Literary studies: fiction Books

Book SynopsisThe first full-scale study of the periodical essay between 1880 and 1920.

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Book SynopsisPresents a wide-ranging and humorous introduction to the English novel from Daniel Defoe to the present day. This book distils the essentials of the theory of the novel. It covers the works of major authors, including Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Laurence Sterne, Walter Scott, Jane Austen, the Brontes, Charles Dickens and George Eliot.Trade Review"Eagleton's presentation of the history of the novel is admirably clear and almost entirely free of the disfiguring jargon so relied upon by theorists and bamboozlers." The Irish Independentà "Eagleton, almost alone among academic literary critics of his generation, has never been afraid of asking big questions about big things. In The English Novel: An Introduction he takes aim at a very large target indeed. Being Eagleton (the most articulately and discriminately ideological critic of our time) he does, of course, do much more than merely 'introduce'. He makes sense of the English novel." John Sutherland, Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature, UCLTable of ContentsPreface. 1. What is a Novel?. 2. Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift. 3. Henry Fielding and Samuel Richardson. 4. Laurence Sterne. 5. Walter Scott and Jane Austen. 6. The Brontës. 7. Charles Dickens. 8. George Eliot. 9. Thomas Hardy. 10. Henry James. 11. Joseph Conrad. 12. D.H. Lawrence. 13. James Joyce. 14. Virginia Woolf. Postcript: After the Wake. Notes. Index

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Book SynopsisWith detailed analysis of the text, discussions on themes, historical backgrounds and author biographies, York Notes offers students the best insight into the world of English Literature.

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Book SynopsisThe period 1890 to 1950 is remarkable for radical innovation and literary development. This volume looks back to the origins of Modernism and the traditions that shaped it, examining texts from France, America, England and Ireland to provide a stimulating and original take on this unique movement in literary history. Combining textual analysis with key critical approaches, the book considers central texts such as Eliot's The Waste Land, Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Lawrence's Women in Love alongside wider debates on Literature and War, Modernism, Music and the Visual Arts and Modernism and its Critics. Trade Review"Via a combination of critical approaches and textual analysis, Day explores a fertile period for literary development." - Reviewed in Times Higher EducationTable of ContentsPart One: Introduction Part Two: A Cultural Overview Part Three: Texts, Writers and Contexts Modernist poetry – French Origins, English Settings: Baudelaire, Mallarmé and the Georgians o Extended commentary: Imagism Modernist poetry – America, Ireland and England: Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Yeats and Eliot o Extended commentary: T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land (1922) · The Modernist novel and tradition: Flaubert, Mann, Kafka and Joyce Extended commentary: Joyce, The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) · The Modernist novel II: Saki, Woolf and Lawrence Extended commentary: Lawrence, Women in Love (1920) The Modernist play I – Ibsen, Strindberg, Pirandello and Beckett Extended commentary: Beckett,Endgame (1957) The Modernist play II – Conrad, Brecht and Artaud o Extended commentary: Brecht, Baal (1923) Part Four: Critical theories and Debates Literature and War Modernist Print Culture Modernism, Music the Visual Arts Modernism and its Critics Part Five: Resources Timeline Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisAn exuberant, breathless sprint through London in the fifties, sixties and seventies It's bright, boisterous and extremely funny' Tatler''Clancy's scapegrace adventures are described with so much vitality and scabrous wit you feel as charmed as one of his serial conquests Marvellous'' Spectator''If you're searching for something to keep you on the edge of your sun lounger this summer, look no further'' Daily MailIf Fielding's Tom Jones were alive in postwar England he might be Clancy Sigal, the American author of this restlessly curious memoir.Honest and devious, faithful and lustful, a mass of plucky contradictions, Clancy first arrived in London in 1957. He was broke, homeless and, according to his FBI file, a dangerous subversive'. Over the next three decades, Clancy was to wander the soot-stained streets of London, devouring as much as life could offer him. From the birth of the CND and his affair with Lessing, to therapy with R. D. Laing Trade ReviewAn exuberant, breathless sprint through London in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies… It’s bright, boisterous and extremely funny -- Francesca Carington * Tatler *[Clancy’s] scapegrace adventures are described with so much vitality and scabrous wit you feel as charmed as one of his serial conquests … Marvellous * Spectator *Sigal is a terrific storyteller and The London Lover is a terrific story. If you’re searching for something to keep you on the edge of your sun lounger this summer, look no further * Daily Mail *[Sigal] was a tummler of note, a real-life Zelig who found himself with astonishing frequency at the ringside of history, rubbing shoulders with many of its high rollers and low riders … The compulsion to be near the hot centre never left his restless heart * London Review of Books *Clancy Sigal lived twenty amazing lives and many of them are in this wonderful book -- Paul TherouxClancy Sigal’s memoir has all the storytelling verve, arresting candour and personal fearlessness that made his reputation over half a century ago -- David KynastonNo one tells his story better than he does himself in this highly entertaining book -- Lara Feigel

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Salamishah does what only great writers of literary criticism accomplish—she tells a story about a masterpiece without forgetting the extraordinary woman who crafted it and the legions of women made whole because of her work. A bold and vital tale that rightly treats Alice Walker’s American classic as if it were a living, breathing being demanding our utmost attention and enduring affection.” -- Janet Mock * author of Redefining Realness and Surpassing Certainty *“We need reminders of the stories that have brought us over, the hymns and spirituals and freedom songs our people sang. The Color Purple is such a hymn. Alice Walker is its composer. And Salamishah Tillet, our conductor, lines this hymn for us, beautifully, so that we might all show up, text in hand, and sing its chorus, in tribute to the genius, care, and love of Alice Walker.” -- Brittney Cooper * author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower *“This book is a stunning act of devotion, a literary and personal excavation of one of the great novels of American literature, The Color Purple. Salamishah Tillet deepens and refreshes our understanding of the novel, movie, and Broadway play, reminds us of the fraught history of the novel’s publication, shows us how it has moved and transformed generations, and reveals how the controversial issues of sex, race, and gender are still as relevant and controversial today as they were then. Salamishah has allowed this extraordinary work of fiction to guide and heal her life, and her book does the same for us.” -- Eve Ensler * author of The Vagina Monologues and The Apology *“The Color Purple is my all-time favorite film, hands down. The book is also one of my favorites, but watching the movie has particularly, over time, become a healing balm—almost a spiritual practice. Salamishah Tillet’s book is a beautiful tribute to The Color Purple, and a gift to those of us who are deeply connected to it. For others less tied to the stories of Celie, Shug, and Sofia, it is a history lesson and cautionary tale of what happens when a Black woman attempts to tell her truth publicly; something to be studied and learn from. This will be a necessary companion for all who engage with this story for years to come.” -- Tarana Burke * Founder of the Me Too movement *“One of my most cherished possessions is a copy of The Color Purple, signed by Alice Walker and dated October 22, 1991. In case of fire, I keep it near my family photos to make sure it is not left behind. In Search of The Color Purple delivers extraordinary insight into both the love and the struggle that made Ms. Walker’s exquisitely crafted novel a masterpiece. After reading Salamishah Tillet’s poignant book, neither readers nor writers will forget that it takes courage and audacity to write a novel that tells the reality of women’s lives.” -- Anita Hill“An enriching study for the novel’s many devoted readers.” * Kirkus *“Tillet comes to a deeper understanding of the novel, Walker, and herself in this revelatory and memorable blend of biography, autobiography, and insightful homage to a literary icon.” * Booklist *“Scholar and activist Salamishah Tillet has written the essential companion to Alice Walker’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple, exploring its controversies, triumphs, legacies and lessons.” * Ms. Magazine *“…Salamishah Tillet continues the decades-long tradition of Black women unearthing other Black women’s literature…In this continuous act of unearthing, Black women have helped each other breathe easier, see farther, and believe more deeply in the possibility of a world that cherishes their mundane, striking, broken, and full selves.” * VICE *“...a journey of uncovering and rediscovering how this beautiful tale was conceived, birthed, and has thrived for nearly four decades.” * Elle *“Tillet writes a necessary account of how Walker’s centering the lives of Black women has transformed literature. Accessibly written, this book will engage both longtime fans and those new to Walker’s writing.” * Library Journal *“Tillet’s passionate insights successfully imbue a classic novel with modern relevance.” * Publishers Weekly *“Tillet delves into the backstory of the novel, explores why Walker’s book continues to resonate, and explains how the literary work became a cultural phenomenon, all while masterfully weaving together personal, cultural, and historical conversations about the text…” * Garden & Gun *“This is a gripping and many-layered account of Walker’s life and her literary inspirations that continue to inspire subsequent generations and influencers, not least members of the #MeToo movement with its focus on addressing sexual and gender-based violence... an enthralling and emotional read.” * New York Journal of Books *

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Book SynopsisDylan Thomas''s classic account of his childhood Christmases, with full colour illustrations by Peter Bailey. The special gift edition for Thomas''s centenary now in paperback, with a beautiful gold-foiled cover.All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street...Dylan Thomas''s lyrical account of his childhood Christmases in a small Welsh town, featuring wolves, bears, hippos and Mrs Prothero''s cat, has become deservedly famous. This re-designed edition celebrates the centenary of his birth, and features full colour artwork from illustrator Peter Bailey. A beautiful gift edition of a classic work from one of Britain''s best-loved writers, this is the perfect Christmas present for young readers building their own childhood Christmas memories.Trade ReviewDylan Thomas's classic recollections of his own childhood, A Child's Christmas in Wales, has been republished with beautiful illustrations to mark the centenary of his birth. Perfect for reading aloud -- Sunday Express * Sunday Express *It is one of those books that a child will cling on to as they grow up and cherish for a lifetime to one day pass on to their own children. * THE BOOKBAG *It is one of those books that a child will cling on to as they grow up and cherish for a lifetime to one day pass on to their own children. * THE BOOKBAG *

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Book SynopsisFull of Forster''s renowned wit and perceptiveness, ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL offers a rare insight into the art of fiction from one of our greatest novelists.''His is a book to encourage dreaming.'' Virginia Woolf Forster pares down the novel to its essential elements as he sees them: story, people, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern and rhythm. He illustrates each aspect with examples from their greatest exponents, not hesitating as he does so to pass controversial judgement on the works of, among others, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and Henry James.Trade ReviewHis is a book to encourage dreaming. * Virginia Woolf *

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Book SynopsisNOMINATED FOR THE H.R.F. KEATING AWARD, 2022. My New Year's Eve Toast: to all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envies, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real, the army of memories, with which I do battle may they never give me peace' Patricia Highsmith (New Year's Eve, 1947). Made famous by the great success of her psychological thrillers, The Talented Mr Ripley and Strangers on a Train, Patricia Highsmith is renowned as one of the most influential and celebrated modern writers. However, there has never been a clear picture of the woman behind the books. The relationship between Highsmith's lesbianism, her fraught personality by parts self-destructive and malicious and her fiction, has been largely ignored by biographers in the past. As an openly homosexual writer, she wrote the seminal lesbian love story Carol for which she would be venerated, in modern times, as a radical exponent of the LGBTQ+ community. Alas, her status as an LGBTQ+ icon is underminedTrade ReviewThis book is as snappy as an alligator … those who wish to see Patricia Highsmith devoured will no doubt applaud it. * Mail on Sunday *What makes the present biography poignant, is that there’s no redemption for a life of restlessness, despair, and torturous, doomed affairs. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Serial biographer Richard Bradford has written a captivating biography that carves out its own space... Bradford entertainingly deduces aspects of her literary characters from Highsmith’s own experiences… His lucidity is evident, his research thorough and his writing always immensely readable. Anyone interested in Highsmith would enjoy this book... * The Sydney Morning Herald *Bradford’s comprehensive investigations into the devils, lusts and strange desires in the works and life of Patricia Highsmith inspire further reading of her masterpieces. * Out in Perth *Bradford writes in this engrossing biography, “an incomparable individual,” for she was—among other things—an alcoholic and an equal-opportunity hater (…) he gives careful attention to her individual books, praising some, criticizing others (“ponderous and fatiguing”). Though it breaks little new ground, the book is a happy mixture of biography and criticism. Near its end, Bradford, in judgment, refers to Highsmith's "execrable true self.” Readers will find it hard to disagree. * Booklist *Bradford’s caustic wit helps to make this shortish book an entertaining summary of Highsmith’s life. * Daily Express *In this centenary year of her birth, her satisfyingly ruthless biographer Richard Bradford sets out the essence of her character and lifestyle in four-and-a-half withering introductory pages, to whet (or perhaps stifle) our appetites. * Daily Mail *Tom Ripley, described by Richard Bradford as 'one of the most fascinating exercises in autobiographical fiction ever produced', is a fraudster, psychopath and murderer who remains remote from the suffering he causes and gets no evident pleasure from his achievements. The Ripliad, as the series is known, makes bleak and compulsive reading, and so too does Bradford's biography... Bradford is less concerned with making sense of Highsmith than with making sense of her novels, and in this he succeeds handsomely. * Oldie *The outrageous stories Professor Bradford chooses to tell about her have all been told before, by her previous biographers, but are well worth hearing again, like a much-loved album of greatest hits. * The Mail on Sunday *There have already been two significant biographies of Highsmith - Andrew Wilson's Beautiful Shadow (2003) and Joan Schenkar's The Talented Miss Ripley (2009). Bradford thus covers a lot of already familiar ground but benefits from producing a book in the centenary of Highsmith's birth as well as a more concise biography. * The Canberra Times *Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires is certainly an engrossing book. * The New Criterion *Bradford’s biography employs a more critical approach than previous studies on Highsmith. * The Dallas Morning News *Drawing on her lifelong diaries, Richard Bradford's biography is the first to closely examine the relationship between Highsmith's troubled life and her brilliant, daring fiction. [...] this well-researched book is a must for any fan of film noir or crime fiction. * The Lady *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. The Beginning 2. Barnard 3. Boarding the Train 4. Yaddo and Consequences 5. Carol 6. Ellen 7. Ripley 8. Marijane 9. ‘So Much in Love’ 10. Eccentricity 11. France 12. Animals and Us 13. ‘It’s Good You Never Had Children’ 14. Her Last Loves 15. ‘I’m Sick of the Jews!’ 16. Those Who Walk Away Primary Sources Suggested Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThis book introduces you clearly and succinctly to the ways in which feminist ideas have transformed the form and content of British women's fiction and non-fiction writing.

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Book SynopsisWritten from various critical standpoints by internationally renowned scholars, 'Scottish Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion' interrogates the ways in which the concepts of the Gothic and Scotland have intersected and been manipulated from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day.

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Book SynopsisThese comparative essays explore the shared terrain of these modernist women writers and shed new light on their 'curious & thrilling' literary relationship.

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Book SynopsisRe-examines Charles Dickens's under-recognised importance to nineteenth-century and contemporary understandings of the arts

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Book SynopsisThis book reads the highly descriptive impressionist writings of Hardy and Conrad together in the light of a shared attention to sight and sound.

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Book SynopsisThrough readings of an array of recent texts literary and popular, fictional and autofictional, realist and experimental this book maps out a contemporary, Western, shame culture.

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Book SynopsisThe most extensive and up-to-date volume of essays on the Gothic mode in twentieth century culture.

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Book SynopsisExplores the relationship between geography and David Foster Wallace's novelsTrade Review"Lucid and stylishly written, The Geographies of David Foster Wallace's Novels paints a rich and compelling picture of the spatial vistas that characterise Wallace's major fiction. Laurie McRae Andrew's study is theoretically rewarding, his readings are fine-grained and brilliant and his archival findings are impressive and full of surprises." -Adam Kelly, University College Dublin

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Book SynopsisFrom nineteenth-century American art and literature to comic books of the twentieth century and afterwards, Chad A. Barbour examines in From Daniel Boone to Captain America the transmission of the ideals and myths of the frontier and playing Indian in American culture. In the nineteenth century, American art and literature developed images of the Indian and the frontiersman that exemplified ideals of heroism, bravery, and manhood, as well as embodying fears of betrayal, loss of civilization, and weakness.In the twentieth century, comic books, among other popular forms of media, would inherit these images. The Western genre of comic books participated fully in the common conventions, replicating and perpetuating the myths and ideals long associated with the frontier in the United States. A fascination with Native Americans also emerged in comic books devoted to depicting the Indian past of the US In such stories, the Indian remains a figure of the past, romanticized as a lost

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Book SynopsisBest known for a trilogy of historical novels set in the fictional town of Gilead, Iowa, Marilynne Robinson is a prolific writer, teacher, and public speaker, who has won the Pulitzer Prize and was awarded the National Humanities Medal by Barack Obama. This collection intervenes in Robinson’s growing critical reputation, pointing to new and exciting links between the author, the historical settings of her novels, and the contemporary themes of her fictional, educational, and theoretical work. Introduced by a critical discussion from Professors Bridget Bennett, Sarah Churchwell, and Richard King, Marilynne Robinson features analysis from a range of international academics, and explores debates in race, gender, environment, critical theory, and more, to suggest new and innovative readings of her work.Table of ContentsIntroduction – Rachel Sykes, Jennifer Daly, and Anna Maguire ElliottRobinson in context: A critical discussion – Sarah Churchwell, Richard H. King, Bridget BennettWriting, form, and style1 ‘It might be better to burn them’: Archive fever and the Gilead novels of Marilynne Robinson – Daniel King2 ‘One day she would tell him what she knew’: Disturbance of the epistemological conventions of the marriage plot in Lila – Maria Elena Carpintero Torres-Quevedo3 Robinson’s triumphs of style – Jack BakerGender and environment4 The female orphan and an ecofeminist ethic-of-care in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and Lila – Anna Maguire Elliott5 Souls all unaccompanied: Enacting feminine alterity in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping – Makayla Steiner6 The domestic geographies of grief: Bereavement, time and home spaces in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and Home – Lucy ClarkeImagined histories: Race, religion, and rights7 Domesticating political feeling, affect and memory in Marilynne Robinson’s Home – Christopher Lloyd8 ‘Onward Christian liberals’: Marilynne Robinson’s essays and the crisis of mainline Protestantism – Alexander Engebretson9 Presence in absence: The spectre of race in Gilead and Home – Emily Hammerton-BarryRobinson and her contemporaries10 ‘Everything can change’: Civil rights, civil war and radical transformation in Home and Gilead – Tessa Roynon11 ‘A great admirer of American education’: Robinson as professor and defender of ‘America’s best idea’ – Steve Gronert Ellerhoff and Kathryn E. Engebretson12 Acknowledging a numinous ordinary: Marilynne Robinson and Stanley Cavell – Paul JennerEpilogue – ‘A little different every time’: Accumulation and repetition in Jack – Rachel Sykes

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first edited collection to focus on the work of contemporary author Hari Kunzru. It contains major new essays on each of his novels – The Impressionist, Transmission, My Revolutions, Gods Without Men, White Tears and Red Pill – as well as his short fiction and non-fiction writings. The collection situates Kunzru’s work within current debates regarding postmodernism, postcolonialism, and post-postmodernism, and examines how Kunzru’s work is central to major thematic concerns of contemporary writing including whiteness, national identity, Britishness, cosmopolitanism, music, space, memory, art practice, trauma, Brexit, immigration, covid-19, and populist politics. The book engages with current debates regarding the politics of publishing of ethnic writers, examining how Kunzru has managed to shape a career in resistance of narrow labelling where many other writers have struggled to achieve long-term recognition.Table of ContentsIntroduction: ‘Adding Up to an Unknown’: the elusive fictions of Hari Kunzru – Kristian Shaw and Sara Upstone1 ‘Walking into Whiteness’: The Impressionist and the routes of empire – Churnjeet Mahn2 ‘It was the revenge of the uncontrollable world’: Transmission and COVID-19’ – Lucienne Loh3 Turning the tide, or turning around in My Revolutions – Maëlle Jeanniard du Dot4 Subjectivity at its limits: fugitive community in Kunzru’s short stories – Peter Ely5 The fiction of every-era/no-era: Gods Without Men as ‘translit’ – Bran Nicol 6 ‘Eyes, ears, head, memory, heart’: transglossic rhythms in Memory Palace and Twice Upon a Time – Sara Upstone7 ‘The ghost is him’: the echoes of racism, non-being and haunting in White Tears – David Hering8 'Food for the wolves': the rise of the alt-right in Red Pill – Kristian Shaw9 ‘In the wake of all that’: a conversation with Hari Kunzru – Kristian ShawIndex

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Book SynopsisThese highly original essays illuminate Virginia Woolf and a selection of other twentieth-century writers and artists. Based on detailed research and presenting previously unpublished texts, pictures, and photographs, they are notable feats of scholarly detective work. Six of them focus on four pivotal members of the Bloomsbury Group – Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Clive Bell, and Roger Fry. Prominent ingredients of their story include art, writing, friendship, love, sex, mental illness, and Greek travel. The five ‘out of Bloomsbury’ essays are about the ‘new’ letters from the novelist Rose Macaulay to the Irish poet Katharine Tynan; the prodigious teenage talents of Dorothy L. Sayers; the remarkable story of Tolkien’s schoolmaster R. W. Reynolds; and the artist Tristram Hillier in Portugal. The collection creates a richly varied and entertaining picture of British culture in the first half of the twentieth century.Longlisted for the William M.B. Berger Prize for British Art History 2022Trade Review'Delightfully written essays packed with revelations.'Robin Simon, editor of The British Art Journal'A wealth of colourful new material.'Odin Dekkers, former editor of English Studies'Fascinating essays.'Mark Hussey, distinguished Bloomsbury scholar'Masterful.'The Times Literary Supplement'A delight from beginning to end.'English Studies'Both instructs and inspires.'Literature Cambridge -- .Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction 1 'New' Portraits by Roger Fry of Helen Fry and Vanessa Bell 2 A Complete Strip-off: A Bloomsbury Threesome in the Nude at Studland 3 Clive Bell’s Memoir of Annie Raven-Hill (co-written with Helen Walasek) 4 'Far the Best Holiday for Years': Virginia Woolf’s Second Visit to Greece 5 'Suicidal Mania' and Flawed Psychobiography: Two Discussions of Virginia Woolf 6 Virginia Woolf and 'the Hermaphrodite': A Feminist Fan of Orlando and Critic of Roger Fry 7 'I Am Afraid I Am not Irish': Letters from Rose Macaulay to Katharine Tynan 8 A Teenage Star: The Forgotten Contribution of Dorothy L. Sayers to a Pageant 9 'She Had Quite Unusual Gifts': Dorothy L. Sayers at School10 The Secret Love-Child of an American Civil War Commander: The Strange Story of Tolkien’s Schoolteacher11 'A land pre-eminently to inspire a painter': Tristram Hillier’s first visit to PortugalDetails of original publicationsIndex

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Book SynopsisCharles Dickens called his sister-in-law Georgina Hogarth his ‘best and truest friend’. Georgina saw Dickens as much more than a friend. They lived together for twenty-eight years, during which time their relationship constantly changed. The sister of his wife Catherine, the sharp and witty Georgina moved into the Dickens home aged fifteen. What began as a father–daughter relationship blossomed into a genuine rapport, but their easy relations were fractured when Dickens had a mid-life crisis and determined to rid himself of Catherine. Georgina’s refusal to leave Dickens and his desire for her to remain in his household led to rumours of an affair and even illegitimate children. He left her the equivalent of almost £1 million and all his personal papers in his will. Georgina’s commitment to Dickens was unwavering but it is far from clear what he did to deserve such loyalty. There were several occasions when he misused her in order to protect his public reputation.Why did Georgina betray her once much-loved sister? Why did she fall out with her family and risk her reputation in order to stay with Dickens? And why did the Dickenses’ daughter Katey say it was ‘the greatest mistake ever’ to invite a sister-in-law to live with a family?Trade Review'Essential for anyone interested in Charles Dickens’s personal life. Christine Skelton’s thoroughly researched and brilliantly written book fills in a missing piece of the jigsaw. It makes for enthralling reading.' Jenny Hartley, author of Charles Dickens and the house of fallen women and Charles Dickens: A very short introduction'Georgina Hogarth has been given a voice at last! Christine Skelton has done an admirable job of bringing ‘aunty Georgy” out of the shadow of her celebrity brother-in-law. This is an engaging biography that takes the reader into the heart of one of Victorian Britain’s most famous homes.' Lucinda Hawksley, author, biographer, and great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens'A major, and much-needed, contribution to our knowledge and understanding of both the private and the professional life of our greatest novelist.' Professor Michael Slater, author of The Great Charles Dickens Scandal and Dickens and Women -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 The Hogarths and Dickens become in-laws 2 Friends and flirting (1836–42)3 Dickens and his ‘little Pet’ (1842–7)4 A ‘lively young damsel’ (1848–51)5 Dickens’s mid-life crisis (1852–7) 6 Loyalty and disloyalty (1857–8)7 ‘Poor Miss Hogarth’ (1858–63)8 ‘His own decision will be the best’ (1864–70)9 ‘A hard, hard trial’ (1870–1917) 10 AftermathIndex

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Book SynopsisLuminous presence: Derek Jarman's life-writing is the first book to analyse the prolific writing of queer icon Derek Jarman. Although he is well known for his avant-garde filmmaking, his garden, and his AIDS activism, he is also the author of over a dozen books, many of which are autobiographical. Much of Jarman's exploration of post-war queer identity and imaginative response to HIV/AIDS can be found in his books, such as the lyrical AIDS diaries Modern Nature and Smiling in Slow Motion. This book fully explores, for the first time, the remarkable range and depth of Jarman’s writing. Spanning his career, Alexandra Parsons argues that Jarman’s self-reflexive response to the HIV/AIDS crisis was critical in changing the cultural terms of queer representation from the 1980s onwards. Luminous presence is of great interest to students, scholars and readers of queer histories in literature, art and film.Trade Review'In this engrossing collection of essays, Parsons captures well Jarman’s frenetically creative impulses...'Choice(Reprinted with permission from Choice Reviews. All rights reserved. Copyright by the American Library Association) -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 'The porter into forgotten landscapes': A finger in the fishes mouth2 Dancing Ledge: 'An autobiography at forty'3 Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio: 'Reading between the lines of history'4 Becoming Pasolini: Derek Jarman in Ostia5 Kicking the Pricks: 'Forward into an uncertain future...'6 Self-Projection in film: The Last of England and The Garden7 Modern Nature: Haunting, flowers and personal mythologies8 Queer Edward II: 'Are you a closet bigot?'9 At Your Own Risk: A Saint's Testament10 Smiling in Slow Motion: Testimony and elegy11 'A kind of bliss': Blue and Chroma12 Derek Jarman’s Garden: A therapy and a pharmacopoeiaConclusion: 'The past is the mirror'BibliographyFilmographyIndex

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Book SynopsisDrawing on the recent ontological turn in critical theory, Spectral Dickens explores an aspect of literary character that is neither real nor fictional, but spectral. This work thus provides an in-depth study of the inimitable characters populating Dickens’ illustrated novels using three hauntological concepts: the Freudian uncanny, Derridean spectrality, and the Lacanian real. Thus, while the current discourse on character studies, which revolves around values like realism, depth, and lifelikeness, tends to see characters as mimetic of persons, this book invents new critical concepts to account for non-mimetic forms of characterization. These spectral forms bring to light the important influence of developments in nineteenth-century visual culture, such as the lithography and caricature of Daumier and J.J. Grandville. The spectrality of novelistic characters developed here paves the way for a new understanding of fictional characters in general.Trade Review'Drawing on graphic traditions of the era, the author describes how Dickens developed objects like dolls and effigies to reinforce meanings beyond the literal. Bove is interested in visual and narrative techniques that move beyond the limits of mimesis.'CHOICE(Reprinted with permission from Choice Reviews. All rights reserved. Copyright by the American Library Association.)Spectral Dickens will be of immense interest to those seeking to understand Dickens's enduring appeal for readers and critics alike, especially those with an interest in psychoanalysis and the literary critical paradigms it can enable.' The Dickensian'Bove has produced both a work that expands the ways we think about character, and a sustained demonstration of the continuing value of Lacanian thought for literary analysis.'BAVS newsletterThis is an exciting read for those of us long troubled by the old adage that Dickens is a “failed realist” who does not create convincing characters... a creative and original set of readings of how Dickens’s charactersare so powerful.'Dickens Quarterly -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: An uncanny ontology of characterisationPart I Spectral mimesis: portraits, caricature, and character1 Mimesis’s ghosts: caricature and anamorphosis2 Spectral character: dreams, distortion, and the (cut of the) realPart II “Moor eeffocish things”: effigy and the bourgeoisie3 Where “the specular becomes the spectral” in The Old Curiosity Shop and Dombey and Son4 Imagos, dolls, and other gazing effigies in Bleak HousePart III Beyond the realism principle: spectral materiality5 Dream as spectral form in Bleak House and the comic surplus of Micawber in David Copperfield6 The “As if” hauntology of Little Dorrit and the uncanny dream of the three fathersBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisVERY few authors can ever dream of coming close to the legacy left by AA Milne. He remains a household name in almost every corner of the globe thanks to a phenomenally popular collection of whimsical children s stories about a boy named Christopher Robin and his beloved teddy bear. Generations of children have grown up loving the tales of Winnie The Pooh and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood, which are still among the most popular and profitable - fictional characters in the world. But while the adorable poems and stories have brought unparalleled joy to millions, Alan Alexander Milne, himself was never able to enjoy the fame and fortune they brought him. He died deeply resenting Pooh s success, as far as he was concerned those stories were just such a tiny fraction of his literary work, but nothing else he produced came close in terms of public appreciation. Milne died still unable to reconcile the fact that no matter what else he wrote, regardless of all the plays and stories for adults he had published, he would always be remembered as a children s storyteller. And his son, widely hailed as the inspiration for the adorable character of Christopher Robin, could never accept his unique place in literary history either. He had barely reached his teens before he grew to loathe his famous father, who he bitterly accused of exploiting his early years. _The Extraordinary Life of AA Milne_ delves deep into the life of Milne and sheds light on new places, and tells stories untold.

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Book SynopsisEliza de Feuillide seemed fascinating and outlandish to her cousins in rural eighteen century England. When she visited their village, her appearance was electrifying. She was an attractive, accomplished French countess with a vivacious personality who inspired their imaginations and regaled them with stories of life in London and Paris where she hobnobbed with French nobility and wore the latest fashions. One of these impressionable younger cousins would find Eliza's stories so fascinating that she would incorporate elements of Eliza's life into some of the most famous novels in English literature. This cousin was Jane Austen. Yet Eliza's life was not as glamorous as Jane or her Austen cousins might have thought. She faced many tragedies in her life that wealth and social class could not protect her against. She was also forced to adapt and re-examine her priorities in a way that would dramatically change her life choices and result in a more sedate lifestyle. Read about the perseverance and courage of the real person behind several fictional characters in Jane Austen's writings and novels and the deeper connection Eliza had to the Austen family.

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Book SynopsisThe selected essays of James Wood - our greatest living literary critic and author of How Fiction Works'James Wood is a close reader of genius... By turns luscious and muscular, committed and disdaining, passionate and minutely considered' John BanvilleJames Wood is one of the leading critics of the age, and here, for the first time, are his selected essays. From the career-defining 'Hysterical Realism' to his more personal reflections on family, religion and sensibility, Serious Noticing offers a comprehensive overview of his writing over the last twenty years. These essays offer more than a viewpoint - they show how to bring the eye of critical reading to life as a whole.'James Wood is one of literature’s true lovers, and his deeply felt, contentious essays are thrilling in their reach and moral seriousness' Susan SontagTrade ReviewIn the unspooling sentences and paragraphs of the many fine and often seriously dandy essays that follow in this collection . . . Wood shows himself a maestro of tone and inflection. His sustained close attention as he interrogates the writers he loves is genuinely something to behold -- Tim Adams * Observer *The two voices mingling in this collection give a beautiful, moving sense of the stakes of criticism as Wood has practiced it, vigorously, without interruption for 30 years... No modern critic has exerted comparable influence in how we read . . . Wood writes as if enmeshed in the text itself; registering shifts in point of view and perspective with seismographic precision -- Parul Sehgal * The New York Times Book Review *James Wood is one of literature’s true lovers, and his deeply felt, contentious essays are thrilling in their reach and moral seriousness -- Susan SontagLike all good critics, James Wood is a story-teller of the art of reading, recreating the experience on the page for us’ -- Francis SpuffordCritics like James Wood not only help readers to read but especially, perhaps, help the author as well -- Elena FerranteJames Wood is a close reader of genius... By turns luscious and muscular, committed and disdaining, passionate and minutely considered -- John BanvilleThe most urgent and morally demanding critic around -- GuardianAn authentic literary critic, very rare in this bad time… Wood is always urgent, lucid, and interesting -- Harold BloomWood writes more incisively than almost anyone producing criticism today. His ability to transform complex, anxious thought into lucid, exciting prose is everywhere present -- Janet MalcolmJames Wood has been called our best young critic. This is not true. He is our best critic; he thinks with a sublime ferocity… To enter Wood’s mind is to cross a threshold: from the reviewer commonplaces that pass for essay-writing into the intellectual daring that portends literary permanence -- Cynthia Ozick

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Book SynopsisIn a career spanning six decades, David Lodge has been one of Britain's best-loved and most versatile writers. With Varying Degrees of Success he completes a trilogy of memoirs which describe his life from birth in 1935 to the present day, and together form a remarkable autobiography. He describes the highs and lows of being a professional creative writer in several different genres, his extensive travels around the world, and the hope and desire of writers to make a significant and positive impression on their readers and audiences. Varying Degrees of Success provides the reader with a privileged insight into the working practices and the creative life of a major British novelist.'Continuously engaging... Glimpses of the ambition and energy required to fuel the final stretch of his near 60-year career as the most dependable of novelist-critics' New Statesman'Lodge is the best British novelist never to have won the Man Booker prize' The TimesTrade ReviewLodge is the best British novelist never to have won the Man Booker prize * The Times *One of the leading writers of his generation * Guardian *As an account of the period, Varying Degrees of Success is continuously engaging... glimpses of the ambition and energy required to fuel the final stretch of his near 60-year career as the most dependable of novelist-critics. * New Statesman *

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Book Synopsis'Making Darkness Light is an illumination' Adam Phillips'His sympathetic yet challenging account will undoubtedly win Milton new readers - and for that a chorus of Hallelujahs' SpectatorFor most of us John Milton has been consigned to the dusty pantheon of English literature, a grim puritan, sightlessly dictating his great work to an amanuensis, removed from the real world in his contemplation of higher things. But dig a little deeper and you find an extraordinary and complicated human being.Revolutionary 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.Making Darkness Light shows 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 Paradise Lost. 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.This is a book about Milton, that also speaks to why 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.Trade ReviewMaking 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 GirlJoe 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 BooksMoshenska 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, Making Darkness Light is 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 FreudJoe 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 -- A.N. Wilson, SpectatorStrikingly original . . . a poetic tour of 17th-century England . . . Literature lovers of all sorts will find something to savor here -- Publishers WeeklyOxford 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 -- KirkusMaking Darkness Light is 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 TimesJoe 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 TimesTantalisingly different and new...an extraordinary, seductive work of intellectual imagination -- Financial TimesMoshenska . . . 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 TimesMaking Darkness Light is not a conventional biography . . . despite the ambitious and demanding nature of his project, Moshenska writes with humility and agility -- Literary ReviewOf 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. Making Darkness Light includes 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 Making Darkness Light is richer for his presence throughout the book -- Jessie Gaynor, Lit Hub Senior EditorMoshenska knows his way around Milton's world... Making Darkness Light 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

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE QWF MAVIS GALLANT PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONTHE GLOBE 100: THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022From LAMBDA Literary Award winner Sina Queyras, Rooms offers a peek into the defining spaces a young queer writer moved through as they found their way from a life of chaos to a life of the mind Thirty years ago, a professor threw a chair at Sina Queyras after they’d turned in an essay on Virginia Woolf. Queyras returns to that contentious first encounter with Virginia Woolf to recover the body and thinking of that time. Using Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own as a touchstone, this book is both an homage to and provocation of the idea of a room of one’s own at the centre of our idea of a literary life. How central is the room? And what happens once we get one? Do we inhabit our rooms? Or do the rooms contain us? Blending memoir, prose, tweets, poetry, and criticism, Rooms offers a peek into the defining spaces a young queer writer moved through as they found their way from a life of chaos to a life of the mind, and from a very private life of the mind to a public life of the page, and from a life of the page into a life in the Academy, the Internet, and on social media."With Virginia Woolf alongside them, Queyras journeys through rooms literal and figurative, complicating and deepening our understanding of what it means to create space for oneself as a writer. Their hard-won language challenges us to resist any glib associations of Woolf’s famous ‘room’ with an easy freedom. Inspiring and moving, Queyras’s memoir testifies to Woolf’s continuing generative power."—Mark Hussey, editor of Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts (2011) and author of Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism (2021)"In this beautiful, perceptive book, Sina Queyras moves deftly between the words and wake of Virginia Woolf and their own formation as writer, lover, teacher, friend, and person. Rooms is expert in its depiction of personal and literary histories, and firmly aware of its moment of composition. Reading these pages, I was enticed by Queyras’s curiosity and openness, thrilled by the sharp edges of their anger. Tight prose, electric thinking, self-discovery – it’s all here, all abuzz. Rooms is alive." – Heather Christle, author of The Crying Book"It is impossible not to question the world as we thought we knew it by the end of this book. Sina Queyras painstakingly aims their extraordinary nerve and talent at Virginia Woolf’s idea of a room of one’s own: 'It’s a mistake to consider the room without all of its entanglements.' Taking Woolf’s cue, Queyras explores writing that is not world-building but something far more generous and transformative; as Woolf wrote, 'Literature is open to everybody.'" – CAConrad, author of AMANDA PARADISE: Resurrect Extinct Vibration Trade Review"Using Virginia Woolf’s 'A Room of One’s Own' as a touchstone text, this book blends memoir, poetry and criticism to offer a glimpse into the formative spaces that Queyras navigated on the way to life as a queer writer in the public eye." – The New York Times"Queyras’ Rooms suggests that, in a world where creative expression is mediated by material constraints, what many writers are actually after is the right amount of noise and silence, care without confinement: “somewhere between retreat and community, there is space.”' – Aishwarya Singh, Montreal Review of Books

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Book SynopsisJ.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy is not only a seemingly inexhaustible source of wonder and excitement, it is also a profound tale, relevant to our times and to the vital question: what is it to be a human being? Why have these books proved so captivating since their publication, discovered anew by each generation? Is there a deeper aspect to the stories that speaks directly to something within us?Many scholars and commentators have asked these or similar questions, delving into his unique use of language, his deep knowledge of the aesthetics of story within the heritage of mythic storytelling, and his ability to weave together myriad themes. However, few if any have approached the deeper aspects of Tolkien's work with the spiritual esoteric insights of Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy as their basis. Mark McGivern adopts this approach while also building upon the work of Tolkien scholars such as Verlyn Flieger.This is an illuminating guidebook to the forms and depths of Tolkien's master work.

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Book SynopsisJack Kerouac was one of America's great writers of the latter half of the 20th century, yet he endured a life characterized by persistent hardship and disillusion. Leading Kerouac scholar Paul Maher Jr. targets the writer's embattled insight of self as central to his life and work. He reveals how Kerouac's troubled interactions with alcohol, drugs, and spirituality stamped its importance on his autobiographical prose and poetry and created a singular language that united thoughts on the human condition and spiritual liberation. Becoming Kerouac: A Writer In His Time affixes Kerouac's life and art in a fresh way, giving readers a rich perspective from which to understand this 20th-century literary genius.Using unpublished archival material, Becoming Kerouac focuses on the writer's critical formative years ––1940 to 1957–– to demonstrate his growth as a novelist and poet. Maher contends that Kerouac developed his singular language to capture human consciousness as it never had before. His futilities catapulted American literature to reflect its restless post-World War II anxieties. Narrating the events that comprised Kerouac's life, biographers have long struggled to illustrate his complexness and the contradictions that shaped his determinations and dogged his relationships. But without consideration of the writing, the troubles in life fail to reveal their deeper resonances by skillfully analyzing the work while tracing the events. Maher achieves a full portrait, revealing struggles that problematize his work. Becoming Kerouac fuses Kerouac's life and art to comprehend this misunderstood literary genius.

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Book SynopsisThe amount of fan-generated content about Jane Austen and her novels has long surpassed the author's original canon. Adaptations like Clueless, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen's Fight Club, and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries have given Austen fans priceless opportunities to enjoy the classic texts anew, and continue to bring new and younger fans into the fold. Now, through online culture, the amount and type of fan-created works has exponentially multiplied in recent years. Fans write stories, create art, make videos, and craft memes, all in homage to one of the most celebrated authors of all time.This book explores online fan spaces in search of “Janeites” all over the world to discover what fans are making, how fans are sharing their work, and why it matters that so many women and nonbinary individuals find a haven not only in Jane Austen, but also in Jane Austen fandom. In relatable chapters based on firsthand experience, the authors explore how Austen fandom has and continues to build communities around women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. Whether Janeites are shrewdly picking up on the latent sexual tension between women in Emma or casting people of color in leading roles, Luetkenhaus and Weinstein argue that Austen fans are particularly adept at marrying fantasy and feminism.

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Book SynopsisAn illuminating study of an award-winning writer who captured the complex challenges twentieth-century women faced in their struggle for independence.In Understanding Alice Adams, Bryant Mangum examines the thematic intricacies and astute social commentary of Adams’s eleven novels and five short story collections. Throughout her career Adams was known for creating and re-creating the “Alice Adams woman,” who is bright, honest, attractive, thoughtful—and sometimes a bit offbeat. As Mangum notes, Adams’s central characters—her heroes—are most often women struggling toward self-sufficiency and independence as they strive to fulfill their responsibilities, including child rearing and other societal commitments.After an overview of Adams’s life (1926– 1999), Mangum groups the novels and stories by the decades in which they were published, since shifts in the thematic arc of Adams’s fiction break conveniently along those lines. He explains how Adams used the novel as an extended workshop for her short fiction. Her novels cover wide swaths of the American experience, and from these sweeping narratives she distilled her sharp, lyrical, vibrant short stories, which earned her 23 O. Henry Awards—including six first-place recognitions and a lifetime achievement award—an honor shared with only Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, and Alice Munro.In this study Mangum explores how Adams treats love, family, work, friendship, and nostalgia. He identifies hope as a thread that links all her main characters, despite how accurately she had anticipated the complexities and challenges that accompanied increased freedom for women in the later twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisThe ugly side of superheroesWhat if you suddenly had superpowers? What would you do? How would your friends and family react? What would your obligations to society be?The superheroes’ first missions— combating terrorists or rescuing disaster victims— are a boon to France. Yet while these actions bring the country pride, unity quickly starts to unravel. These superheroes, ultimately, are human. Paparazzi are everywhere. One has an affair with another’s wife. Another questions following the government’s imperialist agenda. Meanwhile the public carps on social media. Molia takes our fascination with superheroes and adds a cutting portrayal of contemporary social mores to create an entertaining and disturbing work with deep dystopian underpinnings.

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Book SynopsisFirst English translations of two early feminist short-story collections, shedding light on the "woman question" at the turn of the 20th century and relating to today's #MeToo movement. This edition provides the first English translations of two short-story collections - Is That Love? (1896) and Innocence: A Modern Book for Girls (1901) - by the Austrian writer Elsa Asenijeff (1867-1941). Primarily remembered as the lover and muse of sculptor and painter Max Klinger, in her time Asenijeff was a widely read author. Both books engage with "the woman question" at the turn of the twentieth century: Asenijeff thematizes the lack of education and professional opportunities for women and girls, critiques the bourgeois family as a site of patriarchal power, and sheds light on systemic sexual violence. Is That Love?, in particular, dismantles dominant narratives of romantic love and marriage. Written while Asenijeff was living in Bulgaria, and set there, the text also engages with that country's political turmoil. In Innocence, Asenijeff relies on some of the traditional characteristics of Mädchenliteratur, educational literature for girls, but also subverts its conventions. In their introduction, the translators explicate the sociohistorical background of both texts, arguing for Asenijeff's importance in the history of women's writing in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century German-speaking world and placing her within the larger context of the contemporary global #MeToo movement.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Is that Love? Short Psychological Tales and Observations Love: A Story from Bulgaria She The Governess: Story from Bulgaria Misery: Episodes from Women's Lives I II III IV The Riddle The Fly Raïna Karadjova The Vow Two Moderners What? Innocence: A Modern Book for Girls Introduction Secrets Darkness of the Metropolis Girls' Gossip Marriage At the Folksingers' Alone The Three Sisters Tatjana Lora's Housekeeping Week Mother's Telling a Story! (Two Fairy Tales) Aunt Jola On the Forest Path What Girls Are Not Supposed to Know Girl and Woman (A Chat) Small Child A Fairy Tale School Friends And So Shall We Be Sanctified

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Book SynopsisBreaking Free from Death examines how Russian writers respond to the burden of living with anxieties about their creative outputs, and, ultimately, about their own inevitable finitude. What contributes to creative death are not just crippling diseases that make man defenseless in the face of death, and not just the arguably universal fear of death but, equally important, the innumerable impositions on the part of various outsiders. Many conflicts in the lives of Rylkova's subjects arose not from their opposition to the existing political regimes but from their interactions with like-minded and supporting intellectuals, friends, and relatives. The book describes the lives and choices that concrete individuals and—by extrapolation—their literary characters must face in order to preserve their singularity and integrity while attempting to achieve fame, greatness, and success.Trade Review"Rylkova’s meticulous study is full of original insights and new interpretations of famous literary works, delivered in a lucid and accessible writing style, with numerous references to primary sources; it is a joy to read. Furthermore, she supplies her readers with a clear road map throughout the book, explaining her next steps and intentions at every turn." - Russian ReviewTable of Contents Acknowledgements Prologue: Breaking Free from Death Part One: Beginnings and Endings 1. Leo Tolstoy and the Privilege of Formidable Hypochondria 2. In Chertkov's Grip 3. Uncle Vanya: The Drama of Sustainability 4. "Homo Sachaliensis": Chekhov's "Character" as a Strategy 5. The Steppe as a Story of Humble and Spectacular Beginnings Part Two: Transcending Death 6. Reading Chekhov through Meyerhold's Eyes 7. Living with Tolstoy and Dying with Chekhov: Ivan Bunin's Liberation of Tolstoy (1937) and About Chekhov (1953) as Two Modes of Auto/Biographical Writing 8. "There is a way out": The Cherry Orchard in the Twenty-First Century 9. A Boring Story: Chekhov's Trip to Germany in 1904 Epilogue: Oyster Fever: Chekhov and Turgenev Index

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Book SynopsisCompanion to Victor Pelevin, a collaborative undertaking by a group of emerging Russianist scholars, focuses on the work of one of the most important and hotly debated post-Soviet writers. It provides a valuable resource to scholars, teachers, and students, including how best to teach Pelevin to university-level students, and which critical debates invite further investigation. The contributors offer new readings of Pelevin texts that cover a broad time span and pay due attention to the philosophical and aesthetic complexities of Pelevin’s oeuvre in its development from the early post-Soviet years to the second decade of the present millennium. Examining all of Pelevin’s major works and all Peleviniana currently available in English, the Companion aims to prompt further inquiry into this author’s intellectually stimulating and socially prescient work.Trade Review“Khagi’s project is intertextual, elucidating both Pelevin’s highly self-referential writing and its relation to Russian literature as a whole. Her holistic approach to Pelevin’s fiction is demonstrated by the extensive footnotes outlining literary theories and politics, and linking to multiple Russian authors, elevating the Companion from a sourcebook on ‘Peleviniana’ to a masterclass in post-Soviet literature. … This concern with intertextuality is embedded within each of the eight essays here, allowing Khagi’s Companion to offer Anglophone readers an invaluable map of the contemporary literary world that Pelevin both creates and critiques.”— Sarah Gear, University of Exeter, Modern Language Review (April 2023: Vol. 118, No. 2)“This companion to Pelevin’s work has two major benefits. It offers some usefully workmanlike analyses of his early texts, with handy plot synopses, some general contextualization and thematically engaging discussions. The Companion also offers some introduction to common critical approaches to the writer. The writing is accessible and succinct (if often rather descriptive), and the illustrations a pleasant touch. … [O]verall this is an excellent, balanced and carefully neutral… study that collects everything the Pelevin initiate needs to begin appreciating his work.”— Sally Dalton-Brown, University of Melbourne, Slavonic and East European Review 100, no. 3 (July 2022)“The new collection is thoughtfully crafted for a specific audience, namely US and European nonspecialists looking to teach Pelevin at the university level. The chapters… treat all the author’s major works, particularly those translated into English, but they also draw in less-known compositions and avoid going into the weeds on topics more relevant to Russianists. … In sum, the Companion’s scope is simultaneously expansive and tightly focused, and it models effective ways to approach Pelevin in the classroom. … Highly recommended.”— B. J, Nieubuurt, University of Michigan, CHOICE (December 2022: Vol. 60, No. 4)“The Companion to Victor Pelevin is a collaborative undertaking by current and recent graduate students from American universities and serves scholarly and pedagogical objectives… Some contributions, like Sofya Khagi’s and Alexander McConell’s, are innovative and explore new avenues in research about Pelevin…”— Clemens Günther, Freie Universität Berlin, Zeitschrift für Slavische Philologie 78.2Table of ContentsIntroduction Victor Pelevin: Life, Works, Critical DebatesSofya Khagi, University of MichiganPart One: The Post-Soviet1. The Early Years: Post-Soviet with a Capital “S”Michael Martin, University of MichiganPart Two: Space, Time, History2. Space-Time Poetics in Chapaev and the VoidSofya Khagi, University of Michigan3. Parody of Past and Present in Chapaev and the VoidChristopher Fort, University of Michigan4. Masking the Void, Voiding the Mask: Viktor Pelevin and the Performance of HistoryAlexander McConnell, University of MichiganPart Three: Simulation and Mind Control5. “The Battle for Your Mind”: Transformation of Western Social Theory in Generation ‘П’Dylan Ogden, University of Michigan6. Totalitarian Literature in Generation ‘П’Meghan Vicks, University of Colorado, BoulderPart Four: Metamorphosis and Utopia7. Transformative Reading for Tailless Monkeys: Metamorphoses in The Sacred Book of the WerewolfGrace Mahoney, University of Michigan8. The Mythic and the Utopian: Visions of the Future through the Lens of Victor Pelevin’s S.N.U.F.F. and Love for Three ZuckerbrinsTheodore Trotman, University of ChicagoAppendixSelect Publications by Victor Pelevin in Russian and English

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Book SynopsisThe focus of this study in comparative criticism is close analysis of Dostoevsky’s first literary publication—his 1844 translation of the first edition of Balzac’s Eugе́nie Grandet (1834)—and the stylistic choices that he made as a young writer while working on Balzac’s novel. Through the prism of close reading, the author analyzes Dostoevsky’s literary debut in the context of his future mature aesthetic style and poetics. Comparing the original and the translation side by side, this book focuses on the omissions, additions and substitutions that Dostoevsky brought into the text. It demonstrates how young Dostoevsky’s free translation of Eugénie Grandet predicts the creation of his own literary characters, themes, and other aspects of his literary output that are now recognized as Dostoevsky’s signature style. It investigates the changes that Dostoevsky made while working on Balzac’s text and analyzes the complex transplantation of Balzac’s imagery, motifs, and character portraiture from Eugénie Grandet into Dostoevsky’s own writing later on.Trade Review“Titus’s scrupulous examination of Dostoevskii’s ‘free’ translation reveals a pattern of departures from Balzac’s original that allow her to argue that these were intentional choices reflective of the translator’s fledgling poetics. … Titus’s study offers an illuminating account of an important moment in Dostoevskii’s creative career and sheds further light on the larger question of, to quote Priscilla Meyer, ‘how the Russians read the French.’”— Anna Schur, Keene State College, Slavic Review“Julia Titus argues that Dostoevsky’s first published work, his ‘free translation’ of Balzac’s Eugénie Grandet… ought to be considered among his literary texts. Repeatedly straying from Balzac’s original, Dostoevsky offered Russian readers a narrative that contains many of the themes that later became central in his own literary work. Titus selects three topical and engaging examples in the chapters that constitute the body of her book: female characters, the material world, and money. … [T]his accessible book will appeal to students interested in translation studies, in Dostoevsky’s rapport with Balzac, and in the recurrence in Dostoevsky’s oeuvre of the specific themes outlined here. … Her book will lead readers of Dostoevsky to Balzac (not only to Eugénie Grandet, but also to Le Père Goriot and other texts) and back to read Dostoevsky with a new awareness of some of the first choices that he made in articulating his favorite themes.”— Sara Dickinson, Dostoevsky Studies (2022: Vol. 25)“In Dostoevsky as a Translator of Balzac, Julia Titus revisits Dostoevskii’s free translation of Eugénie Grandet from a more positive angle. In Dostoevskii’s rewriting of Balzac’s novel she reads the emergence of the Russian author’s own voice. In the first place, she considers the stylistic decisions Dostoevskii made in the interests of rendering the book accessible to a Russian reading public: substituting Russian equivalents for unfamiliar French objects and terms or simply eliminating such details. In the discrepancies between the French original and the Russian translation – as well as in the similarities – Titus further reads indices of Dostoevskian themes and preoccupations that would reappear in the author’s subsequent novels. … Throughout this short book Titus provides insightful commentaries on Dostoevskii’s translations of and indebtedness to Balzac’s original text.”— Sima Godfrey, University of British Columbia, Canadian Slavonic Papers"A free translation or a complete rewrite? Readers of Dostoevsky’s literary debut – his rendering, in 1844, of the first edition of Balzac’s Eugénie Grandet – have often wondered. As Julia Titus suggests, Dostoevsky may have felt emboldened by a tradition in which Russian versions of European poetry sometimes eclipsed their originals… Titus has serious points to make... Titus’s judgements on why Dostoevsky made various alterations are insightful, if at times overly categorical; the extensive quotations she provides, however, allow the reader to draw their own conclusions… As Titus also reveals, the twenty-two-year-old Dostoevsky made a good fist of some difficult passages, despite a lack of dictionaries and reference works. He coped well with ‘various historical coins, their design elements, and other specifics’, adding affectionate and, as time would prove, entirely characteristic suffixes in order to bring M. Grandet’s sensuous love for lucre alive. Young Dostoevsky considered his translation ‘incomparable’ (bespodobnyi). Strictly speaking, he was right.”— Oliver Ready, The Times Literary Supplement“At last, a comprehensive exploration of Dostoevsky's first published work, a translation of Balzac's novel Eugénie Grandet, and of its relationship to the Russian author's original writing! Julia Titus's detailed and insightful study makes a compelling argument for translation's constitutive role in the author's creative process and represents an important step toward the full integration of translation into literary studies.”— Brian James Baer, author of Translation and the Making of Russian Literature“It is little known that Dostoevsky began his literary career as a translator. His first published book, a Russian translation of Balzac’s novel Eugénie Grandet, was later superseded by more literal versions. Julia Titus’s meticulous juxtaposition of Balzac’s French original and Dostoevsky’s “free” translation demonstrates how the Russian novelist used strategic deviations from the source text to incorporate Balzac into his own fictional universe. As Titus’s fascinating study shows, Dostoevsky’s appropriations of Balzac’s characters, depictions of the material world, and obsession with the allure of money reverberate through his entire novelistic oeuvre. At the same time, Titus highlights how Dostoevsky distanced himself from Balzac by translating him. This book will be of interest to scholars of Russian and French literature as well as anyone concerned with translation as creative appropriation.”— Adrian Wanner, Liberal Arts Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature, The Pennsylvania State UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction Reflections of Eugénie in Dostoevsky’s Female Characters The Material World in Balzac’s Eugénie Grandet and in Dostoevsky’s Texts The Theme of Money in Eugénie Grandet and Dostoevsky’s Texts ConclusionBibliography

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Book SynopsisAfter more than a century of genocides and in the midst of a global pandemic, this book focuses on the critique of biopolitics (the government of life through individuals and the general population) and the counterdevelopment of biopoetics (an aesthetics of life elaborating a self as a practice of freedom) realized in texts by Virginia Woolf, Michel Foucault, and Michael Ondaatje. Their world fiction produces transhistorical, transnational experiences offered to the reader for collective responsibility in these critical times. Their books function as heterotopias: spaces and processes that recall and confront regimes of recognized truths to dismantle fixed identities and actualize possibilities for becoming other. Higgins and Leps define and explore a slant, biopoetic perspective that is feminist, materialist, anti-racist, and anti-war.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations List of Figures Introduction: Heterotopic World FictionPart One. Biopolitics: Technologies of the Individual Correlating Knowledge and Power Relations: The Birth of BiopoliticsDiscipline and Punish: Discerning the Dangerous Mrs. Dalloway: A Dangerous DayIn the Skin of a Lion: Dangerous Yearnings Part Two. Biopoetics: Technologies of the Worldly SelfFrom Biopolitics to BiopoeticsConceptsParrhēsia: Dangerous Truth Telling Bios/Logos: Living Truth Askēsis: The Art of Elaborating the Self as a Practice of FreedomExperience-Books: Altering Truths Heterotopic Methods Method 1—Disposing/Transposing the Archive: Criminal Vanishing Acts Moi, Pierre Rivière, ayant égorgé ma mère, ma soeur, et mon frère . . .The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems Flush: A Biography Method 2—Distracting/Transacting Genealogy: Reading for One’s Life Between the ActsThe English PatientThe History of Sexuality, vol. 1Method 3—Dislocating/Transiting Strategics: Reading Biopoetic AssemblagesFoucault 1: The History of Sexuality, vols. 2, 3, 4Foucault 2: Answering Questions Woolf 1: “. . . very little persuaded of the truth of anything”Woolf 2: OrlandoWoolf 3: The WavesOndaatje 1:“[W]e can’t rely on only one voice”Ondaatje 2: WarlightOndaatje 3: Running in the FamilyOndaatje 4: The Cat’s Table Figures Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFollowing My Nose by acclaimed science fiction historian and critic, Alexei Panshin, offers a rich tapestry of literary analysis and personal reflections. Panshin embarks on an intellectual journey, exploring his encounters with the works of seminal science fiction authors. His deep dive into Robert Heinlein''s storytelling reveals a critical understanding of Heinlein''s narrative techniques and thematic concerns, highlighting the complexities and nuances of Heinlein''s works. Panshin''s interactions with Heinlein''s stories are not just as a reader, but as a writer influenced by his style. Panshin also delves into the world of A.E. van Vogt, examining the unique narrative structures and philosophical underpinnings in Vogt''s stories. This analysis extends beyond surface-level plot summaries, offering insights into the creative and speculative aspects of Vogt''s work. Panshin''s critique is both an appreciation and a scholarly examination of Vogt''s contribution to science fiction. The book also covers Panshin''s analysis of Charles Dodgson''s (Lewis Carroll''s) creative process. He explores the imaginative depths of "Alice''s Adventures in Wonderland," shedding light on Dodgson''s innovative use of language and fantasy. Panshin''s exploration is both a tribute to Dodgson''s genius and an academic inquiry into his narrative strategies. In addition to these specific authors, Panshin offers a broader critique of the science fiction genre, its evolution, and its impact on literature and culture. His book serves as a bridge between personal memoir and literary criticism, providing a unique perspective on the power of speculative fiction and its role in shaping our understanding of the world.

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Book SynopsisReinaldo Arenas was born to a poverty-stricken family in rural Cuba. By the time of his death in New York four decades later, he had become one of Cuba's most important poets, an outspoken critic of Castro's regime and one of the leading gay voices of the twentieth century. In Before Night Falls, Arenas tells of his odyssey from young rebel fighting for the Revolution, through his suppression as a writer, his disillusionment with Castro, his imprisonment and torture, to his eventual exile from Cuba to New York, where in 1987 he was diagnosed with AIDS. He committed suicide in 1990, ending a life of constant struggle against repression. In a farewell note, Arenas wrote: Due to my delicate state of health and to the terrible depression that causes me not to be able to continue writing and struggling for the freedom of Cuba, I am ending my life ... I do not want to convey to you a message of defeat, but of continued struggle and hope. Cuba will be free. I already am. (signed) Reinaldo ArenasTrade ReviewOne of the most shattering testimonials ever written on the subject of oppression and defiance -- Mario Vargas LlosaReading Arenas is like witnessing a bare consciousness in the process of assimilating the most universal, but powerful, human experiences and turning them into literature * The New York Times *Any attempt to reckon with Cuba's torturous twentieth century will have to take into account Arenas's monumental work ... an essential human testimony, joyful and enraged, a triumph of conscience -- Garth GreenwellA document of a particular and disturbing honesty by one of the truly great writers to come out of Latin America * Chicago Tribune *One of the most searing satirical writers of the 20th century, a worthy successor to Aristophanes and Swift -- Jaime Manrique * Village Voice *

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Book SynopsisThe autobiography Nancy Mitford intended to write herself

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