveal with a density and graciousness that permit exaltation and inaugurate utopia. -- From the foreword by Wayne KoestenbaumTable of ContentsForeword: The Eve Effect, by Wayne Koestenbaum Preface to the 1993 Edition Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Gender Asymmetry and Erotic Triangles 2. Swan in Love: The Examples of Shakespeare's Sonnets 3. The Country Wife: Anatomies of Male Homosocial Desire 4. A Sentimental Journey: Sexualism and the Citizen of the World 5. Toward the Gothic: Terrorism and Homosexual Panic 6. Murder Incorporated: Confessions of a Justified Sinner 7. Tennyson's Princess: One Bride for Seven Brothers 8. Adam Bede and Henry Esmond: Homosocial Desire and the Historicity of the Female 9. Homophobia, Misogyny, and Capital: The Example of Our Mutual Friend 10. Up the Postern Stair: Edwin Drood and the Homophobia of Empire Coda. Toward the Twentieth Century: English Readers of Whitman Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis special edition invites fans inside the world of the March sisters. It includes the full text of Little Women, plus gorgeous, removable replicas of the characters' letters and other writings. For anyone who loves Little Women, or still cherishes the joy of letter writing, this book illuminates a favorite story in a whole new way. Louisa May Alcott's classic tale follows the March sisters as they come of age, and these unforgettable characters come alive in their letters and other writings. When Laurie invites Jo to join him for a picnic and "all sorts of larks," the unbridled joy of their friendship shines through. Each of the girls' personalities is perfectly encapsulated in the letters they pen to Marmee. And Jo's heart-wrenching poem "My Beth" speaks to the profound bond between two sisters. As you read this deluxe edition of the novel, you will find pockets throughout containing replicas of all 17 significant letters and paper ephemera from the story, re-created with beautiful calligraphy and painstaking attention to historical detail. Pull out each one, peruse its contents, and allow yourself to be transported to the parlor of the March family home. BELOVED STORY: LITTLE WOMEN has been passed down from generation to generation. Greta Gerwig's 2019 film adaption welcomed new fans to the story. Now is the perfect time to revisit the Alcott's original text and experience it in a unique way with physical ephemera that links you directly to the world of the March family. UNIQUE FORMAT: From the masterful calligraphy, to the painstaking attention to historical detail, to the hand-folding of the letters, to the quality of the materials—each book is an object made by fans for fans. This edition offers an immersive experience of the story, stands apart on the shelf, and makes for a truly lovely gift and keepsake. NOSTALGIC APPEAL, TIMELESS STORY: LITTLE WOMEN evokes deep childhood nostalgia—yet it's a rich and sophisticated story with feminist overtones that engages readers of any age and any generation. This edition allows those who read LITTLE WOMEN as children to experience their beloved novel anew, while inviting first-time readers to the party. Perfect for: • LITTLE WOMEN fans • Fans of the film adaptions • Moms, daughters, grandmothers, and girlfriends • Book clubbers • Letter writers • Collectors of vintage ephemera

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Book SynopsisThe first part of The History of The Lord of the Rings, an enthralling account of the writing of the Book of the Century which contains many additional scenes and includes the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety.The Return of the Shadow is the story of the first part of the history of the creation of The Lord of the Rings, a fascinating study of Tolkien's great masterpiece, from its inception to the end of the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring.In The Return of the Shadow (the abandoned title of the first volume of The Lord of the Rings) we see how Bilbo's magic ring evolved into the supremely dangerous Ruling Ring of the Dark Lord; and the precise, and astonishingly unforeseen, moment when a Black Rider first rode in to the Shire. The character of the hobbit called Trotter (afterwards Strider or Aragorn) is developed, and Frodo's companions undergo many changes of name and personality.The book comes complete with reproductions of the first maps and facsimile pages from the earl

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Book SynopsisA world of dewAnd within every dewdropA world of struggle The iconic three-line haiku form is increasingly popular today as people embrace its simplicity and grace—and its connections to the Japanese ethos of mindfulness and minimalism. Say more with fewer words.This practical guide by poet and teacher Bruce Ross shows you how to capture a fleeting moment, like painting a picture with words, and how to give voice to your innermost thoughts, feelings, and observations. You don't have to be a practiced poet or writer to write your own haiku, and this book shows you how.In this book, aspiring poets will find: Accessible, easy-to-replicate examples and writing prompts A foreword that looks at the state of haiku today as the form continues to expand worldwide An introduction to related Japanese haiku forms such as tanka, haiga, renga, haibun, and senryu A listing of international journals and online resources Do you want to tell a story? Give haibun a try. Maybe you want to express a fleeting feeling? A tanka is the perfect vehicle. Are you more visual than verbal? Then a haiga, or illustrated haiku, is the ideal match. Finally, a renga is perfect as a group project or to create with friends, passing a poem around, adding line after line, and seeing what your group effort amounts to.Ross walks readers through the history and form of haiku, before laying out what sets each Japanese poetic form apart. Then it's time to turn to your notebook and start drafting some verse of your own!

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Book SynopsisThe second part of The History of The Lord of the Rings, an enthralling account of the writing of the Book of the Century which contains many additional scenes and includes the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety.The Treason of Isengard continues the account of the creation of The Lord of the Rings started in the earlier volume, The Return of the Shadow.It races the great expansion of the tale into new lands and peoples south and east of the Misty Mountains: the emerence of Lothlorien, of Ents, of the Riders of Rohan, and of Saruman the White in the fortress of Isengard.In brief outlines and pencilled drafts dashed down on scraps of paper are seen the first entry of Galadriel, the earliest ideas of the history of Gondor, and the original meeting of Aragorn and Eowyn, its significance destined to be wholly transformed.The book also contains a full account of the original map which was to be the basis of the emerging geography of Middle-earth.This series of fascinating books has now bee

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Book SynopsisMany definitions of postmodernism focus on its nature as the aftermath of the modern industrial age when technology developed. This book extends that analysis to postmodernism by looking at the status of science, technology, and the arts, the significance of technocracy, and the way the flow of information is controlled in the Western world.Table of ContentsForeword by Frederic JamesonIntroduction1 The field: knowledge in computerized societies2 The problem: legitimation3 The method: language games4 The nature of the social bond: the modern alternative5 The nature of the social bond: the postmodern perspective6 The pragmatics of narrative knowledge7 The pragmatics of scientific knowledge8 The narrative function and the legitimation of knowledge9 Narratives of the legitimation of knowledge10 Delgitimation11 Research and it legitimation through performativity12 Education and its legitimation through performativity13 Postmodern science as the search for instabilities14 Legitimation by paralogyAppendixNotes Index

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Book SynopsisNo Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of As You Like It on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.

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Book SynopsisA ground-breaking collection celebrating women who, over centuries, have dared to articulate their own desires with artistry and skill.Trade Review'Fierce, captivating, revolutionary. A dazzling collection that will win hearts and change minds.'-Elif Shafak; 'These voices are furious, witty, outrageous, tender and entranced. This collection offers much delightful entertainment and fresh perspectives on women and sex in the Middle East.' -Marina Warner

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Book SynopsisElizabeth Smart's passionate fictional account of her intense love-affair with the poet George Barker, described by Angela Carter as Like MADAME BOVARY blasted by lightning A masterpiece'.One day, while browsing in a London bookshop, Elizabeth Smart chanced upon a slim volume of poetry by George Barker and fell passionately in love with him through the printed word. Eventually they communicated directly and, as a result of Barker's impecunious circumstances, Elizabeth Smart flew both him and his wife from Japan, where he was teaching, to join her in the United States. Thus began one of the most extraordinary, intense and ultimately tragic love affairs of our time. They never married but Elizabeth bore George Barker four children and their relationship provided the impassioned inspiration for one of the most moving and immediate chronicles of a love affair ever written By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept'.Originally published in 1945, this remarkable book is now widely identTrade Review‘Like Madame Bovary blasted by lightening … A masterpiece.’ Angela Carter ‘At some point every good reader comes across “By Grand Central Station I sat Down and Wept”. And he or she recognises an emotion essential and permanent to us.’ Michael Ondaatje ‘A revelation…This short, powerful work has a profound influence on me and was one of the factors that made me want to be a writer.’ Beryl Bainbridge ‘I doubt if there are more than half a dozen such masterpieces of poetic prose in the world.’ Brigid Brophy ‘Explores a passion between a man and two women, one of them his wife – a love despairing and triumphant upon which the reader may gaze, awed, appalled, or even, perhaps, envious.’ The Times ‘Few writers have ever captured the full honesty of what passion means as shockingly and as piercingly as Smart. Today, its force still strikes us hard in the face, a beautiful and bloody blow.’ Lesley McDowell, Independent on Sunday ‘Constructed as a single, sustained climax, it is like a cry of ecstasy which, without changing volume or pitch, becomes a cry of agony.’ Spectator ‘The emotion, the truth and abject affliction comes through…to move the reader, and even to awe him.’ London Review of Books

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Book SynopsisBelinda (1801) tackles issues of gender and race in a manner at once comic and thought-provoking. Braving the perils of the marriage market, Belinda learns to think for herself as the examples of her friends prove singularly unreliable.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of Maria Edgeworth Belinda Appendix Explanatory notes

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Book SynopsisDragons. Art. Revolution.Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter, or a subversive. They just want to paint.One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…Trade Review“A powerful, deeply moving book that is a wonderful read, without question one of the best of the year.” -- Every Book a Doorway * Every Book a Doorway *"This is a story about the intersection between art and culture; it's about how art isn't frivolous but vital, especially in times of turmoil. A thought-provoking and very timely book." * SciFiNow *"Phoenix Extravagant is a book containing ruminations on imperialism, the function and sanctity of art, acculturation, and the morality of love. It also contains a bloody big and unexpectedly adorable mechanical dragon." -- Jonathan L. Howard‘A story of art, love, human connection, the power of creation, colonialism, and the roles we all have to play in fighting oppression.’“An arresting tale of loyalty, identity, and the power of art... Lee’s masterful storytelling is sure to wow.” * Publishers Weekly *‘A fiercely original and enchanting new fantasy.’‘Powerful. Unforgettable. This is another amazing piece of work, and I have the feeling I need to read it again to get it fully!’

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Book Synopsis''You can leave a forest, but you can never leave a cloister; you are free in the forest, but you are a slave in the cloister.''Diderot''s The Nun (La Religieuse) is the seemingly true story of a young girl forced by her parents to enter a convent and take holy orders. A novel mingling mysticism, madness, sadistic cruelty and nascent sexuality, it gives a scathing insight into the effects of forced vocations and the unnatural life of the convent. A succès de scandale at the end of the eighteenth century, it has attracted and unsettled readers ever since. For Diderot''s novel is not simply a story of a young girl with a bad habit; it is also a powerfully emblematic fable about oppression and intolerance.This new translation includes Diderot''s all-important prefatory material, which he placed, disconcertingly, at the end of the novel, and which turns what otherwise seems like an exercise in realism into what is now regarded as a masterpiece of proto-modernist fiction. ABOUT THE SERIES: Trade ReviewRussell Goulbourne's wide-ranging introduction shows clearly how the work's past significance and it present meaning are linked: Goulbourne's excellent translation maintains the reader's involvement without sacrificing accuracy. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions.In her second volume of essays, Virginia Woolf delves deeper into the delights of reading. Here, she explores the novels of Thomas Hardy and Daniel Defoe, and recounts the fascinating lives of Christina Rossetti and Mary Wollstonecraft. In How Should One Read a Book?' she offers sage advice for the common reader, and sheds light on the lessons and pleasures literature can provide.Published in 1932, The Common Reader: Second Series is a wise and illuminating companion collection to her 1925 First Series. Woolf's enduring appeal and ideas continue to resonate with readers in the twenty-first century.

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by comedian and novelist David BaddielA novel in seven volumes, Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is considered a major literary work of the twentieth century. And even more crucially, one that you should have read by now. However, as one of its most distinguishing features is its staggering length, many of us feel intimidated and perhaps, even, fatigued at the thought of diving in. Alain de Botton’s hilarious and unexpected Proustian manual, is then, the perfect antidote to this problem.In How Proust Can Change Your Life, de Botton masterfully distils what Proust says about friendship, reading, being alive and taking your time, and mixes it with his own, no less nourishing commentary. As de Botton rereads Proust for our collective benefit, we see the continued relevance of his work and the rich and varied insights he can offer us, from how to reinvigorate your relationship to being a good host. This is Proust as you’ve never seen him before. He may even change your life.Trade ReviewIt contains more human interest and play of fancy than most fiction . . . de Botton, in emphasizing Proust's healing, advisory aspects, does us the service of rereading him on our behalf, providing of that vast sacred lake a sweet and lucid distillation -- John Updike * New Yorker *

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