Essays Books

Book Synopsis“Wonderful. —Michiko Kakutani, New York TimesCelebrating the 20th anniversary of storytelling phenomenon The Moth, 45 unforgettable true stories about risk, courage, and facing the unknown, drawn from the best ever told on their stagesCarefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth, and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of live storytelling, All These Wonders features voices both familiar and new. Alongside Meg Wolitzer, John Turturro, Tig Notaro, and Hasan Minhaj, readers will encounter: an astronomer gazing at the surface of Pluto for the first time, an Afghan refugee learning how much her father sacrificed to save their family, a hip-hop star coming to terms with being a “one-hit wonder,” a young female spy risking everything as part of Churchill’s “secret army” during World War II, and more. High-school student and neuroscientist aliTrade ReviewNATIONAL BESTSELLER“Some [stories] are heartbreakingly sad; some laugh-out-loud funny; some momentous and tragic; almost all of them resonant or surprising. They are stories that attest to the startling varieties and travails of human experience, and the shared threads of love, loss, fear and kindness that connect us."—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times"All These Wonders is replete with wondrous true stories of loves, losses, rerouted dreams, and existential crises of nearly every unsugarcoated flavor."—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings“[The Moth] has this indescribable energy that comes with people allowing themselves to be honest without fear. Translated to the page, this book . . . really becomes an incredible syllabus of vulnerability, one that invites you to cherry pick and re-read stories as you need them.”—Goop (16 Great Reads for the Summer)“All These Wonders is a compelling read, by turns uplifting, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive. If there is a real hero of the book, it is surely the human spirit, which, time and again, transcends whatever life throws at it.”—Daily Mail "The stories are gripping, insightful, addictive. . . . [It's] hard not to laugh, cry, or be a little moved by each one."—Toronto Star“All These Wonders is divided into seven expertly curated chapters. The effect is an anthology of seven Mainstage shows, averaging six stories per show. Each juxtaposes sensational stories by famous names . . . with those by relatively unknown storytellers, whose narratives, quite often, deliver the biggest emotional punches.”—Megan Labrise, Kirkus Reviews“All These Wonders is a journey through the mysteries of the unexpected. . . . Every tale is its own surprising glimpse into the human story.”—Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon"The Moth's 20-year retrospective contains all the hope, sadness, triumphs, and tribulations that have defined the pioneering live reading series since its modest debut in 1997. . . . Overall, the two decades of the Moth remain as entertaining and powerful off-stage as they were onstage."—Kirkus Reviews"[The stories] are all arresting tales."—Buffalo News (Editor's Choice) "[The Moth is] New York's hottest and hippest literary ticket."—The Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisThe letters of Heloise and Abelard will remain one of the great, romantic and intellectual documents of human civilization while they, themselves, are probably second only to Romeo and Juliet in the fame accrued by tragic lovers. Here for the first time in Mart Martin McLaughlin's edition is the complete correspendence with commentary.Trade Review"Heloise and Abelard have been extraordinarily well served by this latest translation of their celebrated correspondence. Every aspect of the book is exemplary, from its comprehensive and unobtrusive annotations, to its enthralling introduction. But the greatest strength of the book is perhaps to undo a lot of the posthumous myth-making surrounding the couple, as its brisk and supple translation allows them to speak openly in their own terms. Thus Heloise clearly emerges with all her fierce passion and fiercer intelligence, while Abelard presents a personality as contradictory as his philosophy, being by turns nostalgic and repentant, combative and humble, caustic and self-pitying. Nonetheless the edition does not restrict itself to these voices alone, but expands their dialogue into a full-blown symposium, including a generous selection of related letters by both hostile and sympathetic parties, such as Peter the Venerable and Bernard of Clairvaux. In sum, this edition is an astonishing scholarly achievement, and will no doubt stand as the authoritative edition for some decades to come." - Ben Parsons, Teaching Fellow in English, University of Leicester, UKTable of ContentsIntroductory Essay PART I: THE CORRESPONENCE OF HELOISE AND ABELARD Abelard's Letter of Consolation to a Friend: A Story of Calamities Heloise to Abelard Abelard to Heloise Heloise to Abelard Abelard to Heloise Heloise to Abelard Abealrd to Heloise: The Origin of Nuns Abelard to Heloise: A Rule for Nuns Abelard to Heloise : 'On Studies' Abelard's Last Letter to Heloise: A Profession of Faith PART II: HELOISE'S QUESTIONS (PROBLEMATA HELOISSAE) Forty-Two Questions Posed by Heloise and Answered by Abelard PART III: OTHER RELATED LETTERS Abelard to Bernard of Clairvaux Abelard to His Comrades Bernard of Clairvaux to Cardinal Ivo Bernard of Clarivaux to Pope Innocent II Peter the Venerable to Pope Innocent II Peter the Venerable to Heloise Heloise to Peter the Venerable Peter the Venerable to Heloise

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Book SynopsisA master of the personal essay candidly explores love, death, and the counterfeit rituals of American life in this "brave, funny compendium" Slate.

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Book SynopsisBeautifully repackaged as part of the Picador Modern Classics Series, this special edition is small enough to fit in your pocket and bold enough to stand out on your bookshelf. Celebrated, iconic, and indispensable, Joan Didion's first work of nonfiction, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, is considered a watershed moment in American writing. First published in 1968, the collection was critically praised as one of the best prose written in this country.More than perhaps any other book, this collection by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era captures the unique time and place of Joan Didion's focus, exploring subjects such as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up in California and the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture. As Joyce Carol Oates remarked: [Didion] has been an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intrac

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