{"title":"Essays Books","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-story-of-kullervo-9780008131388","title":"The Story of Kullervo","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe world first publication of a previously unknown work of fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the powerful story of a doomed young man who is sold into slavery and who swears revenge on the magician who killed his father.Kullervo son of Kalervo is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien's characters. Hapless Kullervo', as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and who tries three times to kill him when still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and guarded by the magical powers of the black dog, Musti. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruellest of fates.Tolkien wrote that The Story of Kullervo was the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own', and was a maj\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraise for J.R.R. Tolkien:\u003cbr\u003e‘One marvels anew at the depth, breadth and persistence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s labour. 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Here, Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx brings her witness and research to the vitally important role they play in preserving the environment, and their systemic destruction in the pursuit of profit. Travelling from the fens of sixteenth-century England to America's Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Fen, Bog and Swamp is both a revelatory history and an urgent plea for wetland reclamation, from one of our greatest prose stylists.A rousing call to action' EsquireSparklingly furious  it has a profoundly positive message' Richard Mabey, TelegraphThis haunting tribute  is a pleasure to read' Financial Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Proulx wants us to see the loss of wetlands – and to appreciate the beauty in these swampy and often stinking places. Boy, does she succeed. \u003cstrong\u003eThe prose is just magnificent\u003c\/strong\u003e, bringing to life hitherto overlooked habitats’ \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Proulx’s book is \u003cstrong\u003etruly peat-ish: layered, learned, feisty, wildly discursive, and most certainly “undulating, dreaming [and] philosophising”’\u003c\/strong\u003e Richard Mabey, \u003cem\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eA haunting tribute to the world’s peatlands \u003c\/strong\u003e… Proulx’s poetic description of these places, and peat itself, is \u003cstrong\u003ea pleasure to read\u003c\/strong\u003e’ \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘This sobering history of our world’s rich wetlands explains the \u003cstrong\u003echilling ecological consequences\u003c\/strong\u003e of their destruction’ \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eAn enchanting work of nature writing’\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eEsquire\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eDelves into the history of peatland destruction and its role in the climate crisis\u003c\/strong\u003e … Proulx uses nimble prose to knit together scientific facts, personal experiences, and literary references while deciphering the nomenclature of these three subtly diverse wetlands which collectively hold the key to human history’ \u003cem\u003eVogue\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eA fierce declaration of peat’s importance to climate stability and human survival \u003c\/strong\u003e’ \u003cem\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘[Proulx’s] \u003cstrong\u003eastute and impassioned\u003c\/strong\u003e examinations of all kinds of wetlands … show a new side of the novelist we thought we knew’ \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘So often feared, dredged and drained, swamps, bogs and fens (it turns out) are just as vital to our species’ survival on this planet as healthy forests and oceans – perhaps more so. 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What meaning can we hope to find in our modern, secular life? The answer, Ben Hutchinson explains, can be found by looking to writers and thinkers to help us live more purposefully, more mindfully  more fully.Interweaving his own (mis-)adventures with those of authors such as T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust and Joan Didion, On Purpose proposes ten ways in which reading and writing encourage us to ask difficult questions, project our minds into the past and future, and see ourselves and others differently.Engaging, uplifting and aphoristic, this book is for anyone who has lost their sense of direction or wishes to radically transform the way they live.","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832559386967,"sku":"9780008588465","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780008588465.jpg?v=1710335429"},{"product_id":"the-gimmicks-9780062908582","title":"The Gimmicks","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The Gimmicks is a gorgeous epic that astounds with its scope and beauty. 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Though haunted by ghosts, The Gimmicks is brilliantly, boisterously alive.\" — Anthony Marra, author of NBCC John Leonard Prize-winning, New York Times bestselling A Constellation of Vital Phenomena  “[The Gimmicks’s] subcultures, emphasized in the book’s eye-catching cover design and promotional copy, are not what fuel it. It’s really about history — personal and collective — and it’s rooted in horrors from more than a century ago that are still making news today… At a time when plot and contrivance in literary fiction are not the most fashionable things, McCormick, in his early 30s, proves adept at old-fashioned skills that one hopes will never go entirely unpracticed.” — New York Times  “This brilliant, kooky book touches on everything from the Armenian genocide and the arcane rules of backgammon to the spandexed underworld of semiprofessional wrestling in 1980s Los Angeles…Hardly a page will go by that you won’t marvel at McCormick’s tender, surreally comic study of two brothers…It’s all stranger than fiction, and too fantastic not to wish it were true.” — Entertainment Weekly  \"McCormick explores the plight of Armenian refugees who arrive in America with their bodies as their only commodity and how a national trauma shapes Armenian identity. Masterfully structured and stupendously ambitious, this sweeping historical epic bears comparison to Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000). Always moving, brilliantly realized, and full of wondrous humor, this is a debut of rare depth and brilliance.\" — Booklist (starred review)  \"A fluid, beautifully written story about professional wrestling, intergenerational trauma, genocide, and history, jumping through Armenia to America and from one generation to another.\" — The Millions","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832619811159,"sku":"9780062908582","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780062908582.jpg?v=1710336025"},{"product_id":"vesper-flights-9780099575467","title":"Vesper Flights","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThrilling dispatches from a vanishing world... A powerful - and entertaining - corrective to the idea that the only hopes that matter on this planet are those of our own species.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Tim Adams * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVesper Flights \u003c\/i\u003eis a book of ideas and urgent, beautiful writing... [Macdonald] is a writer whose every word is to be cherished.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Tom Lathan * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHelen Macdonald is one of the best nature writers now working.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Simon Ings * Telegraph *Books of the Year* *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNature writing at its best... All kinds of wondrous... Each and every essay reminded me what a gifted writer Macdonald is. Her prose is poetry but it also has a drenching kind of a clarity. And this is good because we shouldn't allow ourselves to be lulled by the sheer pleasure of reading her. 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The strength and delicacy of these chapters leave you trusting Messud's taste and judgment before you sample her criticism, which doesn't disappoint -- Susie Boyt * Financial Times *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47846249726295,"sku":"9780349726564","price":7.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780349726564.jpg?v=1710522852"},{"product_id":"the-girl-from-revolution-road-9781988547398","title":"The Girl from Revolution Road","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on Ghazaleh Golbakhsh's experience as an Iranian immigrant growing up in New Zealand, these essays range from a childhood in war-torn Iran, including the trauma of a night spent in prison as a six-year-old, to learning English so she could make friends, to dating in the days of Corona. 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Yet, as  Hitchens shows in his reportage, cultural and literary criticism, and  opinion essays from the last decade, he has not jumped ship and joined  the right but is faithful to the internationalist, contrarian and  democratic ideals that have always informed his work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDazzling, and often very moving, writing from the 1990s by one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eAn exceptional political polemicist * Prospect *\u003cbr\u003eHitchens is just too damn good. * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1: \tThe Medals Of His Defeats 2: \tA Man Of Permanent Contradictions 3: \tThe Old Man 4: \tHuxley And Brave New World 5: \tGreeneland 6: \tScoop 7: \tThe Man Of Feeling 8: \tThe Misfortune Of Poetry 9: \tThe Acutest Ear In Paris 10: \tJoyce In Bloom 11: \tThe Immortal 12: \tIt Happened On Sunset 13: \tThe Ballad Of Route 66 14: \tThe Adventures Of Augie March 15: \tRebel Ghosts 16: \tAmerica's Poet? 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Bringing together pieces from Beard's first collection, The Boys of My Youth, and Festival Days, which was published two decades later, The Collected Works showcases Jo Ann Beard's impressive breadth, quiet brilliance, and timeless prose.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA writer always at the top of her game ... she brings to bear a poet's precision, a novelist's empathy and an essayist's concentrated thought -- Mia Levitin * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003eViolence and death are balanced by hard-won, transcendent joy in Beard's remarkable stories * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eThe stories are essays, the essays are stories. Even when they are not literally true, they contain the kind of truth that great fiction thrives on ... the collected works here make me - as a reader - delirious with admiration and - as a writer - furious with envy -- John Self * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eBeard has a distinctive, arresting voice, whether she is evoking the frustrations of early childhood, describing desolately beautiful landscapes, or comparing notes with friends about breaking marriages * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eAs controlled and convincing as art * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003eJo Ann Beard's work impresses me no end. 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Perhaps instead of an essayist we should think of her as a poet-naturalist, wedding intuition and observation, and forming from this union something unaccountably yet undeniably real * New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eBrilliant, like nobody else -- Elizabeth McCracken\u003cbr\u003eReading Jo Ann Beard is like setting out on a walk with a curious and intelligent friend who is determined to show you how seemingly unrelated things share a secret kinship -- Adrienne Brodeur\u003cbr\u003eGenerous, beautifully observed, compassionate and, at times, genuinely funny -- A L Kennedy\u003cbr\u003eBeard's power comes from phrasings and insights that aren't just screaming for likes. Few writers are so wise and self-effacing and emotionally honest all in one breath... she effects an intimacy that makes us want to sit on the rug and listen -- Sara Lippmann * Washington Post *\u003cbr\u003e[Beard's] books are worth the wait. A master of sensory details, she also writes with humor, melancholy and a love of animals that never borders on saccharine... In her work, even everyday moments gleam with significance -- Michele Filgate * Los Angeles Times *\u003cbr\u003eA master of creative nonfiction, Beard explores life's most salient moments through facts that she sometimes fractures -- Amy Sutherland * Boston Globe *\u003cbr\u003eIntimate, intelligent, intense - and ultimately comforting * People Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eCharged with fine detail... Beard is so good at what she does... In Beard's book, writing works like compound interest, each experience building on the last, which built on the one before -- Ellen Akins * Minneapolis Star-Tribune *\u003cbr\u003eThis writer has blown my mind. The Boys of My Youth and Cheri feature some of the finest writing I've read in many a moon. 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Was it because you were sad? Or happy? Overwhelmed, or frustrated? Maybe from relief or from pride? Was it in public or in private? Did you feel better afterwards, or worse? The reasons that we cry—and the circumstances in which we shed a tear—are often surprising and beautiful. \u003ci\u003eSad Happens\u003c\/i\u003e is a collective, multi-faceted archive of tears that captures the complexity and variety of these circumstances.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWe hear from Mike Birbiglia on the role that grief and pain have in comedy; Jia Tolentino on how motherhood made her cry in both hormonal joy and fervent rage; and Hanif Abdurraqib on the intimacy of crying on planes. We hear from Phoebe Bridgers on poignant moments of departure and JP Brammer on the strange disappointments of success; Matt Berninger on becoming a crybaby in his adulthood and Hua Hsu on crying during a moment of public uncertainty. 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She captures brilliantly the bittersweetness of being far from home, a way of life whose sacrifices are outweighed by a feeling of living deliberately...\u003cb\u003ea remarkable exploration\u003c\/b\u003e of how being mindful of the past can enrich and imbue with urgency our everyday lives. * Los Angeles Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eInventive \u003c\/b\u003e. . . [Mead] deftly layers historical research with autobiography to unsettle familiar ideas of homecoming - and of memoir-writing. . . . At a time when little feels truly sturdy, Mead's book is a reminder that having a place to return to, and a history to explore, is a luxury * The Atlantic *\u003cbr\u003eBeautifully written . . . [Mead's] non-linear approach never disorientates - rather, it invigorates, creating as it does a rich patchwork of overlapping ideas and recollections. . . . This is an artfully crafted memoir which offers \u003cb\u003ea clear-eyed examination of home, roots, belonging, and personal and national identity.\u003c\/b\u003e * Star Tribune *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eUnfailingly insightful, precise, and well written\u003c\/b\u003e . . . 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Featuring interviews with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Louise Erdrich and original work in English by Richard Powers and Colum McCann, \u003ci\u003eAmerica\u003c\/i\u003e celebrates the enduring relationship between France and the United States and offers a testament to the essential power of literature to unite in times of division.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA kaleidoscopic reading list of a divided nation. * Columbia Journalism Review *\u003cbr\u003eLucid and humanist, a political literary magazine in which today's most prestigious writers witness, each in their own ways, a disillusioned country. * L’Expres *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction: \tFrancois Busnel 1: \t\tLos Angeles by Alain Mabanckou 2: \t\tFrom Chicago to New Orleans by Philippe Besson 3: \t\tOrange Is the New Black by Richard Powers 4: \t\tThe Outskirts of the City by Marie Darrieussecq 5: \t\tThe Yellowstone Chronicles by Joël Dicker 6: \t\tHitchhiking along the Border by Sylvain Prudhomme 7: \t\tFour Letters from America by Laura Kasischke 8: \t\tChocolate-Colored Washington by Abdourahman Waberi 9: \t\tTrans-America by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich 10: \t\tA Hat in Manhattan by Francois Busnel 11: \t\tMiss Gulliver in America by Leïla Slimani 12: \t\tThe Home(less) of the Free and the Brave by Lee Stringer 13: \t\tWill Evangelicals Save Trump? by Philippe Coste 14: \t\tBoulevard of Broken Dreams by Yann Perreau 15: \t\tWe Must Fight for Our Memory, an interview with Louise Erdrich 16: \t\tAmong the Amish by Philippe Claudel 17: \t\tLas Vegas by Alice Zeniter 18: \t\tA Call to Young Writers on the Eve of the Trump Presidency by Colum McCann","brand":"Grove Press \/ Atlantic Monthly Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47851452465495,"sku":"9781611854534","price":12.34,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781611854534.jpg?v=1710636789"},{"product_id":"freemans-animals-9781611854244","title":"Freeman's Animals","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver a century ago, Rilke went to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where he watched a pair of flamingos. A flock of other birds screeched by, and, as he describes in a poem, the great red-pink birds sauntered on, unphased, then 'stretched amazed and singly march into the imaginary.' This encounter - so strange, so typical of flamingos with their fabulous posture - is also still typical of how we interact with animals. Even as our actions threaten their very survival, they are still symbolic, captivating and captive, caught in a drama of our framing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis issue of \u003ci\u003eFreeman's\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of that interaction, its costs, its tendernesses, the mythological flex of it. From lovers in a Chiara Barzini story, falling apart as a group of wild boars roams in their Roman neighbourhood, to the soppen emergency birth of a cow on a Wales farm, stunningly described by Cynan Jones, no one has the moral high ground here. Nor is this a piece of mourning. There's wonder, humour, rage and relief, too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFeaturing pigeons, calves, stray dogs, mascots, stolen cats, and bears, to the captive, tortured animals who make up our food supply, powerfully described in Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk's essay, this wide-ranging issue of \u003ci\u003eFreeman's\u003c\/i\u003e will stimulate discussion and dreams alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere's an illustrious new literary journal in town . . . [with] fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by new voices and literary heavyweights. * Vogue.com *\u003cbr\u003eA terrific anthology . . . Sure to become a classic in years to come. * San Francisco Chronicle *\u003cbr\u003eFreeman draws from a global cache of talent . . . An expansive reading experience. * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eFreeman's is fresh, provocative, engrossing. * bbc.co.uk *","brand":"Grove Press \/ Atlantic Monthly Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47851454136663,"sku":"9781611854244","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781611854244.jpg?v=1710636811"},{"product_id":"my-russia-war-or-peace-9781529427783","title":"My Russia: War or Peace?","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn his timely new book, Mikhail Shishkin, argues that Russia is not a 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma': we just don't know enough about it. 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[Gay] has a gift for clean, well-ordered prose, and strong feelings on matters of race, gender, and sexuality. Most important, she possesses a fearlessness essential to doing the job right; though she can observe an issue from various angles, she never wrings her hands or delivers milquetoast commentaries . . . she comes to her opinions more out of empathy than ideology . . . 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How necessary, at our particular moment’ \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eTessa Hadley\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e________________\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e From the\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e New York Times-\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003ebestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e Lincoln in the Bardo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eTenth of December\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves - and our world today.\u003c\/b\u003e  For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In \u003ci\u003eA Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.  In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity.  \u003ci\u003eA Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA wonderful book … This book is a delight … I love the warmth with which he writes about this teaching, and agree wholeheartedly … All this makes Saunders’s book very different from just another “how to” creative writing manual, or just another critical essay … One of the pleasures of this book is feeling his own thinking move backwards and forwards, between the writer dissecting practice and the reader entering in through the spell of the words, to dwell inside the story -- Tessa Hadley * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eSaunders is such a wise and amiable teacher ... A page-turner -- Robert Webb\u003cbr\u003eLuminously perceptive * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eA masterclass in how to be human ... unfailingly, often thrillingly illuminating … Published any time, \u003ci\u003eA Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e would be a joyous reminder that fiction is “the most effective mode of mind-to-mind communication ever devised”. Published now, it feels like vital and civilising corrective to the pretend certainties of public life – and, increasingly, of our personal lives too * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eIt will stay with you and transform how you read story by story, sentence by sentence * The Times, Best Paperbacks of 2022 *\u003cbr\u003eOne of the most accurate and beautiful depictions of what it is like to be inside the mind of a writer that I’ve ever read * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eThe Russian greats truly shine in this account; but Saunders is the real star. His way of expressing himself is simultaneously supremely intellectual and jovially down-to-earth. It’s rare to read a book and love it so much that you think it’s simply perfect. \u003ci\u003eA Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e is that book -- Viv Groskop * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eJoins a long tradition of using Russian literature as a guide to life … Practical and playful … it also probes exactly how narrative techniques make us more alert, attentive and sympathetic in reading books and the world around us * i news *\u003cbr\u003eBy the end Saunders is wondering if there is indeed any point in writing at all. I won’t spoil his conclusion. Suffice to say, the hairs on the back of my neck were alert * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eSuffused with wry humour … Not an academic interpretation, but a reader’s companion. I was pleasurably absorbed from start to finish * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003eThe Booker-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo considers the art of fiction through seven classic Russian short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol * Guardian, 2021 in Books *\u003cbr\u003eThe combination of Saunders’s piercing mind and the Russian subjects being Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol promises to be a highbrow treat for fans of literature, and a book offering deep insights into storytelling and how narrative functions * Independent, The books to look out for in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eA literary masterclass * Evening Standard, A look ahead to the best new books in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eBut the real star of \u003ci\u003eA Swim\u003c\/i\u003e isn't Chekhov or Turgenev or Tolstoy or Gogol - it's Saunders himself ... This book will quite simply make you a better, more observant and more understanding reader * Big Issue *\u003cbr\u003ePart intro to Russian literature, part musings on craft, \u003ci\u003eA Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e is all pleasure * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eA worship song to writers and readers * O, The Oprah Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eHis warmth, enthusiasm and homespun metaphors – all part of that “writerly charm” – banish any sense of the chilly, mechanistic Fiction Lab ... Gleefully overshoots its brief as a technical manual or how-to guide …\u003ci\u003e A Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e generates more fun, more wit, more sympathetic sense, than we have any right to hope for from a 400-page critical study * Arts Desk *\u003cbr\u003eThere should be more books like this -- Sameer Rahim * Prospect Podcast *\u003cbr\u003eA masterclass from a warm and engagingly enthusiastic companion * Guardian, 50 hottest new books everyone should read *\u003cbr\u003eA masterclass in short fiction by one of the finest teachers alive… It is a joyously civilised primer on how to write – and live – better * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eWarm, playful and acutely perceptive -- Ian Leslie * New Statesman, Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003eNot just astute, humane lit crit but an inspirational manifesto for the art of fiction -- Boyd Tonkin * Spectator, Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003eA masterclass in writing … a real treat -- Naomi Alderman * Spectator, Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003e[I] loved George Saunders’s \u003ci\u003eA Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e … Genial, generous and illuminating ... He is a great teacher as well as a great practitioner, and makes you see more * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eA tin of caviar sort of a book … Saunders guides, prods, nudges, urges you to disagree … It will stay with you and transform how you read story by story, sentence by sentence * Sunday Times, 24 best fiction books 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eDelightful as well as an engaging work-out for the brain. Just the thing for a New Year’s read * i paper *\u003cbr\u003eIn clear, fresh, often humorous language, Saunders reveals the various sleights of hand involved in their construction, while never trying to flatten their essential genius. 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Surely capitalism is due an upgrade or two?'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Caitlin Moran sat down to choose her favourite pieces for her new book she realised that they all seemed to join up. Turns out, it's the same old problems and the same old ass-hats.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen she thought of the word Moranifesto', and she knew what she had to do\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is Caitlin's engaging and amusing rallying call for our times. 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Please.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe is one of the most astute social commentators hitting a keyboard today ... guaranteed to brighten up anyone's life * Independent *\u003cbr\u003ethe joy of Moran’s writing lies in how she combines thoughtfulness and intelligence with proper belly laughs. * Independent on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eSpiky, funny and passionate * Guardian *","brand":"Ebury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732199715159,"sku":"9780091949068","price":14.24,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780091949068.jpg?v=1719995932"},{"product_id":"a-roland-barthes-reader-9780099224914","title":"A Roland Barthes Reader","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo read through A Barthes Reader is finally to be left with the image of Barthes as one of the great public teachers of our time' \u003ci\u003eNew Republic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEdited by Susan Sontag, \u003ci\u003eA Roland Barthes Reader\u003c\/i\u003e offers a definitive selection of works by the French intellectual Roland Barthes, including seminal essays, such as ''Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives'' as well as his more unusual works, such as ''The World of Wrestling''.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''At last, with \u003ci\u003eA Barthes Reader\u003c\/i\u003e, we have a sort of Michelin guide to one of the most beguiling minds of our era. Smartly introduced by Susan Sontag, the \u003ci\u003eReader\u003c\/i\u003e samples Barthes'' achievement over three decades'' \u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo read through \u003ci\u003eA Barthes Reader\u003c\/i\u003e is finally to be left with the image of Barthes as one of the great public teachers of our time, someone who thought out, argued for, and made available several steps in a penetrating reflection on language, sign systems, texts - and what they have to tell us about the concept of the human * New Republic *\u003cbr\u003eSusan Sontag contributes an informative introduction to this collection and arranges his greatest hits chronologically... This is an excellent entree to a thinker whose precepts have often filtered down into mass culture * Glasgow Herald *\u003cbr\u003eBarthes's work, along with that of Wilde and Valéry, gives being an aesthete a good name... Defending the senses, he never betrayed the mind * Susan Sontag *","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732205744471,"sku":"9780099224914","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099224914.jpg?v=1719995956"},{"product_id":"in-praise-of-shadows-vintage-classics-9780099283577","title":"In Praise of Shadows Vintage classics","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJunichiro Tanizaki\u003c\/b\u003e was one of Japan's greatest twentienth century novelists. Born in 1886 in Tokyo, his first published work - a one-act play - appeared in 1910 in a literary magazine he helped to found. Tanizaki lived in the cosmopolitan Tokyo area until the earthquake of 1923, when he moved to the Kyoto-Osaka region and became absorbed in Japan's past.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll his most important works were written after 1923, among them \u003ci\u003eSome Prefer Nettles\u003c\/i\u003e (1929), \u003ci\u003eThe Secret History of the Lord of Musashi\u003c\/i\u003e (1935), several modern versions of \u003ci\u003eThe Tale of Genji\u003c\/i\u003e (1941, 1954 and 1965), \u003ci\u003eThe Makioka Sisters\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Key\u003c\/i\u003e (1956) and \u003ci\u003eDiary of a Mad Old Man \u003c\/i\u003e(1961). He was awarded an Imperial Award for Cultural Merit in 1949 and in 1965 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the first Japanese writer to receive this honour. Tanizaki died later that same year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn elegant essay on traditional Japanese aesthetics by the great novelist. A delight to read * Independent on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eA highly infectious essay lauding all things shady and subtly hidden * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eThe outstanding Japanese novelist of this century -- Edmund White\u003cbr\u003eThis is a powerfully anti-modernist book, yet contains the most beautiful evocation of the traditional Japanese aesthetic... More like a poem than an essay * Building Design *\u003cbr\u003eI am convinced that Tanizaki is one of the few great writers of our time. He is an author of outstanding stature and deserves to be far better known outside Japan than he is -- Ivan Morris","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732210135383,"sku":"9780099283577","price":9.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099283577.jpg?v=1719995974"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/collections\/essays.oembed?page=231","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}