Essays Books

Book Synopsis'A brave writer whose books open up fundamental questions about life and art' – TelegraphIn this inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a vivid and politically-engaged case for the importance of art – especially in the turbulent weather of the twenty-first century.We are often told art can’t change anything. In Funny Weather, Laing argues that it can. It changes how we see the world, it exposes inequality, and it offers fertile new ways of living.Across a diverse selection of essays, Laing profiles Jean-Michel Basquiat and Georgia O’Keeffe, interviews Hilary Mantel and Ali Smith, writes love letters to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, and explores loneliness and technology, women and alcohol, sex and the body. Written with originality and compassion, Funny Weather is a celebration of art as a force of resistance and repair – and as an antidote to a frightening political moment.Trade ReviewA brave writer whose books open up fundamental questions about life and art * Telegraph *Olivia Laing is my new favourite non-fiction writer -- Nick HornbyLike all great critics, Olivia Laing combines formidable intelligence with boundless curiosity and fabulous taste, but she also has a rare quality of intimacy; an ability to connect the reader to a work of art or literature with a directness that lights it up like nothing else. It’s why I read her -- James LasdunHer observations and poetic incisiveness on art, writers and politics are a gift. This is a fascinating, excursive, tonic of a book -- Sinéad Gleeson, author of ConstellationsA thought-provoking, inspiring collection that you can go back to whenever the weather takes a funny turn * Evening Standard *Funny Weather gives the reader a tangible sense of the sprawling garden of work which Laing has planted. She is to the art world what David Attenborough is to nature: a worthy guide with both a macro and micro vision, fluent in her chosen tongue and always full of empathy and awe * Irish Times *Laing has acted as a kind of cultural sage for the past four years, an accidental literary grande dame of the emotional havoc wrought by late capitalism and digital disconnect * New York Magazine *Laing writes of her creative subjects in a winning, passionate voice that proves both soothing and galvanizing, especially amid a panic . . . It’s not just art we need in an emergency, but writers, like Laing, who gently guide our eyes to what’s out there -- Alina Cohen * Observer *The hospitality of world view in Olivia’s writing is a vital force in our disputatious present -- Maria Balshaw, director of TateLaing combines passion and curiosity in a collection of art-based essays and profiles that reflect the uncertainty of our age * Guardian *Never has a publication been more timely * Dazed *A warm, thinking, enticing sweep of a book, like spending the afternoon with your brainiest friend -- Kate Mosse, author of The Burning ChambersA fine writer’s embrace of the artists who preceded her, friendly visits with their lives and loving acknowledgement of their foundational contributions. A work of joy in recognition -- Sarah SchulmanThe book to help you make sense of the world . . . [a] mesmerizing collection of essays . . . this unique and compassionate book is a mind-expanding opportunity to rethink how we live, and what we can do to change things for the better. * Stylist *A light-footed tour of enriching stories, lives, and ideas * Dazed and Confused *Her gift as a critic is her ability to imaginatively sympathize with her subjects in a way that allows the art and life of the artist to go on radiating meaning after the book is closed * Elle *Breathtaking, beautiful, funny, shocking, sad, revealing, and timely -- Nina Stibbe, author of Love, NinaI yield to absolutely no one in my admiration of Olivia Laing; her essays are magical liberations of words and ideas, art and love; they're the essence of great 21st century literature: brilliantly expressed, wildly uncontained, wilful and wonderfully unbound. -- Philip Hoare, author of RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAROlivia Laing shines the light for art writing. Funny Weather urges us to humanise art, and listen to what artists say about life, love and crisis. -- Charlie PorterAn incivisive meditation on the value of heartfelt, messy art in our paranoid times * Telegraph *It’s not just art we need in an emergency, but writers, like Laing, who gently guide our eyes to what’s out there * Observer *Vibrant commentary on art and society by a writer with a sharp eye for the offbeat * Kirkus *Laing’s essays are urgent, compassionate, enlivening and acutely perceptive, and that’s true whether or not we encounter them “in an emergency” * the arts desk *Her words seem balefully accurate, given what has now overtaken us * Financial Times *Laing is an intelligent and acute writer, and this book is certainly interesting and assuredly well-written * Scotsman *Laing’s arts writing is sharp-minded, and her manner is generous toward both subject and reader * Washington Post *

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Book Synopsis'Elegant ... calm and generous' Mary Beard, Guardian The must-read, pocket-sized Big Think book of 2020 One of the Guardian's 'Best Books to Inspire Compassion' One of Independent's Books of the Month A Cosmopolitan 'Revolutionary Read' Ours is the age of contagious anxiety. We feel overwhelmed by the events around us, by injustice, by suffering, by an endless feeling of crisis. So, how can we nurture the parts of ourselves that hope, trust and believe in something better? And how can we stay sane in this age of division? In this powerful, uplifting plea for conscious optimism, Booker Prize-nominated novelist and activist Elif Shafak draws on her own memories and delves into the power of stories to bring us together. In the process, she reveals how listening to each other can nurture democracy, empathy and our faith in a kinder and wiser future.Trade ReviewOne of the best writers in the world today -- Hanif KureishiSharp and elegant ... I did find myself hoping that Facebook and Like (or whatever they are now called) might one day come across this little book - and thinking that its calm and generous view of the world might give them back some part of the optimism that had greeted their arrival. -- Mary Beard * Guardian *A calmly rational response to extraordinary circumstances ... there is comfort in having a voice like Shafak's to guide us * The i Paper *Insightful and very moving -- John Harris * Guardian *A deeply thought-provoking delight * Independent *Fortifying and optimistic * Net-a-Porter Magazine *One of the most important writers at work today * Independent *Shafak's writings are an embodiment of radical remembrance; with existential fervour, they pull together the past and future to bring forth a fully realised present that feels all the more urgent * Dazed *PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS: 'Expect vibrant, vivid and eye-opening descriptions of Middle Eastern life propelled by a tender storyline, all in Shafak's haunting, beautiful and considered prose' * Vanity Fair *Incredibly sensuous and poetic and evocative -- Pandora Sykes * The High Low *Richly uplifting... truly beautiful writing -- Nicola SturgeonSimply magnificent, a truly captivating work of immense power and beauty, on the essence of life and its end -- Philippe SandsA vivid carnival of life and death, cruelty and kindness, love, politics and deep humanity. Brilliant! -- Helena KennedyBeautifully written ... a complex vision of how emotions interact with political life -- Devi Sridhar * Lancet *Beautifully written ... calls for the importance of centring knowledge, storytelling, empathy, and wisdom in our lives. -- Devi Sridhar * Lancet *

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Book SynopsisFrom one of the great thinkers and writers of our time, comes the unmissable final instalment in Deborah Levy''s critically acclaimed ''Living Autobiography''.''A beautifully crafted and thought-provoking snapshot of a life'' The Evening Standard_________________________________''I began to wonder what myself and all unwritten and unseen women would possess in their property portfolios at the end of their lives. Literally, her physical property and possessions, and then everything else she valued, though it might not be valued by society. What might she claim, own, discard and bequeath? Or is she the real estate, owned by patriarchy? In this sense, Real Estate is a tricky business. We rent it and buy it, sell and inherit it - but we must also knock it down.''Following the critical acclaim of Things I Don''t Want to Know and The Cost of Living, this final volume of Deborah Levy''s ''Living Autobiography'' is an exhilarating, thought-provoking and boldly intimate meditation on home and the spectres that haunt it._________________________________''Real Estate is a book to dive into. Come on in, the water''s lovely'' The Daily Telegraph''Her reflections on domesticity, freedom and romance are so beautiful, I found myself underlining multiple sentences a page. Wry, warm and uplifting, it''s a book I''ll return to again and again'' Stylist''[Levy''s living autobiography series is] a glittering triple echo of books that are as much philosophical discourse as a manifesto for living and writing'' Financial TimesTrade ReviewA beautifully crafted and thought-provoking snapshot of a life * Evening Standard *One of those wise books where you want to underline every sentence * Good Housekeeping *Her reflections on domesticity, freedom and romance are so beautiful, I found myself underlining multiple sentences a page. Wry, warm and uplifting, it's a book I'll return to again and again. * Stylist *The narrator of Real Estate is drily funny, irreverent, curious, even wise; she makes the reader want her for a companion . . . each of the books [in Levy's living autobiography series] bears several re-readings; together, they offer one version of how a woman might continually rewrite her own story. * The Observer *Levy is experimenting with language in subversive ways * Literary Review *This is a work about what it means to be a writer: its reinventions, isolations, self-interrogations, its shifting penury and riches, both emotional and financial. . . [Levy's living autobiography series is] a glittering triple echo of books that are as much philosophical discourse as a manifesto for living and writing. * Financial Times *Lyrical sentences come naturally, full of cadence . . . She's particularly touching on the love between mothers and daughters, and funny too . . . Real Estate is a book to dive into. Come on in, the water's lovely. * Daily Telegraph *Her voice - at once jokey and elliptical - is so casually intimate that it feels like catching up with an old friend . . . In three moving memoirs, Levy has perfectly fused the act of writing with the art of living. * i *Levy's intellectual energy is as frenetic as [the] dance floor, her memoirs a string of disparate pearls that entwine travelogue with philosophy and memory with literature * i *Expect fierce prose and bold meditations on what it means to be a woman. * Red *

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Book SynopsisJohn Berger''s writings on photography are some of the most original of the twentieth century. This selection contains many groundbreaking essays and previously uncollected pieces written for exhibitions and catalogues in which Berger probes the work of photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and W. Eugene Smith - and the lives of those photographed - with fierce engagement, intensity and tenderness.The selection is made and introduced by Geoff Dyer, author of the award-winning The Ongoing Moment.How do we see the world around us? This is one of a number of pivotal works by creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision for ever.John Berger was born in London in 1926. His acclaimed works of both fiction and non-fiction include the seminal Ways of Seeing and the novel G., which won the Booker Prize in 1972. In 1962 he left Britain permanently, and he now lives in a small village in the French Alps.Geoff Dyer is the author of four novels and several non-fiction books. Winner of the Lannan Literary Award, the International Centre of Photography''s 2006 Infinity Award and the American Academy of Arts and Letters''s E. M. Forster Award, Dyer is also a regular contributor to many publications in the UK and the US. He lives in London.Trade ReviewOne of the most influential intellectuals of our time -- Observer

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Book SynopsisThe first in Deborah Levy's essential three-part 'Living Autobiography' on writing and womanhood. 'Unmissable. Like chancing upon an oasis, you want to drink it slowly . . . Subtle, unpredictable, surprising' Guardian _________________________________ Taking George Orwell's famous essay, 'Why I Write', as a jumping-off point, Deborah Levy offers her own indispensable reflections of the writing life. With wit, clarity and calm brilliance, she considers how the writer must stake claim to that contested territory as a young woman and shape it to her need. Things I Don't Want to Know is a work of dazzling insight and deep psychological succour, from one of our most vital contemporary writers. The final two instalments in Deborah Levy's 'Living Autobiography', The Cost of Living and Real Estate, are available now. _________________________________ 'Superb sTrade ReviewAn up-to-date version of 'A Room of One's Own' . . . I suspect it will be quoted for many years to come * Irish Examiner *Superb sharpness and originality of imagination. It is feminist and political while being an inspiring work of writing . . . She writes on the high wire, unfalteringly -- Marina WarnerLevy's strength is her originality of thought and expression -- Jeanette WintersonAn exciting writer, sharp and shocking as the knives her characters wield * Sunday Times *One of the few contemporary British writers comfortable on a world stage * New Statesman *A writer whose anger and confusion in the face of the world transform into poetic flights of fancy . . . which always feel marvellously right * Independent *

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Book SynopsisJunichiro Tanizaki 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.All his most important works were written after 1923, among them Some Prefer Nettles (1929), The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi (1935), several modern versions of The Tale of Genji (1941, 1954 and 1965), The Makioka Sisters, The Key (1956) and Diary of a Mad Old Man (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.Trade ReviewAn elegant essay on traditional Japanese aesthetics by the great novelist. A delight to read * Independent on Sunday *A highly infectious essay lauding all things shady and subtly hidden * Guardian *The outstanding Japanese novelist of this century -- Edmund WhiteThis 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 *I 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

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisBeginning with a dilemma about whether he spends more money on reading or smoking, George Orwell''s entertaining and uncompromising essays go on to explore everything from the perils of second-hand bookshops to the dubious profession of being a critic, from freedom of the press to what patriotism really means.

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Book SynopsisAnne Enright was born in Dublin, where she now lives and works. She has written two collections of stories, published together as Yesterday's Weather, one book of non-fiction, Making Babies, and seven novels, including The Gathering, which won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, The Forgotten Waltz, which was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and The Green Road, which was the Bord Gáis Energy Novel of the Year and won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. In 2015 she was appointed as the first Laureate for Irish Fiction, and in 2018 she received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature. She is also the recipient of the 2022 Irish Book Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2024 Writers' Prize for Fiction.

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Book SynopsisA landmark, incendiary collection from one of the leading essayists working today. Inspiring everyone from radical activists to Beyoncé Knowles, Rebecca Solnit's essay 'Men Explain Things to Me' has become a touchstone of the feminist movement and established her as one of the leading thinkers of our time. Here it is collected along with the best of Solnit's feminist writings. From French sex scandals to the nuclear family, rape culture to mansplaining, Virginia Woolf to colonialism, these essays are a fierce and incisive exploration of the issues that a patriarchal culture will not necessarily acknowledge as 'issues' at all. With grace, wit and energy, and in the most exquisite and inviting of prose, Rebecca Solnit proves herself a vital leading figure of the feminist movement and a radical, humane thinker. 'Solnit is a compelling writer with a glorious turn of phrase' Evening StandardTrade ReviewWhat has always impressed me in Solnit's writing is the simple cadence and timbre of a sentence, a paragraph, the way a whole essay lilts and skips. She is not one of the most important female essayists of her generation. She is one of the most important essayists of her generation. Incendiary, indignant, and true -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *[A] trenchant collection of essays... an eloquent reminder that we still have some way to go when it comes to speaking of the issues Solnit raises -- Erica Wagner * Financial Times *Stark and powerful prose... Solnit is a compelling writer with a glorious turn of phrase -- Rosamund Urwin * Evening Standard *[These essays] are the thin edge of a continuum that reaches from the opening anecdote to the rape and murder statistics that she deploys to such devastating effect. Solnit's book does what the best feminist writing does: it makes me angry. And it makes me believe we can, and we must, fight for change -- Caroline Criado-Perez, feminist activistExceptional... The feminist debate has once again exploded into the mainstream over the last few years, and this collection marks Solnit out as among the most thoughtful of many energetic writers leading it -- Jessica Abrahams * Prospect *Essays on feminism from the consistently wonderful author of The Faraway Nearby. Anything she writes is a must-read * Bookseller *Solnit is a brilliant essayist... A highly enjoyable and thought-provoking read -- Patrick Neale * Bookseller *A necessary read... Solnit writes powerfully * Flavourwire *Essential reading for anyone - feminist or not, male or female - who wants to fight for equality across all fronts * Gazette, Western Mail, Swindon Advertiser and Leicester Mercury *The essays fiercely confront crime against women... Solnit has a voice of fearless and provocative asperity; she launches a quiverful of aphoristic arrows -- Stevie Davies * Independent *A revolt championing the cause of women... [Solnit's] work feels both timeless and timely. She argues persuasively, is often funny and is articulate to a fault... [her] writing is its own victory and revolt. An incendiary, inquiring and important work -- Sinead Gleeson * Irish Times *Essential reading for anyone - feminist or not, male or female * Irish Examiner *The most clarifying, soothing and socially aware document I've read on the topic this year. Not to mention funny -- Lena Dunham 'Book of the year' * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPhilip Guston's work gathers strength with the passing of time. During his lifetime he seemed an outsider, but now the world of painting seems to have regrouped around him. This book captures the breadth and depth of his thinking, and also captures the feeling of an intensely lively era when artists like Cage, Feldman and Guston felt that making art was a branch of philosophy. I think everybody interested in the evolution of culture should read this thought-provoking and timely book -- Brian EnoVital in grasping Guston's contribution to post-war American art and his abiding significance to contemporary painters -- Ben Luke * The Art Newspaper *An appealing little book ... A pocketsized portfolio of Philip Guston's writings, talks and interviews ... It includes a joyous appreciation of the Renaissance master Piero della Francesca ... advice to art students ... [and] insights into what makes a great artist tick -- Stephen Smith * The Times *This expertly curated selection of Guston's writings, talks and interviews draws together the artist's most incisive reflections on iconography and abstraction, metaphysics and mysticism, and the nature of painting and drawing... If you've never heard of him, this is a great introduction; if you have, this book will deepen your knowledge and understanding * Creative Boom *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA straight-from-the-shoulder writer, writing about the troubled problems of this troubled earth with an illuminating intensity that should influence for the better all who ponder on the things books say -- Langston Hughes * The New York Times *Powerful . . . I wish I could press this book into the hands of every American - actually, every human. -- Celeste Ng * Guardian *Edgy and provocative . . . entertainingly satirical -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *A classic . . . Take the words out of the 1950s, when they were published, and they could apply to the women in pink hats, the scientists, the Black Lives Matter activists, the climate-change believers and the LGBTQ-rights supporters who have flooded the streets of Washington this year * Washington Post *A classic ... In a divided America, James Baldwin's fiery critiques reverberate anew * Washington Post *Cemented his reputation as a cultural seer ... Notes of a Native Son endures as his defining work, and his greatest * Time *

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Book SynopsisJEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU was born in Geneva in 1712. His remarkable novel La nouvelle Héloise (1761), met with immediate and enormous success. In this and in Émile, which followed a year later, Rousseau invoked the inviolability of personal ideals against the power of the state and the pressures of society. The crowning achievement of his political philosophy was The Social Contract, published in 1762. That same year he wrote an attack on revealed religion, the Profession de foi du vicaire savoyard. He was driven from Switzerland and fled to England where he only succeeded in making an enemy of Hume and returned to his continental peregrinations. In 1770 Rousseau completed his Confessions. His last years were spent largely in France where he died in 1778.

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Book Synopsis''Better mad with the crowd than sane all alone''In these witty, Machiavellian aphorisms, unlikely Spanish priest Baltasar Gracián shows us how to exploit friends and enemies alike to thrive in a world of deception and illusion.Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin''s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658). Gracián''s work is available in Penguin Classics in The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence.

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Book SynopsisIn On Reflection Richard Holloway thinks back on some of the questions that have shaped his life, sharing the wisdom of poets, writers, musicians and artists he has encountered along the way.How can we forgive? Where does creativity come from? How can we face loss and death? How can we live a good life? How do we find beauty in the world and heal divisions? How does a society move forward? In beautiful prose, and with care and joy, Richard Holloway offers his reflections on how a good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

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Book Synopsis''This marvel of a book is a profound meditation on the precariousness of the planet ... these pieces kept bringing tears to my eyes, catching me offguard ... it is what art or, in this case, wonderful writing can do'' Kate Kellaway, ObserverCairn: A marker on open land, a memorial, a viewpoint shared by strangers.For the last five years poet and author Kathleen Jamie has been turning her attention to a new form of writing: micro-essays, prose poems, notes and fragments. Placed together, like the stones of a wayside cairn, they mark a changing psychic and physical landscape. The virtuosity of these short pieces is both subtle and deceptive. Jamie''s intent ''noticing'' of the natural world is suffused with a clear-eyed awareness of all we endanger. She considers the future her children face, while recalling her own childhood and notes the lost innocence in the way we respond to the dramas of nature. With meticulous care she marks the point she has reached, in life and within the cascad

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Book SynopsisOliver Sacks died in August 2015 at his home in Greenwich Village, surrounded by his close friends and family. He was 82. He spent his final days doing what he loved: playing the piano, swimming, enjoying smoked salmon – and writing . . . As Dr Sacks looked back over his long, adventurous life his final thoughts were of gratitude. In a series of remarkable, beautifully written and uplifting meditations, in Gratitude Dr Sacks reflects on and gives thanks for a life well lived, and expresses his thoughts on growing old, facing terminal cancer and reaching the end. I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.Trade ReviewEssays that capture the essence of what it means to have lived and to face death well -- Katie LawFour short beautiful essays by the celebrated late neurologist on his feelings as he came toward the end of his life – a slight but poignant read -- Sally Magnusson * Herald *

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Book SynopsisAn engaging collection of stories and essays by the celebrated author of the internationally bestselling Guido Brunetti series, infused with her ever-present and delightful senses of humor and ironyDonna Leon's memoir, Wandering Through Life, gave her legions of fans a colourful tour through her life, from childhood in New Jersey to adventures in China and Iran, to her love of Venice and opera. Nowhere, however, did she discuss her writing life. In Backstage, Donna reveals her admiration for, and inspiration from, the great crime novelists Ruth Rendell and Ross Macdonald, examining their approach to storytelling as she dissects her favorite books of theirs. She expresses her love for Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and her appreciation of Sir Walter Scott's generosity of spirit. And she chronicles the lengths amount of research she undertakes to be able to present authentically, through Guido Brunetti and his colleagues, places and characters far from her own experience: interviewing a diamond dealer in Venice to open up the world of blood diamonds; meeting, through back channels, a courageous sex worker and women's rights activist to depict accurately the trafficking of women in Italy. Venice is central in her memory, whether recounting the semi-comic irritation of a noisy elderly neighbor or the origins of the city's Carnevale. Her teaching career yields memorable tales: helping a young Black boy in a Newark, New Jersey elementary school; instructing young Iranian pilots in English just before the 1979 Iranian Revolution; taking her students at a Swiss private high school to the famous Frank Zappa concert in Montreux interrupted by fire. Throughout, she is as good a storyteller about herself as she is a chronicler of Guido Brunetti's crime adventures. Readers will be as caught up in her world as she is in his.

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Book SynopsisAn essay on the nature of human revolt, this book makes a critique of communism, how it had gone wrong behind the Iron Curtain, and the resulting totalitarian regimes. It also questions two events held sacred by the left wing, the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution of 1917.

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Book Synopsis‘My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June, in the early afternoon.’ Thus begins Shame, the probing story of the twelve-year-old girl who will become the author herself, and the traumatic memory that will echo and resonate throughout her life. With the emotionally rich voice of great fiction and the analytical eye of a scientist, Annie Ernaux provides a powerful reflection on experience and the power of violent memory to endure through time, to determine the course of a life.Trade Review‘[Shame and The Young Man] deserve to be read widely. Her work is self-revealing, a series of pitiless auto-autopsies….Their disparate achievements work together to illuminate something perennially fascinating about Ernaux: her relationship to revelation and visibility. These are deeply intimate books, but in another way, Ernaux brings a disquieting impersonality to her project.’ — Megan Nolan, The Times‘[E]xceptionally deft and precise, the very epitome of all that language can do…a surprisingly tender evocation of a bright, passionate and self-aware young girl growing up in her parents’ “cafe-haberdashery-grocery” in a small town in Normandy.’ — Julie Myerson, Observer‘Annie Ernaux writes memoir with such generosity and vulnerable power that I find it difficult to separate my own memories from hers long after I’ve finished reading.’ — Catherine Lacey, author of Biography of X‘Reading her is like getting to know a friend, the way they tell you about themselves over long conversations that sometimes take years, revealing things slowly, looping back to some parts of their life over and over.’ — Joanna Biggs, London Review of Books‘Annie Ernaux is one of my favourite contemporary writers, original and true. Always after reading one of her books, I walk around in her world for months.’ — Sheila Heti, author of Pure Colour‘I find her work extraordinary.’ — Eimear McBride, author of A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing‘Ernaux has inherited de Beauvoir’s role of chronicler to a generation.’ — Margaret Drabble, New Statesman‘Across the ample particularities of over forty years and twenty-one books, almost all short, subject-driven memoirs, Ernaux has fundamentally destabilized and reinvented the genre in French literature.’ — Audrey Wollen, The Nation‘It’s hard to fault a book that so elegantly and engagingly shows how… past horrors of varying scale can consciously and subconsciously affect someone…. [A] prescient and eminently readable book, as well as a great introduction to a giant of French literature.’ — India Lewis, The Arts Desk‘A lesser writer would turn these experiences into misery memoirs, but Ernaux does not ask for our pity – or our admiration. It’s clear from the start that she doesn’t much care whether we like her or not, because she has no interest in herself as an individual entity. She is an emblematic daughter of emblematic French parents, part of an inevitable historical process, which includes breaking away. Her interest is in examining the breakage ... Ernaux is the betrayer and her father the betrayed: this is the narrative undertow that makes A Man’s Place so lacerating.’ — Frances Wilson, Telegraph (Praise for A Man's Place)‘Not simply a short biography of man manacled to class assumptions, this is also, ironically, an exercise in the art of unsentimental writing ... The biography is also self-reflexive in its inquiry and suggests the question: what does it mean to contain a life within a number of pages?’ — Mia Colleran, Irish Times (Praise for A Man's Place)‘Ernaux understands that writing about her parents is a form of betrayal. That she writes about their struggle to understand the middle-class literary world into which she has moved makes that betrayal all the more painful. But still she does it – and it is thrilling to read Ernaux working out, word by word, what she deems appropriate to include in each text. In being willing to show her discomfort, her disdain and her honest, careful consideration of the dilemmas of writing about real, lived lives, Ernaux has struck upon a bold new way to write memoir.’ — Ellen Peirson-Hagger, New Statesman (Praise for A Man's Place)‘The triumph of Ernaux’s approach ... is to cherish commonplace emotions while elevating the banal expression of them ... A monument to passions that defy simple explanations.’ — New York Times (Praise for Simple Passion)‘A work of lyrical precision and diamond-hard clarity.’ — New Yorker (Praise for Simple Passion)‘I devoured – not once, but twice – Fitzcarraldo’s new English edition of Simple Passion, in which the great Annie Ernaux describes the suspended animation of a love affair with a man who is not free. Every paragraph, every word, brought me closer to a state of purest yearning...’ — Rachel Cooke, Observer (Praise for Simple Passion)

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Book Synopsis''Politics and the English Language'' is widely considered Orwell''s most important essay on style. Style, for Orwell, was never simply a question of aesthetics; it was always inextricably linked to politics and to truth.''All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer.''Language is a political issue, and slovenly use of language and cliches make it easier for those in power to deliberately use misleading language to hide unpleasant political facts. Bad English, he believed, was a vehicle for oppressive ideology, and it is no accident that ''Politics and the English Language'' was written after the close of World War II.

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Book SynopsisA GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURYWINNER OF THE PRIX FEMINA ETRANGER 2020Following on from the critically acclaimed Things I Don''t Want to Know, discover the powerful second memoir in Deborah Levy''s essential three-part ''Living Autobiography''. ''I can''t think of any writer aside from Virginia Woolf who writes better about what it is to be a woman'' Observer _________________________________''Life falls apart. We try to get a grip and hold it together. And then we realise we don''t want to hold it together . . .'' The final instalment in Deborah Levy''s critically acclaimed ''Living Autobiography'', Real Estate, is available now._________________________________''I just haven''t stopped reading it . . . it talks so beautifully about being a woman'' Billie Piper on BBC Radio 4''s Desert Island Discs''It is the story of every woman throughout history who has expended her love and labour on making a home that turns out to serve the needs of everyone except herself. Wonderful'' Guardian ''Wise, subtle and ironic, Levy''s every sentence is a masterpiece of clarity and poise . . . a brilliant writer'' Daily Telegraph ''A graceful and lyrical rumination on the questions, What is a woman for? What should a woman be?'' Tatler ''Extraordinary and beautiful, suffused with wit and razor-sharp insights'' Financial TimesTrade ReviewDeborah Levy is a most generous writer. What is wonderful about this short, sensual, embattled memoir is that it is not only about the painful landmarks in her life - the end of a marriage , the death of a mother - it is about what it is to be alive. I can't think of any other writer aside from Virginia Woolf who writes better about the liminal, the domestic, the non-event, and what it is to be a woman... This is a little book about a big subject. It is about how to find a new way of living * Observer *Extraordinary and beautiful, suffused with wit and razor sharp insights * Financial Times *It is the story of every woman throughout history who has expended her love and labour on making a home that turns out to serve the needs of everyone except herself... A piece of work that is not so much a memoir as an eloquent manifesto for what Levy calls 'a new way of living' in the post-familial world * Guardian *Ingenious, practical and dryly amused... This is a manifesto for a risky, radical kind of life, out of your depth but swimming all the same * New Statesman *Wise, subtle and ironic, Levy is a brilliant writer... Each sentence is a small masterpiece of clarity and poise. That shed should be endowed with a blue plaque * Telegraph *A heady, absorbing read * Evening Standard *This, from Deborah Levy, is exceptional. A memoir of life, art and separation. How to write when you're broke, have no writing space, are a parent. Also: crushed chickens, electric bikes, plumbing. Out in May and an early contender for one of the books of the year * Sinead Gleeson *Both memoir and feminist manifesto, her writing focuses so sharply on what it means to be alive that she's given me much-needed clarity...Levy subtly informs us about what it is to be a woman. * Vogue *

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Book SynopsisA gorgeous faux leather volume full of exquisite sketches and colourful illustrations of Middle-earth - ideal for the true Tolkien fan.

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Book SynopsisThe 11 tales of the Mabinogion combine Celtic mythology and Arthurian romance. This new translation recreates the storytelling world of medieval Wales and re-invests the tales with the power of performance.Trade Review[This] translation into English by Professor Sioned Davies has not only enhanced public understanding of the text but has led to new perfomrances and inspired a series of modern stories. * Challenge Cardiff *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Translator's Note ; Guide to Pronunciation ; Select Bibliography ; map of Wales at the time of theMabinogion ; The First Branch of the Mabinogion ; The Second Branch of the Mabinogion ; The Third Branch of the Mabinogion ; The First Branch of the Mabinogion ; Peredur son of Efrog ; The Dream of the Emperor Maxen ; Lludd and Llefelys ; The Lady of the Well ; Geraint son of Erbin ; How Culhwch won Olwen ; Rhonabwy's Dream ; Explanatory Notes ; Glossary of Personal Names ; Glossary of Place-Names

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Book SynopsisA major work by one of the great public intellectuals of the twentieth century, The Question of Palestine was the first book to narrate the modern Palestinian experience in English. Edward Said's project to bring Palestine into history' was unquestionably a success there is no longer a question of whether Palestine had a history before colonization and yet Palestinian self-determination is as distant as ever. With the rigorous scholarship he brought to his influential Orientalism and shaped by his own life in exile in New York, Said's account of the traumatic national encounter of the Palestinian people with Zionism is still as pertinent and incisive today as it was on first publication in 1979.

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Book SynopsisThe Ten is a captivating anthology of fiction and memoir by ten emerging writers, curated by The Writing Coach. This collection features powerful extracts from longer-form works, encompassing contemporary and historical fiction, fantasy, and poetic memoir.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Engrossing…a rigorously researched look at how labels targeted bands and fought to sign them.” — Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times “[Ozzi] looked at the major label debuts of different bands in this genre, tracing a music industry in flux, fans betrayed by their idols, and bands trying to navigate the machine.” — NPR’s All Things Considered “A forensic and uniquely sympathetic dive into one of the most uncouth actions for an artist—selling out, baby.” — Jeff Rosenstock “Fascinating… When it comes to the topic of punk, or more specifically, the iteration of the genre that existed during the last era of the traditional music industry, Dan Ozzi’s Sellout is poised to serve as a definitive text.” — San Francisco Chronicle “Based on a trove of original interviews and personal stories from band members and other crucial players, Ozzi examines how 11 groups grappled with the tension between punk’s core tenets and major label possibilities, and parses what success and failure looked like in this fraught realm.” — Rolling Stone

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Book SynopsisIn Dreams of Leaving and Remaining, award winning journalist Meek explores a nation uneasy with itself. In the decades since the twilight of empire, Britain has struggled to find its place, and identity, in the world. This has come to the point of crisis since the 2008 financial crash. Meek meets the farmers and fishermen who wish Britain to turn its back on the world and restore its former glory, and are willing to lose the very support that their industry depends on. He reports on a Cadbury's factory that is to be shut down and moved to Poland in the name of free market economics, exploring the impact on the local community left behind. He charts how the NHS is coping with the twin burdens of austerity and an ageing population. Through his journey he asks what we can recover from the debris of an old nation as we head towards new horizons, and what we must leave behind. There are no easy answers, and what he creates instead is a masterly portrait of an anxious, troubled nation. Instead, he demands that we reconsider the power of the stories that we tell ourselves about who we are, a nation's alienated from itself.Trade ReviewMeek listens hard . His reportage . demonstrate[s] a sensibility and empathy that are his wont. * Financial Times *Provocative and persuasive. * the Herald *A beautiful collection by a renowned essayist. * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA landmark, incendiary collection from one of the leading essayists working today. Inspiring everyone from radical activists to Beyoncé Knowles, Rebecca Solnit's essay 'Men Explain Things to Me' has become a touchstone of the feminist movement and established her as one of the leading thinkers of our time. Here it is collected along with the best of Solnit's feminist writings. From French sex scandals to the nuclear family, rape culture to mansplaining, Virginia Woolf to colonialism, these essays are a fierce and incisive exploration of the issues that a patriarchal culture will not necessarily acknowledge as 'issues' at all. With grace, wit and energy, and in the most exquisite and inviting of prose, Rebecca Solnit proves herself a vital leading figure of the feminist movement and a radical, humane thinker. 'Solnit is a compelling writer with a glorious turn of phrase' Evening StandardTrade ReviewWhat has always impressed me in Solnit's writing is the simple cadence and timbre of a sentence, a paragraph, the way a whole essay lilts and skips. She is not one of the most important female essayists of her generation. She is one of the most important essayists of her generation. Incendiary, indignant, and true -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *[A] trenchant collection of essays... an eloquent reminder that we still have some way to go when it comes to speaking of the issues Solnit raises -- Erica Wagner * Financial Times *Stark and powerful prose... Solnit is a compelling writer with a glorious turn of phrase -- Rosamund Urwin * Evening Standard *[These essays] are the thin edge of a continuum that reaches from the opening anecdote to the rape and murder statistics that she deploys to such devastating effect. Solnit's book does what the best feminist writing does: it makes me angry. And it makes me believe we can, and we must, fight for change -- Caroline Criado-Perez, feminist activistExceptional... The feminist debate has once again exploded into the mainstream over the last few years, and this collection marks Solnit out as among the most thoughtful of many energetic writers leading it -- Jessica Abrahams * Prospect *Essays on feminism from the consistently wonderful author of The Faraway Nearby. Anything she writes is a must-read * Bookseller *Solnit is a brilliant essayist... A highly enjoyable and thought-provoking read -- Patrick Neale * Bookseller *A necessary read... Solnit writes powerfully * Flavourwire *Essential reading for anyone - feminist or not, male or female - who wants to fight for equality across all fronts * Gazette, Western Mail, Swindon Advertiser and Leicester Mercury *The essays fiercely confront crime against women... Solnit has a voice of fearless and provocative asperity; she launches a quiverful of aphoristic arrows -- Stevie Davies * Independent *A revolt championing the cause of women... [Solnit's] work feels both timeless and timely. She argues persuasively, is often funny and is articulate to a fault... [her] writing is its own victory and revolt. An incendiary, inquiring and important work -- Sinead Gleeson * Irish Times *Essential reading for anyone - feminist or not, male or female * Irish Examiner *The most clarifying, soothing and socially aware document I've read on the topic this year. Not to mention funny -- Lena Dunham 'Book of the year' * Wall Street Journal *

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Book Synopsis''Do I wish to keep up with the times? No. My wish simply is to live my life as fully as I can''The great American poet, novelist and environmental activist argues for a life lived slowly.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York''s underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis'Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity' Kate Mosse Virginia Woolf exposes the prejudices and constraints against which women writers struggled for centuries, and argues for a more equal literary establishment. This volume combines two books which were among the greatest contributions to feminist literature this century. Together they form a brilliant attack on sexual inequality. A Room of One's Own, first published in 1929, is a witty, urbane and persuasive argument against the intellectual subjection of women, particularly women writers. The sequel, Three Guineas, is a passionate polemic which draws a startling comparison between the tyrannous hypocrisy of the Victorian patriarchal system and the evils of fascism. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HERMIONE LEETrade ReviewOne realises afresh the full meaning of originality, the magic of the mind which plays around concrete facts as though they were all spirit. And when it is finished it is with a renewed sense of zest and stimulus that one takes up life again and looks anew at objects which before were only ordinary. * Guardian *Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity -- Kate MosseAchingly relevant -- Natasha Walter * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIn her spare, stark style, Annie Ernaux documents the desires and indignities of a human heart ensnared in an all-consuming passion. Blurring the line between fact and fiction, she attempts to plot the emotional and physical course of her two-year relationship with a married man where every word, event, and person either provides a connection with her beloved or is subject to her cold indifference. With courage and exactitude, Ernaux seeks the truth behind an existence lived, for a time, entirely for someone else.Trade Review‘Annie Ernaux is one of my favourite contemporary writers, original and true. Always after reading one of her books, I walk around in her world for months.’ — Sheila Heti, author of Motherhood‘The triumph of Ernaux’s approach ... is to cherish commonplace emotions while elevating the banal expression of them.... A monument to passions that defy simple explanations.’ — New York Times‘I devoured – not once, but twice – Fitzcarraldo’s new English edition of Simple Passion, in which the great Annie Ernaux describes the suspended animation of a love affair with a man who is not free. Every paragraph, every word, brought me closer to a state of purest yearning.’ — Rachel Cooke, Observer‘What mesmerizes here, as elsewhere in Ernaux’s oeuvre, is the interplay between the solipsistic intensity of the material and its documentary, disinterested, almost egoless presentation. Reminiscent of the poet Denise Riley’s Time Lived, Without its Flow, a study of how grief mangles chronology, Simple Passion is a riveting investigation, in a less tragic key, into what happens to one’s experience of time in the throes of romantic obsession.’ — Lola Seaton, New Statesman‘All this – the suffering and anxiety of waiting, the brief soulagement of lovemaking, the lethargy and fatigue that follow, the renewal of desire, the little indignities and abjections of both obsession and abandonment – Ernaux tells with calm, almost tranquillized matter-of-factness [that] feels like determination, truth to self, clarity of purpose.’ — Washington Post‘Simple Passion ... delivers a heart-rending story of a scorching love affair, down to the tiny details, in just 48 pages. It’s a little masterpiece.’ — Orna Mulcahy, The Gloss‘A stunning story, despite its detachment and the careful exclusions of any excess, that pulsates with the very passion Ernaux so truthfully describes.... Small, but abundantly wise.’ — Kirkus‘A work of lyrical precision and diamond-hard clarity.’ — New Yorker

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Book SynopsisLove''s Executioner offers us the humane and extraordinary insight of renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom into the lives of ten of his patients - and through them into the minds of us allWhy was Saul tormented by three unopened letters from Stockholm? What made Thelma spend her whole life raking over a long-past love affair? How did Carlos''s macho fantasies help him deal with terminal cancer?In this engrossing book, Irvin Yalom gives detailed and deeply affecting accounts of his work with these and seven other patients. Deep down, all of them were suffering from the basic human anxieties - isolation, fear of death or freedom, a sense of the meaninglessness of life - that none of us can escape completely. And yet, as the case histories make touchingly clear, it is only by facing such anxieties head on that we can hope to come to terms with them and develop. Throughout, Dr Jalom remains refreshingly frank about his own errors and prejudices; his book provides a rare glimpse into the consulting room of a master therapist.''Dr Yalom demonstrates once again that in the right hands, the stuff of therapy has the interest of the richest and most inventive fiction'' Eva Hoffman, New York Times''These remarkably moving and instructive tales of the psychiatric encounter bring the reader into novel territories of the mind - and the landscape is truly unforgettable'' Maggie Scarf''Love''s Executioner is one of those rare books that suggests both the mystery and the poetry of the psychotherapeutic process. The best therapists are at least partly poets. With this riveting and beautifully written book, Irvin Yalom has joined their ranks'' Erica Jong''Dr Yalom offers a valuable insight into the delicate process of therapy'' Sunday Telegraph''Dr Yalom is unusually honest, both with his patients and about himself'' Anthony Storr''Yalom is a gifted storyteller, and from the sound of these tales, a no-less-gifted psychotherapist'' Los Angeles TimesTrade ReviewDr Yalom demonstrates once again that in the right hands, the stuff of therapy has the interest of the richest and most inventive fiction -- Eva Hoffman * New York Times *These remarkably moving and instructive tales of the psychiatric encounter bring the reader into novel territories of the mind - and the landscape is truly unforgettable -- Maggie ScarfLove's Executioner is one of those rare books that suggests both the mystery and the poetry of the psychotherapeutic process. The best therapists are at least partly poets. With this riveting and beautifully written book, Irvin Yalom has joined their ranks -- Erica JongInspired ... He writes with the narrative wit of O. Henry and the earthy humor of Isaac Bashevis Singer * San Francisco Chronicle *Dr Yalom offers a valuable insight into the delicate process of therapy * Sunday Telegraph *Irvin Yalom writes like an angel about the devils that besiege us -- Rollo MayThese stories are wonderful. They make us realize that within every human being lie the pain and the beauty that make life worthwhile -- Bernie S. SiegelDr Yalom is unusually honest, both with his patients and about himself -- Anthony StorrYalom is a gifted storyteller, and from the sound of these tales, a no-less-gifted psychotherapist * Los Angeles Times *This is an impressive transformation of clinical experience into literature. Dr Yalom's case histories are more gripping than 98 percent of the fiction published today, and he has gone to amazing lengths of honesty to depict himself as a realistic flesh-and-blood character: funny, flawed, perverse, and, above all, understanding -- Phillip LopateI loved Love's Executioner. Dr Yalom has learned something that fiction writers learned years ago - that people's mistakes are a lot more interesting than their triumphs -- Joanne Greenberg

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Book SynopsisMaggie Nelson is the author of several books of prose and poetry including The Red Parts, Bluets, the National Book Critics Circle Award-winner The Argonauts, and On Freedom. She teaches at the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles.

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Book SynopsisThis man and music asks two central questions: what can literature contribute to the art of composition, and how can music influence the writer? Anthony Burgess, famed novelist, journalist, and composer, answers these questions and many more. As a person uniquely qualified to look at the interconnectivity of music and literature from both sides, Burgess provides fascinating insights, drawing on his deep knowledge of both disciplines. The book contains eleven interconnected essays that touch on philosophical conundrums of art and adaptation, questions of meaning, and the author’s own personal experience. It is a must-read for fans of Burgess who want to understand how music influenced the author’s craft of writing. Part autobiography and part literary and musical analysis, This man and music is a unique artefact in the stunning output of a prolific artist.Trade Review'There is a lot in this book to recommend it to Burgess readers. There is even more, I would say, to recommend it to scholars of music. For those interested in the meeting points of music and literature, it is essential reading. It is a deeply personal book, but one that any reader will come away from filled with interesting factoids, and a much better and braver sense of how the written and the heard can come together.'Manchester review of books -- .Table of ContentsIntroductionThis man and music1 Biographia musicalis2 A matter of time and space3 Let’s write a symphony4 Music and meaning5 Meaning means language6 Under the bam7 Nothing is so beautiful as sprung8 Re Joyce9 Contrary tugs10 Oedipus wrecks11 Bonaparte in E flatAppendices1 Comparison of ‘Blest Pair of Sirens’ and ‘Disharmonious Sisters’ to This man and music 2 Original Prefatory Note from ‘Blest Pair of Sirens’3 Reviews4 Excerpt from ‘The Novel as Music’5 Similar passages in This Man and Music [1982], The Pianoplayers [1986], and Little Wilson and Big God [1986]6 Correspondence between Hans Keller and Anthony BurgessNotes

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Book SynopsisLong considered one of Simone de Beauvoir’s masterpieces, A Very Easy Death is a profoundly affecting, day-by-day recounting of her mother’s final days after she is hospitalized following a fall. Though a devout Catholic, her faith is subsumed by her terror of death, and as her body fails, she clings to life with fierce, primal desperation. In depicting her mother’s refusal to ‘go gentle’ while her autonomy and dignity are taken from her, Simone de Beauvoir ‘shows the power of compassion when it is allied with acute intelligence’ (Sunday Telegraph). Powerful, touching and sometimes shocking, this is an end-of-life account that no reader is likely to forget. Trade Review‘True and deeply moving.’ — Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature ‘The mother of 20th-century feminism.’ — Joanna Biggs, London Review of Books‘In every decade of my life since my 20s, I have been awed, confused, intrigued and inspired by Simone de Beauvoir’s attempt to live with meaning, pleasure and purpose.’ — Deborah Levy, author of Real Estate ‘It was Alice Walker, Hélène Cixous, Angela Davis, Virginia Woolf, George Eliot, and Simone Weil and de Beauvoir who mattered most to me.’ — Zadie Smith, author of NW ‘Navigating the complexities of end-of-life with deep compassion and dignity, this moving book is steeped in empathy and the searching, thoughtful interrogation we’ve come to expect from de Beauvoir.’ — Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations‘Nowhere is de Beauvoir’s rigorous honesty more visible than in this haunting account of the death of her mother... As she charts her last weeks and her abasement at the hands of doctors and illness, both hostility and unexpected love play themselves out on the page.’ — Lisa Appignanesi, author of Everyday Madness‘It would be hard to think that Simone de Beauvoir who flaunted so many strictures of life, would accept death.... And the intention of this memoir, which is in part a requiem and in part an exorcism, is its disturbing, defiant insistence on the fact that this can only be an utterly lonely experience.’ — Kirkus‘Beauvoir’s graciously written memoirs carry distinct appeal in recording the emotional and intellectual birth pangs of a fascinating woman.’ — Time ‘This book is written with restrained emotion and a literalness, a faithfulness to fact, that is very moving coming from a woman whom we have known as dedicated to abstractions. ... it illustrates the general tragedy of the human condition through a particularized instance. A book of near despair, yet dignified. — Library Journal

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Book SynopsisEmpordan Scafarlata is a mirage of memories written with intelligence, irony, courage and tenderness; linking tradition, modernity, resentment and nostalgia for a mythical country and for that part of the river in which: ‘he will never swim again.’ In a mixture of prose and poetry, Adrià Pujol brings us snippets of Empordà, a region of northern Catalonia wedged between the mountains and the sea, and invites us onto its sweaty, well-trodden, exalted paths. All this he does it by avoiding conventions, clichés and with the sincerity of someone who writes about a world he loves and which for that very reason he does not simplify, rather elaborating it with powerful, eclectic prose, showcasing the writing that has pushed Adrià Pujol to the very forefront of great Catalan writing.Trade Review‘Every page is a festival of words, images and sounds; a machine-gun burst of prose and rhyme, through which he immortalises moments, spaces and characters.’ —SEBASTIÀ ROIG, EL DIARI DE GIRONA. ‘The book is a cunning diary, a game by the author with himself, a blending of the journal of a curious anthropologist with the notebook of a perplexed poet. It is the creative exercise of someone who wants to be chronicler of a specific time and ecosystem, and who also has the will to restore a certain cordial relationship with himself.’ —ISIDRE FERRÉ, NÚVOL.

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Book Synopsis''There are certain words which possess, in themselves, when properly used, a virtue which illumines and lifts up towards the good''The philosopher and activist Simone Weil was one of the most courageous thinkers of the twentieth century. Here she writes, with honesty and moral clarity, about the manipulation of language by the powerful, the obligations of individuals to one another and the needs - for order, equality, liberty and truth - that make us human.One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

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