Literary studies: fiction Books

Book Synopsis''I beg as soon as you get Fielding''s Joseph Andrews, I fear in Ridicule of your Pamela and of Virtue in the Notion of Don Quixote''s Manner, you would send it to me by the very first Coach.'' (George Cheyne in a letter to Samuel Richardson, February 1742) Both Joseph Andrews (1742) and Shamela (1741) were prompted by the success of Richardson''s Pamela (1740), of which Shamela is a splendidly bawdy parody. But in Shamela Fielding also demonstrates his concern for the corruption of contemporary society, politics, religion, morality, and taste. The same themes - together with a presentation of love as charity, as friendship, and in its sexual taste - are present in Joseph Andrews, Fielding''s first novel. It is a work of considerable literary sophistication and satirical verve, but its appeal lies also in its spirit of comic affirmation, epitomized in the celebrated character of Parson Adams. This revised and expanded edition follows the text of Joseph Andrews established by Martin C.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review'This modernized version of Jarvis is attractive and readable.' Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsIntroduction; Note on the Translation; Select bibliography; A chronology of Miguel de Cervantes; Don Quixote; Explanatory notes

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"With an acute ear for the references that give metaphors their edge, as in Eliot's unforgettable image of a squirrel’s heartbeat as a figure for that which we cannot bear to know, Brilmyer brings the soaringly evocative back to earth, giving us a new science of literary analysis." * Critical Inquiry *“Brilmyer’s book shows how the realist imperative to adequately describe the relation between characters and their circumstances unwound Victorian Realism from within, as new scientific theories of matter, force, and cellular life led high Victorian realists— such as George Eliot and Thomas Hardy—and a subsequent generation of New Woman novelists to press the form to its limits and beyond. A major new study of literary character, The Science of Character is important not least for the way it revises the literary history of Victorian Realism and its ends.” * Studies in the Novel *“Brilmyer’s work marks a new epoch in the study of realism. Developing out of deep historical research and an engagement of the thinking of philosophers, theorists, and scholars of character, Brilmyer reverses dominant understandings of the way late nineteenth-century fiction developed to trace the emergence of an impersonal dynamic materialism that from George Eliot forward reimagined the nature of character itself. This is an extraordinarily original and important contribution, both to the history of realism and the novel and to new theorizing about matter.” * George Levine, Rutgers University *“The Science of Character brilliantly and boldly renews discussions of the late Victorian history of the novel. Brilmyer shows us how figures such as George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Olive Schreiner revised the definition of a realistic character along new, materialist lines. That revision demonstrated literature’s ability to produce insights into the workings of both nature and culture.” * Deidre Shauna Lynch, Harvard University *“Character: a slippery term that can denote either a human-like entity in a literary text or the specific assemblage of traits that makes one person different from others. In this beautifully argued book, S. Pearl Brilmyer refuses to choose between these two possibilities. Instead, she shows how novelists at the end of the nineteenth century enlisted the former in the service of discovering the workings of the latter—how, that is, George Eliot, Sarah Grand, Olive Schreiner, George Gissing, and Thomas Hardy transformed their aesthetic practice into a science of character. Turning the study of literature and science on its head by demonstrating the degree to which the production of literature was a scientific endeavor for these writers, she also formulates a unified field theory of the late-nineteenth-century novel that recognizes the centrality of women writers and finds in New Woman fiction the key to that novel’s theorization of character and circumstance as inseparable. Bracingly rigorous, intellectually thrilling, exhaustively researched, with far-reaching consequences for our understanding of the novel: The Science of Character is a remarkable achievement.” * Cannon Schmitt, University of Toronto *“The Science of Character is learned and continuously intelligent, a model of philosophically informed criticism. Brilmyer makes a theoretical advance in the conceptualization of character, realism, and the novel itself. This book provides a rigorous proof of concept for feminist New Materialism, and deepens our understanding of several canonical writers. The Science of Character redraws late-century Victorian literary history.” * Andrew Miller, Johns Hopkins University *

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntroduced by Claire-Louise Bennett, experience one new mother's psychological journey in this lost 1930 foremother of Sylvia Plath''s The Bell Jar.''Astonishing and moving. A pretty amazing book.'' Tessa Hadley''Extraordinary. A fascinating and unexpected delight.'' Lucy Ellmann''Haunting and evocative, this is a timeless portrayal of madness.'' Catherine Cho''A startling, luminous and magnetic novel about the complexity of motherhood.'' Yiyun Li''With its deep musicality, Coleman''s unforgettable voice was years ahead of its time.'' Sinéad Gleeson''The most famous unknown of the century.'' Djuna Barnes, author of NightwoodThe only thing to do is to put hammers in the porridge and when there are enough hammers we shall break down the windows and all of us shall dance in the snow. Some days, Marthe Gail believes she is God; others, Jesus Christ. Her baby,

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe argument that this book presents is that narrative and visual representations of death can be read as symptoms of our culture and because the feminine body is culturally constructed as the superlative site of other and not me, culture uses art to dream the deaths of beautiful women. -- .Trade ReviewAside from the originality - or fearful finality - of its arguments, the book will be invaluable as an introduction to the use of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of cultural texts' - New Statesman & Society'Death faces a similar taboo in our century to the one that sex suffered in the last...Bronfen addresses an important silence in contemporary culture.' - The TImes -- .Table of ContentsPart 1 Death - the epitome of tropes: preparation for an autopsy; the lady vanishes; violence of representation - representation of violence. Part 2 From animate body to inanimate text: the "most" poetic topic; deathbed scenes; bodies on display; the lady is a portrait; noli me videre; case study - wife to Mr Rossetti - Elizabeth Siddall (1829-1862). Part 3 Strategies of translation, mitigation and exchange: sacrificing extremity; femininity - missing in action; close encounters of a fatal kind. Part 4 Stabilizing the ambivalence of repetition: the speculated woman; rigour has set in - the wasted bride; necromancy, or closing the crack in the gravestone; risk resemblances; spectral stories; the dead beloved as muse; case study - Henry's sister - Alice James (1848-1892). Part 5 Conclusion - aporias of resistance: from muse to creatrix - Snow White unbound.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBob Dylan has helped transform music, literature, pop culture, and even politics. The World of Bob Dylan chronicles a lifetime of creative invention that has made a global impact. Leading rock and pop critics and music scholars address themes and topics central to Dylan''s life and work: the Blues, his religious faith, Civil Rights, Gender, Race, and American and World literature. Incorporating a rich array of new archival material from never before accessed archives, The World of Bob Dylan offers a comprehensive, uniquely informed and wholly fresh account of the songwriter, artist, filmmaker, and Nobel Laureate whose unique voice has permanently reshaped our cultural landscape.Trade Review'(The World of Bob Dylan) offers a comprehensive overview of Bobdom - musical influences from sea shanties and highland ballads to blues and gospel, his interest in Brecht and the Beat poets, the politics of the civil rights movement and the counterculture, and more.' Neil Spencer, The Observer'An illuminating read for both the fanatic and the more casual fan.' Ben Phillipson, Shindig!'Latham's symposium covers huge ground … (and) many of the contributions sing.' Danny Eccleston, Mojo'Crammed with insights into Dylan's world … fans will already have it on order.' Tony Burke, Record Collector'A book filled with scholarly scruple and imaginative audacity. A true Dylanfest.' Declan Kiberd, Irish Times'The World Of Bob Dylan kicks off an archival deep dive into the legacy and cultural importance of Dylan in thoroughly academic manner that remains enjoyable. This book pairs well with Dylan's expansive discography and will more than likely lead to a greater appreciation for the singer-songwriter.' Gerrod Harris, Spill Magazine'This is an excellent volume, and the different contributions are of a uniformly high standard. The range of aspects of Dylan studies covered is impressive.' Christopher Rollason, Dylan ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction Sean Latham; I. Creative Life: 1. A Chronology of Bob Dylan's Life Kevin Dettmar and Sean Latham; 2. The Biographies Andrew Muir; 3. Songwriting Sean Latham 4. The Singles: A Playlist for Framing Dylan's Recording Art Keith Negus; II. Musical Contexts: 5. Folk Music Ronald D. Cohen; 6. The Blues: 'Kill Everybody Ever Done Me Wrong' Greil Marcus; 7. Gospel Music Gayle Wald; 8. Country Music: Dylan, Cash, and the Projection of Authenticity Leigh H. Edwards; 9. Rock Music Ira Wells; 10. Roots Music: Born in a Basement Kim Ruehl; 11. The Great American Songbook: 'Better Duck Down the [Tin Pan] Alley Way, Lookin' for a New Friend' Larry Starr; III. Cultural Contexts: 12. American Literature Florence Dore; 13. World Literature Anne-Marie Mai; 14. The Beats Steven Belletto; 15. Theatre Damian A. Carpenter; 16. Visual Arts: Goya's Kiss Raphael Falco; 17. Borrowing Kevin Dettmar; 18. Judaism: Saturnine Melancholy and Dylan's Jewish Gnosis Elliot R. Wolfson; 19. Christianity: An Exegesis of Modern Times Andrew McCarron; IV. Political Contexts: 20. The Civil Rights Movement Will Kaufman; 21. The Counterculture Michael J. Kramer; 22. Gender and Sexuality: Bob Dylan's Body Ann Powers; 23. Justice Lisa O'Neill-Sanders; V. Reception and Legacy: 24. The Bob Dylan Brand Devon Powers; 25. The Nobel Prize: The Dramaturgy of Consecration James F. English; 26. Stardom and Fandom David R. Shumway; 27. The Bob Dylan Archive® Mark Davidson.

Read more less

Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-FictionLonglisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing'If you have even the slightest interest in Orwell or in the development of our culture, you should not miss this engrossing, enlightening book.' - John Carey, The Sunday TimesGeorge Orwell's last novel has become one of the iconic narratives of the modern world. Its ideas have become part of the language - from 'Big Brother' to the 'Thought Police', 'Doublethink', and 'Newspeak' - and seem ever more relevant in the era of 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'.The cultural influence of 1984 can be observed in some of the most notable creations of the past seventy years, from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaids Tale to Terry Gilliam's Brazil, from Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta to David Bowie's Diamond Dogs – and from the launch of Apple Mac to the reality TV landmark, Big Brother.In this remarkable and original book. Dorian Lynskey investigates the influences that came together in the writing of 1984 from Orwell's experiences in the Spanish Civil War and war-time London to his book's roots in utopian and dystopian fiction. He explores the phenomenon that the novel became on publication and the changing ways in which it has been read over the decades since.2019 marks the seventieth anniversary of the publication of what is arguably Orwell’s masterpiece, while the year 1984 itself is now as distant from us as it was from Orwell on publication day. The Ministry of Truth is a fascinating examination of one of the most significant works of modern English literature. It describes how history can inform fiction and how fiction can influence history.Trade ReviewThe Ministry of Truth is the best book I have read in a long time. Fizzing with ideas yet superbly readable, it takes us though Orwell’s life and the development of twentieth-century utopias and dystopias, to the long afterlife of Orwell’s greatest work, read and misread during the Cold War as simple anti-communist propaganda, then in the 1980s as a failed prophecy, before finally and frighteningly showing it as a warning for our own age. When today 1984 is scrubbed from the internet in China, Russia weaponises lies on social media, and in the West a Trump adviser talks of “alternative facts” on his Inauguration Day, Lynskey's book is both a warning and an exhortation for us all to be stubborn as Orwell was with facts, and like Winston Smith to cling to the belief that 2+2=4. -- C. J. SansomFascinating . . . Freshly and powerfully argued . . . If you have even the slightest interest in Orwell or in the development of our culture, you should not miss this engrossing, enlightening book. -- John Carey, The Sunday TimesEverything you wanted to know about 1984 but were too busy misusing the word -Orwellian- to ask. -- Caitlin Moran

Read more less

Book SynopsisCéleste Albaret was Marcel Proust''s housekeeper in his last years, when he retreated from the world to devote himself to In Search of Lost Time. She could imitate his voice to perfection, and Proust himself said to her, 'You know everything about me.' Her reminiscences of her employer present an intimate picture of the daily life of a great writer who was also a deeply peculiar man, while Madame Albaret herself proves to be a shrewd and engaging companion.

Read more less

Book SynopsisCountless would-be readers of Finnegans Wake — James Joyce’s 1939 masterwork, on which he labored for a third of his life — have given up after a few pages and “dismissed the book as a perverse triumph of the unintelligible.” In 1944, a young professor of mythology and literature named Joseph Campbell, working with novelist and poet Henry Morton Robinson, wrote the first guide to understanding the fascinating world of Finnegans Wake. Page by page, chapter by chapter, A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake outlines the basic action of Joyce’s book, simplifies and clarifies the complex web of images and allusions, and provides an understandable, continuous narrative from which the reader can venture out on his or her own. This edition includes a foreword and updates by Joyce scholar Dr. Edmund L. Epstein that add the context of sixty subsequent years of scholarship.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor Fans of the Tales of Tolkien, Middle-earth, and More Learn about the man who wrote The Lord of the Rings in this Middle-earth treasury. Full of answers to common questions asked by readers to learn about Middle-earth and the fandom, this book about Tolkien celebrates Why We Love Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings omnibus for all. Who wrote The Lord of the Rings? What details are in the movies, books, maps, and other stories—and how do they tie together? Intrigued by Amazon’s new show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? What’s considered canon and what isn’t? Dive into Middle-earth’s expansive lore with Why We Love Middle-earth, a fandom book about Tolkien’s work.The perfect companion for any Middle-earth traveler. Written by beloved Tolkien commenters of The Prancing Pony Podcast, Shawn E. Marchese and Alan Sisto, Why We Love Middle-earth is the ultimate guide to the fandom. Newcomers and existing fans of Tolkien will revel in the dragon’s hoard of information inside.Inside, find: An easy-to-digest guide map that deepens your knowledge from start to finish, or from any interest point A brief history of each of the major books and adaptations of Middle-earth, how to read, watch, or play them, and deepen your understanding of them A manual for fandom niches—what they are, where to find them, and how to get started If you enjoy fandom books or a good book about Tolkien’s works such as Atlas Of Middle-Earth, Recipes from the World of Tolkien, or Why We Love Star Wars, you’ll love Why We Love Middle Earth.Trade Review“Written for new or casual fans, but with material to enlighten those deeply entrenched in Tolkien’s legendarium, Marchese and Sisto (hosts of the podcast Prancing Pony) share insights both scholarly (with ample footnotes) and irreverent (with chapter names like ‘Sequel, Schmequel’ and ‘Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes: Tolkien in Adaptation’). The book makes suggestions for the best Tolkien reading journey, enumerates high points and shortcomings of adaptations, and discusses collecting, moots (or conferences), and online fandoms. VERDICT A delightful addition to most libraries. Expect an uptick in circulation of other Tolkien-related books and DVDs after purchase.” —Library Journal “One could not ask for a more congenial pair of guides to Middle-earth than Alan Sisto and Shawn E. Marchese. The combination of learning and fun that has made The Prancing Pony Podcast such a delight shines through in this tour of the Middle-earth experience. Why We Love Middle-earth is a great resource for readers and film-viewers who are new to Tolkien and curious about all things Middle-earth.” —Corey Olsen, The Tolkien Professor and president of Signum University “Alan and Shawn bring the same love for Tolkien and the fandom to this book that they’ve brought to The Prancing Pony Podcast for years. I would expect nothing less, but I can also think of no higher praise.” —Matt Graf, Nerd of the Rings “This delightful read is accessible, humorous, and informative, with the appropriate dash of nostalgia. Perfect for both new and veteran Tolkien fans alike, it is sure to entertain, enlighten, and just maybe help you step out your front door and meet other members of the Tolkien community.” —K.M. Rice, author of the Afterworld series “An absolutely phenomenal read. Sisto and Marchese perfectly encapsulate the spirit of Tolkien’s legacy and bring it to the page. A heartfelt look at the passion found in the Professor’s stories and why Middle-earth remains such a beloved fantasy world. Tolkien fans of all ages will certainly want to add this book to their collections.” —Don Marshall, Obscure Lord of the Rings Facts Guy “You will not find a friendlier, more informative-yet-easygoing introduction to Tolkien’s world than this book. Alan and Shawn are like wisecracking Hobbits, simultaneously goofing off and admiring every song and story shared in Elrond’s Hall of Fire. Come for the groanworthy dad jokes; stay for the deep love of the lore.” —Jeff LaSala, author of The Silmarillion Primer “The Prancing Pony Podcast has established itself as an institution among those of us who like to live, breathe, and dream J.R.R. Tolkien’s magnificent Middle-earth legendarium. Approachable yet knowledgeable, fan-friendly yet scholarly, the PPP is one of those rare podcasts that successfully bridges the gap between the absolute Tolkien beginner and the serious devotee. This has clearly also been their intention with this book, and they have definitely succeeded in that aim. Why We Love Middle-earth is an entertaining read, but it also offers in-depth commentary on Tolkien’s works, the various film adaptations, and the fan responses to those works, guiding the novice through approaching the books as well as offering new insights for the serious reader. Maintaining the balance between the disparate audiences is no mean feat, but the result is a delightful and fascinating read that I would heartily recommend to all fans of Middle-earth.” —Dr. Sara Brown, language & literature department chair, Signum University “From erudition to entertainment, from comedy to camaraderie, The Prancing Pony Podcast is the Car Talk of Tolkien podcasts. Whether you are a Tolkien beginner or were there 300 episodes ago, Alan and Shawn are always worth listening to. Why We Love Middle-earth is a great introduction to Tolkien and the podcast. By treating the books, adaptations, and fandom individually, Alan and Shawn have once again proven themselves excellent guides for those wanting to enter Middle-earth. (Pre-order now and get a free Gollum GPS.)” —Thomas Hillman, author of Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring: To Rule the Fate of ManyTable of ContentsForeword Prologue: Who Was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien? Part One: Discovering Tolkien’s Books: What Should I Read Next? The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings The Silmarillion Unfinished Tales The “Great Tales”: The Children of Húrin, Beren & Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin Part Two: Tolkien in Adaptation Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings Rankin/Bass’s The Hobbit and The Return of the King BBC Radio Play Video Game Adaptations: The Lord of the Rings Online and many more Audiobooks Part Three: Expressions of Fandom Collecting Tolkien Tolkien’s Invented Languages Tolkien Studies Art and Artists Fan Organizations Online Content DIY (cosplay, crafting, cooking, brewing)

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.' The prophetic words of Galadriel, addressed to Frodo as he prepared to travel from Lothlorien to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, are just as pertinent to J R R Tolkien's own fiction. For decades, hobbits and the other fantastical creatures of Middle-earth have captured the imaginations of a fiercely loyal tribe of readers, all enhanced by the immense success of Peter Jackson's films: first 'The Lord of the Rings', and now his new 'The Hobbit'. But for all Tolkien's global fame and the familiarity of modern culture with Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo and Sam, the sources of the great mythmaker's own myth-making have been neglected. Mark Atherton here explores the chief influences on Tolkien's work: his boyhood in the West Midlands; the landscapes and seascapes which shaped his mythologies; his experiences in World War I; his interest in Scandinavian myth; his friendships, especially with the other Oxford-based Inklings; and the relevance of his themes, especially ecological themes, to the present-day. There and Back Again offers a unique guide to the varied inspirations behind Tolkien's life and work, and sheds new light on how a legend is born.Trade Review"When J R R Tolkien died in 1973, his friend and academic colleague C S Lewis praised his 'unique insight at once into the language of poetry and into the poetry of language'. Generations of readers have responded to the power, precision, and delicacy of J R R Tolkien's linguistic imagination. This absorbing new study of The Hobbit brings a philologist's eye to that work's creation, structure, and expression, positioning it within the broader development of Tolkien's professional thinking about philology and the evolving mythography of his creative writings. Mark Atherton, himself what Tolkien calls 'a scholar of gramarye', imaginatively shows how Tolkien's academic interests in philology, linguistic-aesthetic and in reconstructive philology spilled over into the crucible of his own mythography, and was catalysed by the alchemy of his own reading in myths and contemporary fairy stories by writers such as William Morris, Edward Thomas, Francis Thompson and Robert Graves. This book gives them new ways of appreciating the interplay between his narratives and the linguistic enchantment of their imaginative world. Atherton's insights bring to mind Tolkien's own comment: 'How those old words smite one out of the dark antiquity!' " Vincent Gillespie, J R R Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language, University of Oxford 'Mark Atherton's treatment of one of the most famous books of the twentieth century is timely and welcome. On the face of it, The Hobbit appears an engaging fantasy adventure for young readers; but, as it later transpired, Mr Bilbo Baggins' exploits "there and back again" were simply a prelude to the apocalyptic drama that was to unfold in The Lord the Rings. One reason for the enduring appeal of both of these works is that J R R Tolkien imbued his tales of a fictional realm with resonances of ancient themes and universal truths. In this detailed exploration, Mark Atherton provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the many origins, influences and inspirations - biographical, historical, geographical and literary - that, combined with a unique imagination, resulted in the crafting of a new mythology.' Brian Sibley, author of The "Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy" and of "Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey"" "There and Back Again" is essential reading for all Tolkien fans - and also for anyone interested more broadly in medievalism, or the ways in which later writers have responded to the culture of the Middle Ages. Mark Atherton is that ideal combination: a reader and critic deeply appreciative of Tolkien's literary artistry, his imaginative scope and his linguistic invention, who is also, like Tolkien himself, a distinguished scholar of medieval language and literature. In this highly readable and accessible study, Atherton brings his own scholarship to bear on Tolkien's sources for The Hobbit, and in the process illuminates the whole of Tolkien's remarkable oeuvre." Heather O'Donoghue, Vigfusson Rausing Reader in Ancient Icelandic Literature & Antiquities, University of OxfordTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Abbreviations Acknowledgements Part One : Shaping the plot Part Two : Making the mythology Part Three: Finding the Words Epilogue Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis*Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize*In late eighteenth-century London, a group of extraordinary people gathered around a dining table once a week.The host was Joseph Johnson, publisher and bookseller and he was joined at dinner by a shifting constellation of great minds including William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Henry Fuseli, Anna Barbauld and Mary Wollstonecraft.Johnson's years as a maker of books saw profound change in Britain and abroad. In this remarkable portrait of a revolutionary age, Daisy Hay captures a changing nation through the stories of the men and women who wrote it into being, and whose ideas still influence us today.'Rich in period and personal detail' Guardian'Hugely engrossing' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewHay's meticulously researched biography, rich in period and personal detail, sheds light on both Johnson and the vibrant cultural world he inhabited -- Hannah Beckerman * Guardian *[A] compelling and magnificent study... Dinner with Joseph Johnson is an admirable achievement of biography and humanistic imagination -- Katheryn Sunderland * Times Literary Supplement *Dinner with Joseph Johnson sheds much-needed light on a key figure in both the ideological and material context of the 18th century... Hay's meticulous research brings this "paper age" to life... Evokes the noise and excitement of an age characterised by the unceasing hum of literary debate... a fitting reflection of the period that Hay describes: a time when the written word could make someone's name - or cost them their liberty * Financial Times *This delightful book by the English literature professor Daisy Hay gives the reader the feeling of being at a rather elevated party... Johnson's guests talked, wrote and painted about democracy, human rights, atheism, feminism, anatomy, chemistry and electricity. While dreaming of a better future, they befriended each other, loved each other and criticised each other... shaped an era... Johnson was a brilliant talent spotter and supported the best minds of his day -- Emma Duncan * The Times *A portrait of literary ferment... Daisy Hay's compendious and impressive survey illuminates the contribution to these significant ideological shifts of the ill-assorted men and women whose kinship was marked by their shared participation in Joseph Johnson's hospitality * Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow does a writer compose a suicide note? This was not a question that the prize-winning novelist William Styron had ever contemplated before. In this true account of his depression, Styron describes an illness that reduced him from a successful writer to a man arranging his own destruction. He lived to give us this gripping description of his descent into mental anguish, and his eventual success in overcoming a little-understood yet very common condition.The unabridged text of Darkness Visible by William StyronVINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us humanAlso in the Vintage Minis series:Swimming by Roger DeakinBabies by Anne EnrightCalm by Tim ParksWork by Joseph HellerTrade ReviewAs short as a hangman's rope and nearly as arresting - an essay of great gravity and resonance. Never has Styron used so few words so effectively * Newsweek *Imagine our joy when Vintage announced that it is publishing a collection of easily digestible books from the world’s most celebrated writers on the experiences that make us human… They look good and read well. That’s win/win in our book. * Stylist *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisLocked in the Arms of a Crazy Life is the classic biography of Charles Bukowski, the hard-drinking barfly whose semi-autobiographical books about low-life America made him a cult figure across the globe. Extensive original research and unique contributions from friends, family and associates - including Mickey Rourke, Robert Crumb, Sean Penn, Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg - as well as personal photographs and drawings by Buk himself make this a must for Bukowski devotees and new readers alike.Trade ReviewWonderful - this is the first serious and thorough Bukowski biography. An excellent book about a remarkable man. * * Time Out * *With no shortage of anecdotes, pictures or big names, this biography is so thorough and sharp that it may well be the last. * * Arena * *This biography is an affectionate and thorough introduction that will not be rivaled for some time. Its effect is to revitalize rather than reduce Bukowski's work. * * Independent * *A solid, informative and fascinating account - an excellent biography. * * Uncut * *The dirty story of a dirty man, Howard Sounes's biography of Charles Bukowski confronts an ugly life with an unflinching stare . . . this according to some of Sounes's meticulously compiled sources, was the kind of man who would drive a friend to drink himself to death then try to have sex with his grieving widow. -- Victoria Segal * * Guardian * *This is an appropriately gutsy biography of Charles Bukowski, the American poet and novelist who almost singlehandedly inspired a generation of would-be writers to believe that you could spend your entire life getting drunk and still achieve a reputation as a cult author. -- Robert Collins * * Observer * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFour writers. Four dictators. One world, changed out of all recognition. ENGINEERS OF HUMAN SOULS is an intimate and shocking shadow history of creative vanity in a time that turned writers - once the faithful servants of authority - into figures of political consequence. Maurice Barrès, who first wielded the politics of identity. Gabriele D'Annunzio, whose poetry became a blueprint for fascism. Maxim Gorky, dramatist of the working class and Stalin's cheerleader. The Maoist Ding Ling, whose stories exculpated the regime that kept her imprisoned. All four nursed extravagant visions of the future, and believed they were vital to its realisation. Each was lured to the centre of political action. Each established a dangerous and damaging relationship with a notorious dictator. And when writers and rulers find a use for each other, the consequences can be shattering for us all. These stories - of courage and compromise, vanity and malevolence - speak urgently to the uncontrollable power of words.Trade ReviewAn utterly thrilling and intellectually revelatory book. At a time when everything seems to be in freefall, and we are all trying to make sense of who we should be in a time of crisis, this is a stunningly wise book. If you read it, you'll learn about some of the deepest questions human beings can ask - and get closer to the answers -- Johann HariA compelling new book by Simon Ings about the corrupting effect of power on literary talent -- Thomas W. Hodgkinson * Spectator *Ings gives his readers a concise round-up of the intellectual ground in which the twentieth-century dictatorships took root. He has a talent for succinct statements so well turned that they immediately ring true ... His openings are arrestingly quirky. He cleverly leaves out the boring bits to offer the reader a staccato sequence of telling vignettes. His tone - by turns breezy and bitterly sardonic - is engaging ... Rather than plod through the welter of historical facts, he skips lightly from resonant incident to ringing quotation. His put-downs are trenchant, his asides witty, his exposition of political theory is clear and concise ... his book is enlightening and surprisingly entertaining -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Utterly fascinating' Daisy Goodwin, Sunday TimesBenjamin Franklin took daily naked air baths and Toulouse-Lautrec painted in brothels. Edith Sitwell worked in bed, and George Gershwin composed at the piano in pyjamas. Freud worked sixteen hours a day, but Gertrude Stein could never write for more than thirty minutes, and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in gin-fuelled bursts - he believed alcohol was essential to his creative process. From Marx to Murakami and Beethoven to Bacon, Daily Rituals by Mason Currey presents the working routines of more than a hundred and sixty of the greatest philosophers, writers, composers and artists ever to have lived. Whether by amphetamines or alcohol, headstand or boxing, these people made time and got to work.Featuring photographs of writers and artists at work, and filled with fascinating insights on the mechanics of genius and entertaining stories of the personalities behind it, Daily Rituals is irresistibly addictive, and utterly inspiring.Trade ReviewI just can't recommend this book enough -- Lena DunhamA trove of entertaining anecdote and thought-provoking comparison -- Toby Lichtig * Daily Telegraph *A chance to see what great lives look like when the triumphs, dramas, disruptions and divorces have been all but boiled away. It will fascinate anyone who wonders how a day might best be spent, especially those who have wondered of their artistic heroes, as a baffled Colette once did of George Sand: how the devil did they manage? * Guardian *Utterly fascinating -- Daisy Goodwin * Sunday Times *Mason Currey has carefully compiled the daily habits and personal foibles of 161 great writers, artists, scientists and thinkers, including one who stood on his head to cure creative block. By the end of this book, our carpet-glue habit looks normal -- DBC Pierre * Guardian *A fascinating little book * Financial Times *An utterly fascinating compendium . . . This book is the ultimate retort to the flaneurs who dream about the novel/screenplay/painting they would create if only they had the time. Its message is that serious artists make the time, and most of them make it at the same time every day -- Daisy Goodwin * Sunday Times *A thoroughly researched, minutely annotated and delightful book, full of the quirks and oddities of thehuman comedy . . . Its main lesson can be summed up simply enough: get up, have a cup of coffee, sit at your desk and begin * Literary Review *Some of the world's greatest minds had routines they stuck to to produce their works of genius. In DailyRituals, Mason Currey reveals their more bizarre habits * Daily Mirror *Fascinating . . . it also interestingly reveals that there is no universal formula to greatness, so in essence, it's a celebration of individuality and quirkiness * Huffington Post *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMore than a century after the Norman Conquest, England remains a colony of foreign warlords. The dissolute Prince John plots to seize his brother''s crown, his barons terrorize the country, and the mysterious outlaw Robin Hood haunts the ancient greenwood. The secret return of King Richard and the disinherited Saxon knight, Ivanhoe, heralds the start of a splendid and tumultuous romance, featuring the tournament at Ashby-de-la-Zouche, the siege of Torquilstone, and the clash of wills between the wicked Templar Bois-Guilbert and the sublime Jewess Rebecca. In Ivanhoe Scott fashioned an imperial myth of national cultural identity that has shaped the popular imagination ever since its first appearance at the end of 1819. The most famous of Scottish novelists drew on the conventions of Gothic fiction, including its risky sexual and racial themes, to explore the violent origins and limits of English nationality. This edition uses the 1830 Magnum Opus text, corrected against the Interlea

Read more less

Book SynopsisTwenty Years After (1845), the sequel to The Three Musketeers, is a supreme creation of suspense and heroic adventure.Two decades have passed since the musketeers triumphed over Cardinal Richelieu and Milady. Time has weakened their resolve, and dispersed their loyalties. But treasons and strategems still cry out for justice: civil war endangers the throne of France, while in England Cromwell threatens to send Charles I to the scaffold. Dumas brings his immortal quartet out of retirement to cross swords with time, the malevolence of men, and the forces of history. But their greatest test is a titanic struggle with the son of Milady, who wears the face of Evil.In his Introduction to this edition David Coward sets both the author and his exciting tale in their historical and cultural contexts. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade Review'All good fun.' Sunday Telegraph

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld, a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations that''s the man!'Summoned to a mysterious manor house by one of the henchmen of his arch nemesis, Professor Moriarty, Holmes and Watson find themselves confronted by the scene of a brutal murder. But the brilliant Holmes soon reveals that there is much more to this case than first meets the eyeFirst published as a serialisation in The Strand Magazine between 1914 and 1915, this fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel will delight fans of Conan Doyle's legendary detective and his faithful sidekick Watson.Trade Review‘Holmes is a mesmerising creation and Conan Doyle a master storyteller’ The Times ‘The immense talent, passion and literary brilliance that Conan Doyle brought to his work gives him a unique place in English letters’ Stephen Fry

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this delightful farce, the prim and proper Captain Pantoja is sent to Peru''s Amazon frontier on a secret Army mission - he must find females for the amorous recruits. Yet complications arise as word of his achievements starts to spread, and he finds himself battling against his wife, religious zealots and the Army that gave him the mission in the first place.Through a wonderfully comic montage of letters, military documents, radio broadcasts, dream sequences and dialogue, Mario Vargas Llosa''s Captain Pantoja and the Special Service combines political satire with humour, morality with uproarious sexuality.

Read more less

Book Synopsis** Shortlisted for the @CrimeFest H.R.F. Keating Award **'A smart and highly entertaining portrait of a literary powerhouse'- THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR'A riveting portrait' - GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR***'Christie lovers should read this biography for the same reason they read her novels.' - The Times'A model of how to combine biographical information, analysis and literary criticism into a propulsive narrative' - Daily Telegraph'Worsley's book excels in bringing a broader historical perspective to Christie's life and work, and her enthusiasm is infectious.' - ObserverMs Worsley herself writes engagingly... She combines an almost militant support for her subject with a considered analysis of her books and plays.' - Economist'Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was.'Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was 'just' an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn't? As Lucy Worsley says, 'She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern'. She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness. So why - despite all the evidence to the contrary - did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure? She was born in 1890 into a world which had its own rules about what women could and couldn't do. Lucy Worsley's biography is not just of an internationally renowned bestselling writer. It's also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman. With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley's biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realise what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was - truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.Trade ReviewAgatha Christie was a modernist, an iconoclast, and a groundbreaker, according to this excellent biography from historian Worsley. Worsley offers close readings of Christie's work and presents a careful reframe of the novelist's famous 1926 disappearance. Drawing on personal letters and modern criticism, Worsley manages to make her subject feel fresh and new. This is a must-read for Christie fans. * Publishers Weekly, (starred review) *One brilliant woman writing about another: an irresistible combination. * Antonia Fraser *This is a warm, intelligent book, which does justice , both to Agatha Christie's character, and to her distinctive genius as a writer of plays and novels. Someone once said that the greatest character Agatha Christie ever invented was Agatha Christie herself. If that's true, she was waiting for the perfect biographer to bring her back to life, and she has found her in Dr Lucy Worsley. * A.N. Wilson *Lucy Worsley brings Agatha Christie back to life, revealing a strong, pioneering, highly intelligent woman whose detective novels rank among the best ever written. Worsley shows us Christie's faults and flaws in the context of her time; she evokes her houses, clothes and the central mystery of her life in spritely sentences with a sharp ear for dialogue. Reading Worsley is as enjoyable as reading Christie herself. * Ruth Scurr *Lucy Worsley's biography of Agatha Christie is as unputdownable as any of the novels by the Queen of Crime herself. Gripping, revealing, and ultimately extremely moving, Agatha Christie is a wonderful tribute to one of the best-loved writers of the 20th century. * Amanda Foreman *Fascinating, seductive, incisive, this beautiful exploration into Christie, her life and times, is full of unique insight, eye opening detail, sharp analysis. Lucy Worsley is a brilliant detective into the letters, the emotion, the drive of Christie, the ambition. Gripping. * Kate Williams *'In the best biography of Agatha Christie ever written, Lucy Worsley gets to the soul - the complex, troubled, but big soul - of our greatest whodunnit writer with laser-like precision. There will not now need to be another biography of the queen of the detective story written for decades.' * Andrew Roberts, author of ‘Napoleon the Great’ and ‘Churchill: Walking with Destiny’ *'Gosh this is BRILLIANT. Read it at one sitting. It's frothy and fast and properly, subtly, furious.' * Annie Gray *'Reading Lucy Worsley's biography is like sharing Agatha Christie's favourite drink: cream. Rich, hearty and extremely satisfying, this book fills the void and, more than that, shows us with much brio and charm why Christie remains a writer for our times' * Dr Daisy Dunn, author of Not Far From Brideshead *Lucy Worsley is simply unparalleled as a biographer who couples historical insight with riveting storytelling. She proves it once again by capturing the life of the elusive Agatha Christie in a book so full of sensitive interpretations and surprising revelations that you won't want to put it down. * Devoney Looser *'Entertaining and authoritative, shining a light on just what an extraordinary pioneer Christie was.' * Belfast Telegraph *'(An) authoritative and entertaining biography.' * Irish Independent *Written with the cooperation of the Christie family and all of Lucy Worsley's trademark wit and wisdom, Agatha Christie emerges from the page as a thoroughly modern woman, full of light and shade and a world away from the cosy little old lady that she's so often perceived to be. * Red *Paint(s) an intriguing picture of Christie as an upper-middle-class Victorian and Edwardian child whose life, then and later, encompassed significant losses and reversals of fortune, * Guardian *With great affection, Worsley masterfully maneuvers her way through Christie's life and prolific oeuvre. * Kirkus (Starred Review) *Ms Worsley herself writes engagingly, with a smattering of racy phrases (Archie Christie, that adulterous first husband, is said to have been "incredibly hot"). She combines an almost militant support for her subject with a considered analysis of her books and plays-making the case that, in her themes and formal innovation, Christie was much more than a writer of formulaic potboilers. * Economist *Presenting Christie in a stimulating new light... the book is a model of how to combine biographical information, analysis and literary criticism into a propulsive narrative. Christie would have hated it, as she would have hated all biographies, but even so she might have saluted the skill of an author who shares her gift for supreme readability. * Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph *What makes this biography so fascinating is the way Worsley demonstrates how "everything Agatha experienced became copy". An irreverent historian, she sets in context the events of her subject's life with great skill, then shows how Christie reflected them in her work... Christie lovers should read this biography for the same reason they read her novels: they "address dark, uncomfortable feelings. They address the darkness that can lurk within even normal, respectable people. People like your own spouse." Worsley not only makes you want to reread them all over again, she actually makes you love the talented yet tormented woman who wrote them. * Mark Sanderson, The Times *The first significant biography of Christie since Laura Thompson's... Worsley's book excels in bringing a broader historical perspective to Christie's life and work, and her enthusiasm is infectious. * Stephanie Merritt, Observer *Provocative new biography... the narrative is buoyed by colourful details about Christie's fondness for surfing, fast cars and drinking glasses of neat cream. She certainly emerges as a more subversive figure than is generally realised. * Business Post *Worsley is refreshingly down to earth, and her passion for her subject is palpable... What a shame she never met her heroine - they would have got on like a house on fire. * Irish Examiner *A superlative biography of the Queen of Crime, Worsley's page-turning volume is a fitting tribute to Christie's extraordinary life. * Waterstones Weekly, Best New Literary Biographies *Agatha Christie fans intrigued to learn where the queen of crime gained her real-life inspiration will enjoy Lucy Worsley's new biography. * Yours *Fascinating... A wonderful tribute to one of our most brilliant national treasures. * Best *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFitzsimonsâs eye-opening biography brings new light to the life and works of famed literary icon E. Nesbit, in whom pragmatism and idealism, tradition and modernity worked side-by-side to create a remarkable writer and woman.Trade Review'A terrific book' Neil Gaiman'A very well-researched biography' Kate Atkinson'Excellent' Irish Times'Readable and thorough' Guardian'Eleanor Fitzsimons' painstaking research gives us a new insight into the bizarre Bohemian life of the groundbreaking children's author E. Nesbit. It's a fantastic read' Jacqueline Wilson'Absolutely superb!' Hilary McKay, author of Costa Book award-winning The Skylarks War'In this long-overdue new biography, Eleanor Fitzsimons gives us a nuanced yet compelling portrait of E. Nesbit's many-facetted personality, life and works, as well as of the politically and culturally vibrant milieu in which she lived' Fiona Sampson, author of In Search of Mary Shelley'What a stirring and unexpected story Eleanor Fitzsimons tells and what a subject she has found. I can't think of a single writer who doesn't owe something to Edith Nesbit's glorious books for children. The extraordinary woman who wrote them proves to be every bit as brave, funny and imaginative as her own intrepid characters' Miranda Seymour, author of In Byron's Wake'One of the greatest children's writers, and an acknowledged much loved influence on Joan Aiken E. Nesbit is celebrated in this wonderful new biography by Eleanor Fitzsimons' Lizza Aiken'An exceptional biography about an absolutely fascinating individual' Adam Roberts, Vice-President of the H.G. Wells Society'A fascinating, thoughtfully organized, thoroughly researched, often surprising biography' Kirkus Review'Fitzsimons delivers a sprightly and highly readable life of a writer who deserves even wider recognition' Publishers Weekly

Read more less

Book SynopsisYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.Table of Contents Study methods Introduction to the text Summaries with critical notes Themes and techniques Textual analysis of key passages Author biography Historical and literary background Modern and historical critical approaches Chronology Glossary of literary terms

Read more less

Book SynopsisPublished 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, Seán 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 b

Read more less

Book SynopsisLyndall, Schreiner''s articulate young feminist, marks the entry of the controversial New Woman into nineteenth-century fiction. Raised as an orphan amid a makeshift family, she witnesses an intolerable world of colonial exploitation. Desiring a formal education, she leaves the isolated farm for boarding school in her early teens, only to return four years later from an unhappy relationship. Unable to meet the demands of her mysterious lover, Lyndall retires to a house in Bloemfontein, where, delirious with exhaustion, she is unknowingly tended by an English farmer disguised as her female nurse. This is the devoted Gregory Rose, Schreiner''s daring embodiment of the sensitive New Man. A cause célèbre when it appeared in London, The Story of an African Farm transformed the shape and course of the late-Victorian novel. From the haunting plains of South Africa''s high Karoo, Schreiner boldly addresses her society''s greatest fears - the loss of faith, the dissolution of marriage, and women''s social and political independence. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1878 the Victorian critic Matthew Arnold wrote: ''Goethe is the greatest poet of modern times... because having a very considerable gift for poetry, he was at the same time, in the width, depth, and richness of his criticism of life, by far our greatest modern man.''In this Very Short Introduction Ritchie Robertson covers the life and work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832): scientist, administrator, artist, art critic and supreme literary writer in a vast variety of genres. Looking at Goethe''s poetry, novels and drama pieces, as well as his travel writing, autobiography, and essays on art and aesthetics, Robertson analyses some of the key themes in his works: love, nature, religion and tragedy. Dispelling the misconception of Goethe as a sedate Victorian sage, Robertson shows how much of his art was rooted in turbulent personal conflicts, and draws on recent research to present a complete portrait of the scientific work and political activity which accompanied Goethe''s writings.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewRobertsone points the reader interested in rediscovery to the best starting points. * Catholic Herald *This Very Short Introduction does exactly what a VSI should do. It introduces the reader to its subject and explains why it is significant, and it's pitched at a non-academic audience in accessible language and with a coherent organisation of the content. Ritchie Robertson's Goethe, A Very Short Introduction made me want to drop what I'm currently reading and find out more about this great German writer ... I can't this VSI highly enough. * ANZ LitLovers *Table of Contents1. Love ; 2. Nature ; 3. Classical Art and World Literature ; 4. Politics ; 5. Tragedy ; 6. Religion ; Further Reading ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the birth of crime writing with Wilkie Collins and Dostoevsky, through Conan Doyle to the golden age of crime, with the rise of Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham, P. D. James brings a lifetime of reading and writing crime fiction to bear on this personal history of the genre. There are chapters on great American crime writers - the likes of Patricia Highsmith, Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett. James also discusses many of her favourite famous detectives, from Sherlock Holmes to Philip Marlowe. P.D. James, the bestselling author of Death Comes to Pemberley, Children of Men and The Murder Room, presents a brief history of detective fiction and explores the literary techniques behind history''s best crime writing.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis epic masterpiece is a radical landmark in modern literature, reissued with a foreword by poet Ishion Hutchinson to mark Wilson Harris' centenary.'An exhilarating experience ...

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the Booker-shortlisted author of The Mars Room, a career-spanning collection of spectacular essays about politics and culture.In The Hard Crowd, Rachel Kushner gathers a selection of her writing from over the course of the last twenty years that addresses the most pressing political, artistic, and cultural issues of our times - and illuminates the themes and real-life terrain that underpin her fiction.In razor-sharp essays spanning literary journalism, memoir, cultural criticism, and writing about art and literature, Kushner takes us from Jeff Koons and Marguerite Duras to a Palestinian refugee camp, from her love of classic cars to her young life in the music scene of San Francisco. The closing, eponymous essay is her manifesto on nostalgia, doom, and writing.'I'm glad to taste something this sharp, this smart' Olivia Laing'Wild, wide-ranging and unsparingly intelligent throughout' Vogue'An exciting book... Kushner writes from the inside out and gives us the true story, the real deal' Kevin Barry, New Statesman, Books of the YearTrade ReviewThe Hard Crowd is wild, wide-ranging and unsparingly intelligent throughout. * Vogue *One of America's most exciting writers . . . A brilliant collection of art and literary criticism, reportage, and autobiography. * Daily Telegraph *She writes as well as any writer alive about the pleasure of a good motor doing what it was designed to do . . . Cool and wise, with real power and control . . . This book has a real gallery of souls . . . As strong a statement about artistic purpose and sensibility as I've read in a while. -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *She seems to work with a muse and a nail gun, so surprisingly yet forcefully do her sentences pin reality to the page. -- Kathryn Schulz * New York Magazine *I honestly don't know how she is able to know so much (about motorcycle racing, Italian radical politics) and convey all of it in such a completely entertaining and mesmerizing way. -- George Saunders

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Evocative . . . poignant . . . acute and funny' Observer'The Revival of the Great Lucia Berlin Continues Apace' New York TimesBest known for her short fiction, it was upon publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women in 2015 that Lucia Berlin’s status as a great American writer was widely celebrated. To populate her stories – the places, relationships, the sentiments – Berlin often drew on her own rich, itinerant life. Before Berlin died, she was working on a book of previously unpublished autobiographical sketches called Welcome Home. The work consisted of more than twenty chapters that started in 1936 in Alaska and ended (prematurely) in 1966 in southern Mexico. In our publication of Welcome Home, her son Jeff Berlin is filling in the gaps with photos and letters from her eventful, romantic, and tragic life.From Alaska to Argentina, Kentucky to Mexico, New York City to Chile, Berlin’s world was wide. And the writing here is, as we’ve come to expect, dazzling. She describes the places she lived and the people she knew with all the style and wit and heart and humour that readers fell in love with in her stories.Trade ReviewA beauty inside and out. -- Chris Power, author of MothersA jigsaw-puzzle portrait of a long-neglected literary legend, baring the autobiographical material that filtered so forcefully into her fiction. The mystery of her fiction is not, it turns out, in the source of its inspiration. It is in how Berlin transformed her life into art that is as vital as the thing itself. * Vogue *Welcome Home comes sadly in fragments only . . . But everything that elevates her short fiction to the peaks of greatness is evident too in the pages documenting her peripatetic early life and her many trials. Her sentences have a smokiness and sad glamour to them; she evokes the many places of her life so memorably, so bluesily. -- Kevin Barry * Irish Times *Welcome Home gives a sense of the joyousness of [Berlin’s] personality, which is as urgently expressed in all her writing as loneliness and desperation are. Her writing loves the world, lingers over details of touch and smell. * Atlantic *An essential companion to her fiction . . . for all the upheaval they depict, the vignettes in Welcome Home are never depressing. They have too many of the appealing and funny qualities of her stories for that, from eye-catching description . . . to a knack for the absurd. -- John Self * Irish Times *Tantalizing glimpses into the life of a recently-discovered writer . . . Berlin describes each home [where she lived] in exquisite, imagistic language . . . [Welcome Home is] an excellent start to understanding a writer and her work. * Kirkus reviews *[In Welcome Home,] Berlin’s self-reflective and candid voice comes roaring through. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *[Berlin] writes candidly about what she enjoyed and endured; when her narrative peters out in mid-sentence, she leaves her reader wanting more . . . When the words flowed, Berlin managed to perform small miracles with them. Whether describing lucky breaks or hard knocks, her prose is intense and intimate, at once disconcerting and entrancing. * Economist *The more extended memories offered in Welcome Home delight and illuminate . . . Her impressions of her childhood in particular have the vividness of cherished old magazines . . . Lifting the language throughout is an elegant shrug of fatalism, a conviction that we are born exactly what we are, and what we are going to be. -- Patricia Lockwood * London Review of Books *This never-before-published memoir and new collection are cause for jubilation. In part because they make it clear Berlin's gifts were vast, complex, and full of tonal warmths . . . Like Chekhov, Berlin was a beautiful framer of stories. * Boston Globe *Berlin’s nonfiction makes apparent her genius for taking personal, idiosyncratic scenes from her memory and crafting them into fiction that speaks to us all. We come to understand through Welcome Home that Berlin’s fiction has catalyzed her memories into pointed, surprising short stories. Berlin converts memory into fiction, using fiction to revisit and revise memory. * The Washington Post *A collection of autobiographical pieces that reflect Berlin's singularly peripatetic life . . . As is the case with her fiction, Berlin's pieces here are as faceted as the brightest diamond, but rather than blind you, they just encourage you to examine them even more closely, so you get lost in their depths. * NYLON *There’s a delicious pleasure in tracing the nonfictional origins of Berlin’s fictions. * Los Angeles Times *Finding all the connections to the stories in the memoir is fun. The letters, the earliest written at age 11 and most in the author's mid-to-late 20s, offer some of that same pleasure but more powerfully underline the fact that the voice that seems so off-the-cuff and natural in the stories is something she consciously created; the version of her persona and her life that got into the stories is clarified and curated. * Newsday *Berlin is also known as a visionary who anticipated the merging of autobiography and fiction that’s so common right now. You can see just how much she merged her life and her fiction in the unfinished memoir Welcome Home . . . She’s so mordant here, and so observational, and there are so many gorgeous details that must have been painstakingly sifted out of a lifetime of experiences. * Lit Hub *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Son at the Front offers a vivid portrait of American expatriate life in Paris during World War I. Wharton's only full-length novel dealing with the war, it portrays the relationship between an American expatriate artist father and his soldier son.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of Edith Wharton Maps A Son at the Front Explanatory Notes

Read more less

Book Synopsis''I took it: - and in an hour, oh! Heavens! what a revulsion! what an upheaving, from its lowest depths, of the inner spirit! what an apocalypse of the world within me!''Thomas De Quincey''s Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821) launched a fascination with drug use and abuse that has continued from his day to ours. In the Confessions De Quincey invents recreational drug taking, but he also details both the lurid nightmares that beset him in the depths of his addiction as well as his humiliatingly futile attempts to renounce the drug. Suspiria de Profundis centres on the deep afflictions of De Quincey''s childhood, and examines the powerful and often paradoxical relationship between drugs and human creativity. In ''The English Mail-Coach'', the tragedies of De Quincey''s past are played out with horrifying repetitiveness against a backdrop of Britain as a Protestant and an imperial power.This edition presents De Quincey''s finest essays in impassioned autobiography, together with three appendices that are highlighted by a wealth of manuscript material related to the three main texts. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Note on the Text ; Select Bibliography ; A Chronology of Thomas De Quincey ; Confessions of an English Opium-Eater ; Suspiria de Profundis ; The English Mail-Coach ; Appendix A. Manuscript and Other Material relating to Confessions of an English Opium-Eater ; Appendix B. Manuscript Material relating to Suspiria de Profundis ; Appendix C: Manuscript and Other Material relating to 'The English Mail-Coach' ; Explanatory Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Originally published in 19031904, The Return of Sherlock Holmes is the thirteen-story collection of one of the greatest-ever fictional detectives. Three years after the supposed death of Sherlock Holmes and his archenemy Professor Moriarty in the torrent of Reichenbach Falls, Holmes makes a disguised reappearance to Baker Street and his good friend Dr Watson.Featuring one of Holmes' greatest adversaries, Charles Augustus Milverton, as well as trademark astute logic, forensic science, murder, crytograms and magic, this collection retains all the hallmark brilliance of Arthur Conan Doyle's best work.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.'A London lawyer is drawn into a series of strange occurrences concerning his old friend Henry Jekyll and the despicable stranger Edward Hyde, a man who seems to epitomise the very meaning of evil. What is Hyde's mysterious hold over Jekyll, and what is the reason behind Jekyll's increasingly odd behaviour? The investigations will lead into the dark heart of Victorian London, and of human nature itself, as the shocking truth about Hyde's true identity is finally revealed.Published in 1886 to critical acclaim, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a thrilling exploration of the interplay of good and evil and the terrifying duality that lies within us all. These themes held a constant fascination for Stevenson and are further explored in his short

Read more less

Book Synopsis**SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020**From renowned, Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic, Michiko Kakutani, comes an inspiring and gorgeously illustrated selection of the life-changing books that none of us should missWhy do we love books so much?'For legendary literary critic Michiko Kakutani, books have always been an escape and a sanctuary, the characters of some novels feeling so real to her childhood self that she worried they might leap out of the pages at night if she left the book cover open. In Ex Libris, she offers a personal selection of over 100 works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, with passionate essays on why each has had a profound effect on her life.From Homer's The Odyssey to The Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale to Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, Ex Libris covers a rich and vast range of classics, old and new, that will help build a well-rounded reader and citizen of the world. With gor

Read more less

Book SynopsisA dazzling biography of two interwoven, tragic lives: John Keats and F. Scott Fitzgerald.Highly engaging Go now, read this book' THE TIMESFor awhile after you quit Keats,' Fitzgerald once wrote, All other poetry seems to be only whistling or humming.'John Keats died two hundred years ago, in February 1821. F. Scott Fitzgerald defined a decade that began one hundred years ago, the Jazz Age.In this biography, prizewinning author Jonathan Bate recreates these two shining, tragic lives in parallel. Not only was Fitzgerald profoundly influenced by Keats, titling Tender is the Night and other works from the poet's lines, but the two lived with echoing fates: both died young, loved to drink, were plagued by tuberculosis, were haunted by their first love, and wrote into a new decade of release, experimentation and decadence.Luminous and vital, this biography goes through the looking glass to meet afresh two of the greatest and best-known Romantic writers in their twinned centuries.Trade Review‘Keats is unmissably present throughout Fitzgerald’s work … [Bate] borrows a classic form to pay tribute to the broadest, extratemporal similarities between Keats and … Fitzgerald’Sunday Times ‘Keats was Fitzgerald’s guiding star … An energetic and highly engaging game of literary ping-pong across the ages. Life, writing and inspiration are served and returned in a rapid rally of ideas … What an immensely charismatic pair they are … Powerful … Go now, read this book’Laura Freeman, The Times ‘A daring, dizzying attempt to connect Keats and F Scott Fitzgerald has plenty to take pleasure in … Bate, whose recent biography of Wordsworth I admired, is at his best when he zeroes in on the work: his feeling for it, by being so exacting, is infectious, especially in the case of Keats … But in the end, the principal achievement of this pairing is to remind us of the way that literature connects us’Rachel Cooke, Observer ‘Admirable … lively and well researched … Bate’s book is certainly an excellent introduction to each writer … satisfying, engaging and accessible … well designed to make us return tothe work of both Keats and his ‘Keatzian’ devotee’New Statesman ‘Bate tells the tales of these accursed creatures frightfully well’Daily Mail ‘With a fine-tuned ear for poetic language, a master-biographer’s eye for the revealing detail, and an astonishing mental filing system that recognizes countless meaningful matches among the works and lives of these two great, doomed writers, Jonathan Bate has written a wonderfully illuminating and moving book’Robert Watson, Distinguished Professor of English, UCLA

Read more less

Book SynopsisExam board: Edexcel, OCR, Cambridge Assessment International EducationLevel & Subject: AS and A Level English LiteratureFirst teaching: September 2015Next exams: 2024This edition of Dracula Bram Stoker provides depth and context for A Level students, with the complete novel in an easy to read format, and a detailed introduction and bespoke glossary written by an experienced A Level teacher with academic expertise in the area. Affordable high quality complete text of Bram Stoker's Dracula Perfectly pitched introductions provide the depth and demand required by AS and A Level English Explore the contemporary context, Bram Stoker's writing, the novel's critical reception and subsequent interpretations for a deeper reading of the text Expand your further reading with a list of key articles and critical and theoretical texts Improve your understanding of the novel with unfamiliar concepts and culturally-specific terms defined in the glossaryTrade Review“The new Collins Classroom Classic editions are perfect for schools – clear text, bright covers, a good size for pockets and bags, and a great price that makes buying new class or cohort sets very attractive in these budget-conscious times.” de Stafford School

Read more less

Book SynopsisREVISED AND UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL ON 1Q84As a young man, Haruki Murakami played records and mixed drinks at his Tokyo Jazz club, Peter Cat, then wrote at the kitchen table until the sun came up. He loves music of all kinds - jazz, classical, folk, rock - and has more than six thousand records at home. And when he writes, his words have a music all their own, much of it learned from jazz. Jay Rubin, a self-confessed fan, has written a book for other fans who want to know more about this reclusive writer. He reveals the autobiographical elements in Murakami''s fiction, and explains how he developed a distinctive new style in Japanese writing. In tracing Murakami''s career, he uses interviews he conducted with the author between 1993 and 2001, and draws on insights and observations gathered from over ten years of collaborating with Murakami on translations of his works.Trade ReviewJay Rubin's engaging critical study of Haruki Murakami examines the complex intersection of the Japanese novelist's life...Rubin is a confident guide to this surreal world * Daily Telegraph *This genial guide to 'cool' Japanese author Haruki Murakami mimics the playfulness of his fictions...His intuitive 'critique' gets close to the spirit of his subject * Observer *a lively and eccentric new critical study * New York Times *A magical mystery tour through Murakami's spontaneous, improvised fictional world-Packed with bits of trivia about the author * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book SynopsisPatrimony is a true story about the relationship between a father and a son.Philip Roth watches as his eight-six-year-old father, famous for his vigour, his charm and his skill as a raconteur - lovingly called 'the Bard of Newark' - battles with the brain tumour that will kill him.Trade ReviewNobody writes about the American family with more tenderness and honesty * New Statesman *A simple, moving, generous work * Independent on Sunday *The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away - with words. But the Lord giveth back, miraculously, in the form of this book and this family history * Guardian *A true story, told with all the powerful authority and cunning narrative order of a major writer * Sunday Times *His best work since The Counterlife * Observer *

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘You are ambitious, Eustacia–no not exactly ambitious, luxurious. I ought to be of the same vein, to make you happy, I suppose’Tempestuous Eustacia Vye passes her days dreaming of passionate love and the escape it may bring from the small community of Egdon Heath.  Hearing that Clym Yeobright is to return from Paris, she sets her heart on marrying him, believing that through him she can leave rural life and find fulfilment elsewhere. But she is to be disappointed, for Clym has dreams of his own, and they have little in common with Eustacia’s. Their unhappy marriage causes havoc in the lives of those close to them, in particular Damon Wildeve, Eustacia’s former lover, Clym’s mother and his cousin Thomasin. The Return of the Native illustrates the tragic potential of romantic illusion and how its protagonists fail to recognize their opportunities to control their own destinies.Penny Boumelha’s introducTrade Review"This is the quality Hardy shares with the great writers...this setting behind the small action the terrific action of unfathomed nature."--D. H. Lawrence

Read more less