{"title":"Literary studies: fiction Books","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"index-book-13-the-history-of-middleearth-9780007137435","title":"Index Book 13 The History of Middleearth","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComplete integrated indices of History of Middle-earth volumes to complement new series.For the first time every index from each of the twelve volumes of The History Of Middle-earth has been published together in a single volume  to create a supreme index charting the writing of Tolkien's masterpieces The Lord of The Rings and The Silmarillion.This stunning work of reference complements the fascinating History of Middle-earth series, now repackaged to complement the distinctive and classic style of the black cover' A-format paperbacks of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832344527191,"sku":"9780007137435","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780007137435.jpg?v=1710331325"},{"product_id":"daphne-du-maurier-and-her-sisters-9780007347094","title":"Daphne Du Maurier and Her Sisters","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCelebrated novelist Daphne Du Maurier and her sisters, eclipsed by her fame, are revealed in all their surprising complexity in this riveting new biography.The middle sister in a famous artistic dynasty, Daphne du Maurier is one of the master storytellers of our time, author of Rebecca', Jamaica Inn' and My Cousin Rachel', and short stories, Don't Look Now' and the terrifying The Birds' among many. Her stories were made memorable by the iconic films they inspired, three of them classic Hitchcock chillers. But it was her sisters, writer Angela and artist Jeanne,who found the courage to defy the conventions that hampered Daphne's emotional life.In this group biography they are considered side by side, as they were in life, three sisters who grew up during the 20th century in the glamorous hothouse of a theatrical family dominated by a charismatic and powerful father. This family dynamic reveals the hidden world of the three sisters  Piffy, Bird \u0026amp; Bing, as they were known to each other  f\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Perceptive and exuberant … a saga that is sparklingly re-told’ The Times\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘The fascination for readers is the different character and destiny of each sister, plus their relationships with one another and with the dynamics of the family romance – and few family romances have been more potent than that of the du Mauriers’ Spectator\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Daphne is a compelling subject – passionate and cold, attractive and repellent … Angela suffers, as she did in life …from … Daphne’s infinitely more intriguing saga’ Evening Standard\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Meticulous, perceptive … it is a sign of Jane Dunn’s generous professionalism that she accords the du Maurier girls the same respect that she gave Bloomsbury’s high priestesses in her acclaimed study of Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell’ Financial Times\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Engaging … this book’s strength lies in its account of a trio of lives developing during a period of class and gender upheaval, and the sisters’ response to social change’ Independent\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Compelling … sensitive and sympathetic … loneliness is the thudding heart of Dunn’s book, about three pampered sisters who never quite overcame the handicap of not being boys’ Daily Telegraph\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Intriguing and revelatory biography … [of] complex and contradictory lives’ Scotsman\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Jane Dunn specialises in female relationships, and she has found three splendid women for her new book … Dunn writes with haunting delicacy … and she evokes a long-lost England in which women felt deep passions and survived emotional hurricanes with amazing outward restraint’ Mail on Sunday\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Dunn is excellent on the lesbian 1920s and 30s in London, with delicious detail’ Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘An original, well-researched and very readable book full of well-chosen details and perceptive observations. In the subject of rivalry between literary sisters Jane Dunn has found a little goldmine’ Literary Review\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832380703063,"sku":"9780007347094","price":12.59,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780007347094.jpg?v=1710331694"},{"product_id":"the-history-of-the-hobbit-9780008601409","title":"The History of the Hobbit","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrand new deluxe edition of this definitive companion to The Hobbit, quarter-bound, stamped in gold foil with a unique design inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's own artwork, featuring a ribbon marker and housed in a matching custom-built slipcase.The Hobbit was first published on 21 September 1937. Like its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, it is a story that grew in the telling', and many characters and plot threads in the published text are quite different from the story J.R.R. Tolkien first wrote to read aloud to his young sons as one of their fireside reads'.Together in one volume, The History of the Hobbit presents the complete text of the unpublished manuscript of The Hobbit, accompanied by John Rateliff's lively and informative account of how the book came to be written and published. Recording the numerous changes made to the story both before and after publication, he examines  chapter by chapter  why those changes were made and how they reflect Tolkien's ever-growing concept of Middle-earth.As well as reproducing the original version of one of the world's most popular novels  both on its own merits and as the foundation for The Lord of the Rings  this book includes many little-known illustrations and draft maps for The Hobbit by Tolkien himself. Also featured are extensive commentaries on the dates of composition, how Tolkien's professional and early mythological writings influenced the story, the imaginary geography he created, and how Tolkien came to revise the book years after publication to accommodate events in The Lord of the Rings.Endorsed by Christopher Tolkien as a companion to his essential 12-volume The History of Middle-earth, this thoughtful and exhaustive examination of one of the most treasured stories in English literature offers fascinating new insights for those who have grown up with this enchanting tale, and will delight any who are about to enter Bilbo's round door for the first time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eThe Hobbit\u003c\/em\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Hobbit\u003c\/em\u003e belongs to a very small class of books which have nothing in common save that each admits us to a world of its own. Its place is with Alice and \u003cem\u003eThe Wind in the Willows\u003c\/em\u003e’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘One of the best loved characters in English fiction… a marvellous fantasy adventure’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Finely written saga of dwarves and elves, fearsome goblins and trolls… an exciting epic of travel, magical adventure, working up to a devastating climax’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832384110935,"sku":"9780008601409","price":75.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780008601409_7995d4fb-6029-4c6f-a674-1a4ab867495c.jpg?v=1723804658"},{"product_id":"smith-of-wootton-major-9780007557288","title":"Smith of Wootton Major","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA charming new pocket edition of one of Tolkien's major pieces of short fiction, and his only finished work dating from after publication of The Lord of the Rings.What began as a preface to The Golden Key by George MacDonald eventually grew into this charming short story, so named by Tolkien to suggest an early work by P.G. Wodehouse. Composed almost a decade after The Lord of the Rings, and when his lifelong occupation with the Silmarillion' was winding down, Smith of Wootton Major was the product of ripened experience and reflection. It was published in 1967 as a small hardback, complete with charming black and white illustrations by Pauline Baynes, and would be the last work of fiction to be published in Tolkien's own lifetime.Now, almost 50 years on, this enchanting tale of a wanderer who finds his way into the perilous realm of Faery is being published in paperback. Contained here are many intriguing links to the world of Middle-earth, as well as to Tolkien's other tales, and this new edition is enhanced with a facsimile of the illustrated first edition, a manuscript of Tolkien's early draft of the story, notes and an alternate ending, and a lengthy essay on the nature of Faery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The book has a haunting quality, characteristic of the best of the ‘deeper’ folktales. It is a beautiful, memorable story.” Times Educational Supplement\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e“It may be compared to the most delicate miniature but it is one of a rare kind: the more closely it is examined the more it reveals the grandeur of its conception. Whoever reads it at eight will still be going back to it at eighty.” New Statesman\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e“A tremendously valuable volume with important new insights into Tolkien’s way of working. It’s also a beautiful hardcover edition of the story.” Mythprint\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832398594391,"sku":"9780007557288","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780007557288.jpg?v=1710332142"},{"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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A ruthless race of Martians, armed with heat rays and poisonous smoke, is intent on destroying everything that stands in its way. As the unnamed hero struggles to find his way across decimated wastelands, the fate of the planet hangs in the balance . . .H. G. Wells was a pioneer of modern science fiction. 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Wells’ Upton Sinclair\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832457707863,"sku":"9780008326029","price":6.64,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780008326029.jpg?v=1710333404"},{"product_id":"sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight-with-pearl-and-sir-orfeo-9780008433932","title":"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with Pearl and","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis smart new paperback edition contains the fully-reset text of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour. It features a beautifully decorated text and includes as a bonus the complete version of Tolkien's acclaimed lecture on Sir Gawain.Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for adults, full of life and colour; but it is also much more than this, being at the same time a powerful moral tale which examines religious and social values.Pearl is apparently an elegy on the death of a child, a poem pervaded with a sense of great personal loss: but, like Gawain it is also a sophisticated and moving debate on much less tangible matters.Sir Orfeo is a slighter romance, belonging to an earlier and different tradition. It was a special favourite of Tolkien's.The three translations represent the complete rhym\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The introduction to Gawain is a little masterpiece.’\u003cbr\u003eTimes Higher Educational Supplement\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘This magnificent Arthurian tale of love, sex, honour, social tact, personal integrity and folk-magic is one of the greatest and most approachable narrative poems in the language. 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First as a British spook' during the Cold War, then as a world-renowned writer of espionage fiction, but also in his personal involvements. He guarded his private life with fierce determination, so that even when he finally permitted his life story to be written, there was still one element he insisted be excluded: the women.Married with children for virtually all his adult life, le Carré  David Cornwell  had a number of secret affairs, usually conducted abroad with women encountered by chance on his travels. These relationships were always intense, dramatic, even tragic, yet each was destined to last no more than a few months. 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With wit and insight, Woolf also revisits classic novels and examines scholarly subjects, from the Greek language to the Modern Essay, to the Brontë's Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.First published in 1925, The Common Reader is a stunning work from one of the most perceptive minds of the twentieth century, a collection which continues to nurture the joys of literature and reading to this day.","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832544018775,"sku":"9780008542139","price":5.62,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"the-book-of-lost-tales-2-9780261102149","title":"The Book of Lost Tales 2","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe second of a two-book set that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien's epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.This second part of The Book of Lost Tales includes the tale of Beren and Lúthien, Túrin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin, itself the finest and most exciting depiction of a battle that Tolkien ever wrote. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay, together with texts of associated poems, and contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages.This series of fascinating books has now been repackaged to complement the distinctive and classic style of the black cover' A-format paperbacks of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Christopher Tolkien shows himself to be his father’s son… Tolkien devotees will rejoice’ The New York Times Book Review\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘In these Lost Tales we have the scholar joyously gambolling in the thicket of his imagination… a Commentary and Notes greatly enrich the quest’ Daily Telegraph\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘The Tales will be appreciated by those who have read The Silmarillion andwish to examine how Tolkien improved his story and style from their original form, and how weventually The Lord of the Rings came to stand independently with only a few hints from the early mythology’ British Book News\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832965415255,"sku":"9780261102149","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780261102149.jpg?v=1710340005"},{"product_id":"the-shaping-of-middleearth-the-history-of-middleearth-4-book-4-9780261102187","title":"The Shaping of Middleearth The History of","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe fourth volume that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien's epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.In this fourth volume of The History of Middle-earth, the shaping of the chronological and geographical structure of the legends of Middle-earth and Valinor is spread before us.We are introduced to the hitherto unknown Ambarkanta or Shape of the World, the only account ever given of the nature of the imagined Universe, ccompanied by maps and diagrams of the world before and after the cataclyusms of The War of the Gods and the Downfall of Numenor. The first map of Beleriend is also reproduced and discussed.In The Annals of Valinor and The Annals of Beleriend we are shown how the chronology of the First Age was moulded: and the tale is told of Aelfwine, the Englishman who voyaged into the True West and came to Tol Eressea, Lonely Isle, where he learned the ancient history of Elves and Men.Also included are the original Silmarillion' of 1926, and the Quenta \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Illustrates the development, depth and richness of J R R Tolkien’s personal mythology’ Vector\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47832965874007,"sku":"9780261102187","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780261102187.jpg?v=1710340015"},{"product_id":"the-book-of-lost-tales-1-9780261102224","title":"The Book of Lost Tales 1","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the earliest myths and legends of Middle-earth and Valinor were laid down in The Book of Lost Tales, written by J.R.R. Tolkien between 1916 and 1920, and compiled by Christopher Tolkien for publication in 1983.The Book of Lost Tales stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor, for the Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion.Embedded in English legend, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol to the lonely Isle where the Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. 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It is as if he entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.But the commentary in this book includes also much from those lectures in which, while always anchored in the text, he expressed his wider perceptions. He looks closely at the dragon that would slay Beowulf snuffling in baffled rage and injured greed when he discovers the theft of the cup'; but he rebuts the notion that this is a mere treasure story', just another dragon tale'. He turns to the lines that tell of the burying of the golden things long ago, and observes that it is the feeling for the treasure itself, this sad history' that raises it to another level. The whole thing is sombre, tragic, sinister, curiously real. The treasure is not just some lucky wealth that will enable the finder to have a good time, or marry the princess. It is laden with history, leading back into the dark heathen ages beyond the memory of song, but not beyond the reach of imagination.'Sellic Spell, a marvellous tale', is a story written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the historical legends' of the Northern kingdoms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is long-awaited, and hugely exciting for Tolkien readers” The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e“If he had never written The Lord of the Rings he would have been famous in academic circles for writing one published lecture on Beowulf called The Monsters and the Critics. It turned things upside down. Beowulf was probably the medieval text that influenced him the most and the commentary and lectures are ‘nuggets of gold’”\u003cbr\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e“A tantalising prospect. Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain is a master class in linguistic chicanery – Middle English meets Middle Earth… it will be interesting to see if it gives Heaney's Beowulf a run for its money”\u003cbr\u003eSimon Armitage, The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47845986500951,"sku":"9780007590070","price":56.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780007590070.jpg?v=1710517483"},{"product_id":"beowulf-9780007590094","title":"Beowulf","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was an early work, very distinctive in its mode, completed in 1926: he returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e This edition is twofold, for there exists an illuminating commentary on the text of the poem by the translator himself, in the written form of a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s; and from these lectures a substantial selection has been made, to form also a commentary on the translation in this book.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e From his creative attention to detail in these lectures there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if he entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is long-awaited, and hugely exciting for Tolkien readers” The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e“If he had never written The Lord of the Rings he would have been famous in academic circles for writing one published lecture on Beowulf called The Monsters and the Critics. It turned things upside down. Beowulf was probably the medieval text that influenced him the most and the commentary and lectures are ‘nuggets of gold’”\u003cbr\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e“A tantalising prospect. Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain is a master class in linguistic chicanery – Middle English meets Middle Earth… it will be interesting to see if it gives Heaney's Beowulf a run for its money”\u003cbr\u003eSimon Armitage, The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47845986566487,"sku":"9780007590094","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780007590094.jpg?v=1710517490"},{"product_id":"narrative-telling-the-story-9781907155475","title":"Narrative: Telling the Story","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat is the best way to tell a story? In first-person peripheral, or third-person focalised? Unfolding in the present, or as events in the past? Where is the camera? What is the lens? Where is the action? 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Small books, big ideas.","brand":"Wooden Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47850606002519,"sku":"9781907155475","price":8.18,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781907155475.jpg?v=1710616188"},{"product_id":"virginia-woolf-vanessa-bell-a-childhood-in-st-ives-9781906690571","title":"Virginia Woolf \u0026 Vanessa Bell: A Childhood in St","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Halsgrove","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47850606854487,"sku":"9781906690571","price":22.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781906690571.jpg?v=1710616319"},{"product_id":"pulp-methodism-the-lives-and-literature-of-silas-joseph-and-salome-hocking-three-cornish-novelists-9781900147255","title":"Pulp Methodism: The Lives and Literature of","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Cornish Hillside Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47850630218071,"sku":"9781900147255","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/0356919_9781900147255.jpg?v=1717487591"},{"product_id":"herman-melville-critical-assessments-9781873403501","title":"Herman Melville: Critical Assessments","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Helm Information Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47850632151383,"sku":"9781873403501","price":281.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781873403501.jpg?v=1710699049"},{"product_id":"great-books-of-china-9781837930210","title":"Great Books of China","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiscover – or rediscover – the major achievements of Chinese culture and civilization.\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003ci\u003eGreat Books of China\u003c\/i\u003e offers concise introductions – each of them accompanied by generous quotation (in English) from the book in question – to sixty-six works in the canon of Chinese literature.  The books chosen reflect the chronological and thematic breadth of Chinese literary tradition, ranging from such classics as \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Songs\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eConfucian Analects\u003c\/i\u003e, through popular dramas and novels (\u003ci\u003eThe Romance of the Western Chamber\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Water Margin\u003c\/i\u003e), twentieth-century political and biographical works (\u003ci\u003eQuotations from Chairman Mao\u003c\/i\u003e, the autobiography of the last emperor) and modern novels that are little known in the West (\u003ci\u003eMemories of South Peking\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSix Chapters from a Cadre School Life\u003c\/i\u003e).  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'Wonderfully descriptive' * Library Journal *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47850911105367,"sku":"9781837930210","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781837930210.jpg?v=1710624145"},{"product_id":"the-wrath-to-come-gone-with-the-wind-and-the-lies-america-tells-9781789542998","title":"The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe history America never wanted you to read.  'The narrative took my breath away' \u003cb\u003ePhilippe Sands\u003c\/b\u003e   'An extraordinarily and shockingly powerful read' \u003cb\u003ePeter Frankopan\u003c\/b\u003e   'One of the must-reads of the year' \u003cb\u003eSuzannah Lipscomb\u003c\/b\u003e   'Brilliant and provocative' \u003cb\u003eGavin Esler\u003c\/b\u003e  Sarah Churchwell examines one of the most enduringly popular stories of all time, \u003ci\u003eGone with the Wind\u003c\/i\u003e, to help explain the divisions ripping the United States apart today. Separating fact from fiction, she shows how histories of mythmaking have informed America's racial and gender politics, the controversies over Confederate statues, the resurgence of white nationalism, the Black Lives Matter movement, the enduring power of the American Dream, and the violence of Trumpism.  \u003ci\u003eGone with the Wind\u003c\/i\u003e was an instant bestseller when it was published in 1936; its film version became the most successful Hollywood film of all time. Today the story's racism is again a subject of controversy, but it was just as controversial in the 1930s, foreshadowing today's debates over race and American fascism. In \u003ci\u003eThe Wrath to Come\u003c\/i\u003e, Sarah Churchwell charts an extraordinary journey through 160 years of American denialism. From the Lost Cause to the romances behind the Ku Klux Klan, from the invention of the 'ideal' slave plantation to the erasure of interwar fascism, Churchwell shows what happens when we do violence to history, as collective denial turns fictions into lies, and lies into a vicious reality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEye-opening and at times jaw-dropping; a powerful reminder of the prejudices and suffering horrors of the recent past, and a call to arms to learn from the lessons of history. Highly recommended -- Peter Frankopan\u003cbr\u003eAn extraordinarily and shockingly powerful read... With meticulous research and fine structure, it offers a most disturbing arc that transports us from now back to what we thought was another era but which is, in reality, so deeply enmeshed with the intolerances and prejudices of today. At times the narrative took my breath away. I was riveted from start to finish -- Philippe Sands\u003cbr\u003eSarah Churchwell's brilliant and provocative guide to understanding the twenty-first century dis-United States of America explores America's myths about itself, through that great Hollywood myth about the South and racism, \u003ci\u003eGone With the Wind\u003c\/i\u003e. If you want to know why Donald Trump connects with so many Americans today, as a link to the 'Lost Cause' of the Confederacy, Churchwell's account offers the answers -- Gavin Esler\u003cbr\u003eA brilliant and important book that exposes the truths hidden by one of the world's most famous stories and, in so doing, reveals how the (im)moral weight of this tale has not only shaped American culture over the last century but is shaping American politics and society today. One of the must-reads of the year -- Suzannah Lipscomb\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Wrath to Come\u003c\/i\u003e is packed with fascinating, well-researched and often jaw-dropping history * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eChurchwell's excoriating analysis is energising * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003eStylish and thoughtful, Churchwell's book is an exemplary exploration of how \u003ci\u003eGone with the Wind\u003c\/i\u003e reflects, and continues to affect, American culture * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eA painful reflection on how the ghosts of the civil war still haunt US culture * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eThe case Churchwell builds against \u003ci\u003eGone with the Wind\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling one * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eRich in detail and rigorously argued, this is cultural history at its very best * Tortoise Media *\u003cbr\u003eA stylish blend of literary criticism, cultural history and political polemic * Sunday Business Post *\u003cbr\u003eShe has a deep scholarly understanding of America's literature and history, and her writing is smart and crisp, creating a narrative that is as gripping as it is enlightening * Mail Plus *\u003cbr\u003eAn exceptional book, smart and searing and scary * Baptist News *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47851007902039,"sku":"9781789542998","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781789542998.jpg?v=1710627070"},{"product_id":"the-short-story-of-the-novel-a-pocket-guide-to-key-genres-novels-themes-and-techniques-9781786277442","title":"The Short Story of the Novel: A Pocket Guide to","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Short Story of the Novel\u003c\/i\u003e is a new and innovative introduction to the best works of fiction from the last 500 years. 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But dig a little deeper and you find an extraordinary and complicated human being.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRevolutionary and apologist for regicide, writer of propaganda for Cromwell's regime, defender of the English people and passionate European, scholar and lover of music and the arts - Milton was all of these things and more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaking Darkness Light \u003c\/i\u003eshows how these complexities and contradictions played out in Milton's fascination with oppositions - Heaven and Hell, light and dark, self and other - most famously in his epic poem \u003ci\u003eParadise Lost\u003c\/i\u003e.  It explores the way such brutal contrasts define us and obscure who we really are, as the author grapples with his own sense of identity and  complex relationship with Milton. Retracing Milton's footsteps through seventeenth century London, Tuscany and the Marches, he vividly brings Milton's world to life and takes a fresh look at his key works and ideas around the nature of creativity, time and freedom of expression. He also illustrates the profound influence  of Milton's work on writers from William Blake to Virginia Woolf, James Joyce to Jorge Luis Borges.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a book about Milton, that also speaks to \u003ci\u003ewhy\u003c\/i\u003e we read and what happens when we choose over time to let another's life and words enter our own. It will change the way you think about Milton forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaking Darkness Light is elegant, nuanced, and comprehensive. Moshenska gives us a fresh and vivid account of Milton as an individual and a poet while pushing beyond the boundaries of conventional biography. Blending the personal with the historical and the literary, the results are compelling' -- Bart van Es, author of The Cut Out Girl\u003cbr\u003eJoe Moshenska's superb new biography of Milton is, like the poetry of his subject, a miracle of form, moving from moments of arresting detail to vast contemplations of time, history, and art, all set within an intimate narrative that is at once deeply embedded in its historical moment and aware of how that history connects through other moments to the present. The result is a stirring and compelling account of how great poetry gets written and gets read -- Edward Wilson-Lee, author of The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books\u003cbr\u003eMoshenska has written a new kind of literary biography. At once glancingly a memoir, a rivetingly informative biography, and a fascinating reading of Milton as poet, scholar and ordinary man in his everyday life, \u003ci\u003eMaking Darkness Light \u003c\/i\u003eis an illumination. Milton and everything and everybody around him are seen in a quite different, intriguing light. -- Adam Phillips, author of On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored and Becoming Freud\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoe Moshenska is professionally committed to creating a readership for Milton among those for whom Genesis, Virgil, Homer and Tasso are closed books . . . A great imaginative exercise . . . His sympathetic yet challenging account will undoubtedly win Milton new readers - and for that a chorus of Hallelujahs\u003c\/p\u003e -- A.N. Wilson, Spectator\u003cbr\u003eStrikingly original . . . a poetic tour of 17th-century England . . . Literature lovers of all sorts will find something to savor here -- Publishers Weekly\u003cbr\u003eOxford literature professor Moshenska takes a fresh perspective on John Milton (1608-1674), the art of biography, and the experience of reading . . . An inspired biographical and autobiographical journey -- Kirkus\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaking Darkness Light \u003c\/i\u003eis unlike any book on Milton I have ever read. It is often densely erudite, but also richly inventive . . . [its] avoidance of easy certainties is typical of this subtle, challenging book -- John Carey, The Sunday Times\u003cbr\u003eJoe Moshenska . . . is astute in placing music, especially rhythm (a word neither Milton nor Shakespeare used) and its visceral relationship to the body, at the root of this original, penetrating, cleverly constructed and occasionally frustrating biography -- Paul Lay, The Times\u003cbr\u003eTantalisingly different and new...an extraordinary, seductive work of intellectual imagination -- Financial Times\u003cbr\u003eMoshenska . . . brings his own experiences into this searching creative portrait of the visionary English poet. The book . . . comes alive in its alert close readings -- New York Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaking Darkness Light\u003c\/i\u003e is not a conventional biography . . . despite the ambitious and demanding nature of his project, Moshenska writes with humility and agility -- Literary Review\u003cbr\u003eOf course, anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the facts of Milton's life and the context for his poetry will certainly find what they're looking for here. \u003ci\u003eMaking Darkness Light \u003c\/i\u003eincludes not only moments in Milton's life and the landscape of 17th century England as well as close readings of his work. But it's the exploration of what the author describes as one of Milton's deepest occupations, \"the place of literature in a life,\" that sets the book apart. Moshenska has no aspirations to separate the biographer from the biography, and \u003ci\u003eMaking Darkness Light \u003c\/i\u003eis richer for his presence throughout the book -- Jessie Gaynor, Lit Hub Senior Editor\u003cbr\u003eMoshenska knows his way around Milton's world... \u003ci\u003eMaking Darkness Light\u003c\/i\u003e privileges us with a peek inside its author's mind in contemplation of such a life and makes a compelling case that it could be told in no other way -- Boston Globe","brand":"John Murray Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47851537039703,"sku":"9781529364286","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781529364286.jpg?v=1710638588"},{"product_id":"what-to-read-next-how-to-make-books-part-of-your-life-9781529337242","title":"What to Read Next: How to Make Books Part of Your","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a whole year on his train to work, Stig Abell read books from across genres and time periods. Then he wrote about them, and their impact on our culture and his own life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe result is a work of many things: a brisk guide to the canon of Western literature; an intimate engagement with writers from Shakespeare to JK Rowling, Marcel Proust to Zora Neale Hurston; a wise and funny celebration of the power of words; and a meditation on mental unrest and how to tackle it. It will help you discover new books to love, give you the confidence to give up on those that you don't, and remind you of ones that you already do.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat to Read Next\u003c\/i\u003e has been written for the reader in all of us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeyond splendid . . . a brilliant idea, beautifully realised\u003c\/b\u003e * Bill Bryson *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFar more than a guide, this is a book lover's companion, a \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ewise friend's recommendations, an answer to the question \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"what to read next\" and why. I wish I knew \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ehalf as much about books as Stig Abell\u003c\/b\u003e * Kit de Waal *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA witty, warm and wonderfully wise celebration of the \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ewritten word. 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Did Clive James and Bill Bryson have a secret love child?\u003c\/b\u003e * Lee Child *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA thoroughly enjoyable saunter through some great, and not so great, works of literature\u003c\/b\u003e * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA book for Christmas and the fireside, but a book also for all days and weathers, even for a chilly morning commuter train - once commuting is back in fashion\u003c\/b\u003e -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIt is always interesting when an intelligent reader comes fresh to books you have known for a long time . . . the whole book is a lucky dip: put in your thumb, pull out a plum, and relish it. \u003c\/b\u003e * Yorkshire Post *","brand":"John Murray Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47851553194327,"sku":"9781529337242","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781529337242.jpg?v=1710639048"},{"product_id":"terry-pratchett-a-life-with-footnotes-the-official-biography-9781529176902","title":"Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE 2023 LOCUS AWARD FOR NON-FICTION\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NON-FICTION\u003cbr\u003eFINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST RELATED WORK\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST NON-FICTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Always readable, illuminating and honest. It made me miss the real Terry.' \u003ci\u003e- \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eNeil Gaiman\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Sometimes joyfully, sometimes painfully, intimate . . . it is wonderful to have this closeup picture of the writer's working life.' - \u003cb\u003eFrank Cottrell-Boyce, \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e--------\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAt the time of his death in 2015, award-winning and bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett was working on his finest story yet - his own.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe creator of the phenomenally bestselling Discworld series, Terry Pratchett was known and loved around the world for his hugely popular books, his smart satirical humour and the humanity of his campaign work. But that's only part of the picture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore his untimely death, Terry was writing a memoir: the story of a boy who aged six was told by his teacher that he would never amount to anything and spent the rest of his life proving him wrong. For Terry lived a life full of astonishing achievements: becoming one of the UK's bestselling and most beloved writers, winning the prestigious Carnegie Medal and being awarded a knighthood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow, the book Terry sadly couldn't finish has been written by Rob Wilkins, his former assistant, friend and now head of the Pratchett literary estate. Drawing on his own extensive memories, along with those of the author's family, friends and colleagues, Rob unveils the full picture of Terry's life - from childhood to his astonishing writing career, and how he met and coped with what he called the 'Embuggerance' of Alzheimer's disease.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA deeply moving and personal portrait of the extraordinary life of Sir Terry Pratchett, written with unparalleled insight and filled with funny anecdotes, this is the only official biography of one of our finest authors.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e--------\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Spins magic from mundanity in precisely the way Pratchett himself did.' - \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'As frank, funny and unsentimental as anything its subject might have produced himself.' - \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlways readable, illuminating and honest. It made me miss the real Terry.\u003c\/b\u003e * Neil Gaiman *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHeart breaking and funny . . .  sometimes joyfully, sometimes painfully, intimate . . . it is wonderful to have this closeup picture of the writer's working life. \u003c\/b\u003e -- Frank Cottrell-Boyce * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe joy of this biography . . . is that it spins magic from mundanity in precisely the way Pratchett himself did.\u003c\/b\u003e * The Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNo one, after Pratchett's wife, Lyn, and daughter, Rhianna, knew the author as well as Wilkins. I wept through the last 20 pages - beautifully done - charting Pratchett's decline in a way that is both sensitive and unsparing.\u003c\/b\u003e * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFond, funny and conveys a pitch-perfect sense of how Pratchett managed to take the elements of his 1950s working-class childhood . . . and turn it into a universe of limitless richness and invention.\u003c\/b\u003e * Mail on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe friendship and affection between the pair shines through every page . . . Of course, [Pratchett] fans will love the book . . . and even casual readers will delight in tales of his idiosyncratic passions.\u003c\/b\u003e * Independent *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA biography almost as funny and perceptive as one of Terry's novels . . . a rich, deeply affectionate portrait of a unique personality . . . it's a joy to see the much-missed author spring back into technicolour life in this fascinating and deeply moving tribute. \u003c\/b\u003e * Daily Express *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA moving and acutely observed account . . . Pratchett's magical mind, and dementia, by the man who knew him best.\u003c\/b\u003e * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWilkins has many advantages over most biographers, having not only known his subject well, but taken down notes while he was alive for his projected memoir. The result, at times, is like a ventriloquist act, with Pratchett's voice and personality emerging loud and clear.\u003c\/b\u003e * The Herald *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBoth more and less than a biography . . . full of insights and revelations, in many ways the sort of thing Prathett might have written about himself, proud of what has been done, honest about the process . . . written with intelligence and compassion.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Christopher Priest * The Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReduced me to tears of both laughter and heartbreak.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Charlotte Heathcote * Daily Mirror *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLively and affectionate, this is not a critical biography, but nor is it sycophantic. 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[the] use of first-hand source material is very effective in relaying Pratchett's own take on many aspects of his life and career and, with Wilkins' additions and occasional fact-checking, it makes for a highly readable and enjoyable biography. \u003c\/b\u003e * The AU Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWilkins is a faithful and comprehensive documenter of Pratchett's life . . . moving and sensitive.\u003c\/b\u003e * Canberra Times *","brand":"Transworld Publishers Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47851558437207,"sku":"9781529176902","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781529176902.jpg?v=1710639255"},{"product_id":"the-tao-of-pooh-40th-anniversary-gift-edition-9780008529543","title":"The Tao of Pooh. 40th Anniversary Gift Edition","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat's this you're writing? asked Pooh, climbing onto the writing table.The Tao of Pooh, I replied.The how of Pooh? asked Pooh, smudging one of the words I had just written.The Tao of Pooh, I replied, poking his paw away with my pencil.It seems more like ow! of Pooh, said Pooh, rubbing his paw.Well, it's not, I replied huffily.What's it about? asked Pooh, leaning forward and smearing another word.It's about how to stay happy and calm under all circumstances! I yelled.Have you read it? asked PoohWinnie-the-Pooh has a certain way about him, a way of doing things that has made him the world''s most beloved bear, and Pooh''s Way, as Benjamin Hoff brilliantly demonstrates, seems strangely close to the ancient Chinese principles of Taoism.Follow the Pooh Way in this humorous and enlightening introduction to Taoism, with classic decorations by E.H.Shepard throughout. 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Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels.Tan explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia  the real reason behind an I.Q. test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Tan writes about her parents with love and frustration and without sentimentality, and some of the book’s most effective sections are the ones that examine how her view of them was affected by discoveries made later in their lives or after their deaths. She also writes with great insight about her own creative process, and how it has been affected by everything from listening to music to chance encounters…This is a compelling exploration of both the personal and creative life of a fascinating woman’ Sunday Business Post\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘Remember Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother, the terrifying pushy-mother manifesto written by Chinese-American Amy Chua? Well, this book, by the other famous Chinese-American Amy, bestselling novelist Amy Tan, could be called Post-Battle Hymn Of The Damaged Daughter Of A Tiger Mother. Fascinating’ Daily Mail\u003c\/p\u003e           \u003cp\u003e‘It is a privilege to be given permission to rummage in any writer’s attic. 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As austerely beautiful as would be expected of Coetzee the artist...its aloof, edgy grace and seething passion ensure the narrative is both truthful and mysterious * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoyhood \u003c\/i\u003eis a deeply-felt and utterly compelling account of a South African childhood: the narrative style is as spare and lean as the Karoo flatlands which form its backdrop * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eThe economy with which Coetzee makes sense of his past is evidence, once again, of his outstanding talent * Independent on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eAn uncannily accurate picture of the way things were in South Africa * Literary Review *","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732206793047,"sku":"9780099268277","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"sartre-9780099273721","title":"Sartre","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSartre''s powerful political passions were united with a memorable literary gift, placing him foremost among the novelists, as well as the philosophers, of our time. Iris Murdoch''s pioneering study analyses and evaluates the different strands of Sartre''s rich and complex oeurve. Combining the objectivity of the scholar with a profound interest in contemporary problems, Iris Murdoch discusses the tradition of philosophical, political and aesthetic thought that gives historical authenticity to Satre''s achievement, while showing the ambiguities and dangers inherent in his position.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA penetrating introduction to the romantic rationalist, novelist and \u003ci\u003epenseur\u003c\/i\u003e * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eIris Murdoch's concise study... reads as clear and logical as it did in 1953, and remains one of the best friends to anyone who wants to understand what existentialism was all about * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003eWith a cool and luminous introduction...\u003ci\u003eSartre: Romantic Rationalist\u003c\/i\u003e is all about the thinker, about his philosophy and his novels... Her fair if unflattering book is the best way in to what finally matters to Sartre * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eA remarkably intelligent and penetrating introduction to Sartre * Times Literary Supplement *","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732207612247,"sku":"9780099273721","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099273721.jpg?v=1719995965"},{"product_id":"ways-of-escape-9780099282594","title":"Ways Of Escape","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith superb skill and feeling, Graham Greene retraces the experiences and encounters of his extraordinary life. His restlessness is legendary; as if seeking out danger, Greene travelled to Haiti during the nightmare rule of Papa Doc, Vietnam in the last days of the French, Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion. With ironic delight he recalls his time in the British Secret Service in Africa, and his brief involvement in Hollywood. He writes, as only he can, about people and places, about faith, doubt, fear and, not least, the trials and craft of writing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInspiring...provides the best possible introduction to the novels but also the portrait of a dedicated artist * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWays of Escape\u003c\/i\u003e is as good as the best of its kind...marvellously rich -- William Trevor * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eExcellent reading...wonderfully good * Sunday Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eThe writing is suffused with melancholy regret, not for what he writes, one feels, but for what he has left out * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eGreene is unrivalled in his ability to evoke location and the human condition -- Carol Drinkwater * Daily Express *","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732209152343,"sku":"9780099282594","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099282594.jpg?v=1719995970"},{"product_id":"a-sort-of-life-9780099282570","title":"A Sort of Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGraham Greene''s ''long journey through time'' began in 1904, when he was born into a tribe of Greenes based in Berkhamstead at the public school where his father was headmaster. In \u003ci\u003eA Sort of Life\u003c\/i\u003e Greene recalls schooldays and Oxford, adolescent encounters with psychoanalysis and Russian roulette, his marriage and conversion to Catholicism, and how he rashly resigned from \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e when his first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Man Within \u003c\/i\u003ewas published in 1929. \u003ci\u003eA Sort of Life\u003c\/i\u003e reveals, brilliantly and compellingly, a life lived and an art obsessed by ''the dangerous edge of things''.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA great writer who spoke brilliantly to a whole generation -- Alec Guinness\u003cbr\u003eThe setting of his life is beautifully observed and conveyed. I have never admired his writing more - the masterly skill and economy; the excitement he manages to pump, not just into the narrative, but into the very sentences, which throb and glow themselves * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eA subversive hero, self-consciously seeking out (in Browning's words) 'the dangerous edge of things,' who lived everywhere and nowhere, a man whom few people ever knew... Greene was a restless traveler, a committed writer, a terrible husband, an appalling father and an admitted manic-depressive * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis is the work of a remarkable man determined to show he is not particularly remarkable...his fame is secure * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eGreene wrote some of the most commanding English novels of the twentieth century and some of the slickest commercial thrillers * Newsday *","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732209185111,"sku":"9780099282570","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099282570.jpg?v=1719995970"},{"product_id":"orwell-9780099283461","title":"Orwell","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eOrwell has become one of the most potent and symbolic figures in western political thought. Even the adjective ''Orwellian'' is now a byword for a particular way of thinking about life, literature and language yet, despite this iconic status, the man who was born Eric Blair in 1903 remains an enigma. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on a mass of previously unseen material, D J Taylor offers a strikingly human portrait of the writer too often embalmed as a secular saint. Here is a man who, for all his outward unworldliness, effectively stage-managed his own life; who combined chilling detachment with warmth and gentleness, disillusionment with hope; who battled through illness to produce two of the greatest masterpieces of the twentieth century.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving and revealing, Taylor''s \u003ci\u003eOrwell\u003c\/i\u003e is the biography we have all been waiting for, as vibrant, powerful and resonant as its extraordinary hero.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTaylor wins the biographical contest...[He] is an accomplished literary critic and he illuminates Orwell's work in the context of his life elegantly and expertly * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eTaylor's book has the unmistakable depth of flavour that comes from long, slow, careful cooking-pithy and fascinating -- Jan Dalley * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eTaylor writes with such skill and aplomb that it's impossible not to be swept along by the intelligence and observations * Independent on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eTaylor's biography is a persuasive and profoundly moving exploration of the ways in which Orwell's work was constructed from the stones of a ruined life-[it] is likely to prove in many ways definitive * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eFetchingly original...Taylor's [biography] is pacy socio-journalism -- Ian Thomson * Scotland on Sunday *","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732210102615,"sku":"9780099283461","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099283461.jpg?v=1719995975"},{"product_id":"a-moveable-feast-9780099285045","title":"A Moveable Feast","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePublished posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. Since Hemingway's personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined and debated the changes made to the text before publication. Now this new special restored edition presents the original manuscript as the author prepared it to be published. Featuring a personal foreword by Patrick Hemingway, Ernest's sole surviving son, and an introduction by the editor and grandson of the author, SeÃn Hemingway, this new edition also includes a number of unfinished, never-before-published Paris sketches revealing experiences that Hemingway had with his son Jack and his first wife, Hadley. Also included are irreverent portraits of other luminaries, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ford Madox Ford, and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft. Sure to excite critics and readers alike, the restored edition of A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReading \u003ci\u003eA Moveable Feast\u003c\/i\u003e is a little like sitting down to a banquet with a host of bohemian luminaries * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eHere is Hemingway at his best. No one has ever written about Paris in the nineteen twenties as well as Hemingway * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eThe first thing to say about the 'restored' edition so ably and attractively produced by Patrick and Sean Hemingway is that it does live up to its billing . . . well worth having * The Atlantic *","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732212134231,"sku":"9780099285045","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099285045.jpg?v=1719995980"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/collections\/literary-studies-fiction.oembed?page=9","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}