Literature: history and criticism Books

Book SynopsisThe next raid overseen by the Hunters Association brings together the survivors of thedouble dungeon incident for the first time since the tragedy. Fortunately, this next raidshould be fairly cut-and-dry—but sometimes, the most terrifying beasts aren’t the onesfound in dungeons...

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.'Austen''s best-loved tale of love, marriage and society in class-conscious Georgian England still delights modern readers today with its comedy and characters. It follows the feisty, quick-witted Elizabeth Bennet as her parents seek to ensure good marriages for her and her sisters in order to secure their future. The protagonists Darcy and Elizabeth learn much about themselves and those around them and Austen''s expertly crafted comedy characters of Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins demonstrate her great artistry as a writer.

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Book SynopsisSUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERIf you want to write a novel or a script, read this book' Sunday TimesThe best book on the craft of storytelling I've ever read' Matt HaigRarely has a book engrossed me more, and forced me to question everything I've ever read, seen or written. A masterpiece' Adam RutherfordWhy stories make us human and how to tell them better.There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story but few have used a scientific approach.In this incisive, thought-provoking book, award-winning writer Will Storr demonstrates how master storytellers manipulate and compel us.Applying dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to the foundations of our myths and archetypes, he shows how we can use these tools to tell better stories and make sense of our chaotic modern world.INCLUDES NEW MATERIAL.Trade Review‘Rarely has a book engrossed me more, and forced me to question everything I’ve ever read, seen or written. It’s a masterpiece. I am in awe’ Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived ‘The best book on the craft of storytelling I’ve ever read’ Matt Haig ‘Easily the best book I've read this year’ Hannah Fry ‘Reading this book feels like cheating. It gives you an unfair advantage over other writers. A fascinating new way of looking at writing and how to exploit the fact that storytelling is hardwired into our brains’ Charlie Higson ‘A brilliant, accessible and very human book not just for writers but for anyone interested in how the mind works – not least their own. Will manages to be both detached and compassionate on every page, sometimes within the same sentence. That such a complicated book is so easy to read is testament to his clarity of thought and skill as writer. A stupendous achievement’ Robert Webb ‘A hugely compelling reading experience. Storr’s superb exploration of the enduring appeal of the novel offers a smart, fascinating exploration of the science and psychology behind our most sophisticated art form that also works as an effective how-to guide’ Alex Preston, Observer ‘If you want to write a novel or a script, read this book. It is clear, compelling and tightly shaped around one fascinating and productive idea … Storr wants to free writers from programmatic, plot-based writing guides, and his approach feels liberating’ Sunday Times 'If you’ve ever read a book, watched a movie, binged a television series, or tried to write one, this book is mandatory reading. A truly revolutionary look at the how and why of storytelling’ Craig Pearce, screenwriter of Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby ‘So much more than a book about how to write stories. It’s a book about what it means to be alive’ Tim Lott

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PICKED BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, INDEPENDENT, IRISH TIMES, SPECTATOR, TLS, NEW STATESMAN, MAIL ON SUNDAY, I PAPER, PROSPECT, REVEW31 AND EVENING STANDARD AS A BOOK OF 2021 'A masterclass from a warm and engagingly enthusiastic companion' Guardian Summer Reading Picks 2021 ‘This book is a delight, and it’s about delight too. How necessary, at our particular moment’ Tessa Hadley ________________ From the New York Times-bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves - and our world today. For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.Trade ReviewA wonderful book … This book is a delight … I love the warmth with which he writes about this teaching, and agree wholeheartedly … All this makes Saunders’s book very different from just another “how to” creative writing manual, or just another critical essay … One of the pleasures of this book is feeling his own thinking move backwards and forwards, between the writer dissecting practice and the reader entering in through the spell of the words, to dwell inside the story -- Tessa Hadley * Guardian *Saunders is such a wise and amiable teacher ... A page-turner -- Robert WebbLuminously perceptive * Guardian *A masterclass in how to be human ... unfailingly, often thrillingly illuminating … Published any time, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain would be a joyous reminder that fiction is “the most effective mode of mind-to-mind communication ever devised”. Published now, it feels like vital and civilising corrective to the pretend certainties of public life – and, increasingly, of our personal lives too * Telegraph *It will stay with you and transform how you read story by story, sentence by sentence * The Times, Best Paperbacks of 2022 *One of the most accurate and beautiful depictions of what it is like to be inside the mind of a writer that I’ve ever read * New York Times *The Russian greats truly shine in this account; but Saunders is the real star. His way of expressing himself is simultaneously supremely intellectual and jovially down-to-earth. It’s rare to read a book and love it so much that you think it’s simply perfect. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is that book -- Viv Groskop * Spectator *Joins a long tradition of using Russian literature as a guide to life … Practical and playful … it also probes exactly how narrative techniques make us more alert, attentive and sympathetic in reading books and the world around us * i news *By the end Saunders is wondering if there is indeed any point in writing at all. I won’t spoil his conclusion. Suffice to say, the hairs on the back of my neck were alert * The Times *Suffused with wry humour … Not an academic interpretation, but a reader’s companion. I was pleasurably absorbed from start to finish * Evening Standard *The Booker-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo considers the art of fiction through seven classic Russian short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol * Guardian, 2021 in Books *The combination of Saunders’s piercing mind and the Russian subjects being Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol promises to be a highbrow treat for fans of literature, and a book offering deep insights into storytelling and how narrative functions * Independent, The books to look out for in 2021 *A literary masterclass * Evening Standard, A look ahead to the best new books in 2021 *But the real star of A Swim isn't Chekhov or Turgenev or Tolstoy or Gogol - it's Saunders himself ... This book will quite simply make you a better, more observant and more understanding reader * Big Issue *Part intro to Russian literature, part musings on craft, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is all pleasure * Financial Times *A worship song to writers and readers * O, The Oprah Magazine *His warmth, enthusiasm and homespun metaphors – all part of that “writerly charm” – banish any sense of the chilly, mechanistic Fiction Lab ... Gleefully overshoots its brief as a technical manual or how-to guide … A Swim in a Pond in the Rain generates more fun, more wit, more sympathetic sense, than we have any right to hope for from a 400-page critical study * Arts Desk *There should be more books like this -- Sameer Rahim * Prospect Podcast *A masterclass from a warm and engagingly enthusiastic companion * Guardian, 50 hottest new books everyone should read *A masterclass in short fiction by one of the finest teachers alive… It is a joyously civilised primer on how to write – and live – better * Daily Telegraph *Warm, playful and acutely perceptive -- Ian Leslie * New Statesman, Books of the Year *Not just astute, humane lit crit but an inspirational manifesto for the art of fiction -- Boyd Tonkin * Spectator, Books of the Year *A masterclass in writing … a real treat -- Naomi Alderman * Spectator, Books of the Year *[I] loved George Saunders’s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain … Genial, generous and illuminating ... He is a great teacher as well as a great practitioner, and makes you see more * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year 2021 *A tin of caviar sort of a book … Saunders guides, prods, nudges, urges you to disagree … It will stay with you and transform how you read story by story, sentence by sentence * Sunday Times, 24 best fiction books 2021 *Delightful as well as an engaging work-out for the brain. Just the thing for a New Year’s read * i paper *In clear, fresh, often humorous language, Saunders reveals the various sleights of hand involved in their construction, while never trying to flatten their essential genius. A gem -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Joyful and playful, a book full of wisdom, one to drink in slowly * Independent (Online), The 20 Best Books of 2021 *An eagle-eyed breakdown of short stories by four great Russian writers * Prospect, Best books of 2021 *Saunders is warm and vivacious company, funny and even-handed and increasingly wise … This book is an enthralling delve into life and its narration – for people interested in how fiction works, it’s like breathing oxygen * Revew31, Books of the Year 2021 *

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Book SynopsisRobert Douglas-Fairhurst is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Magdalen College. His books include Becoming Dickens: The Invention of a Novelist, which won the Duff Cooper Prize, and The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland, which was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award, and The Turning Point: A Year that Changed Dickens and the World. He writes regularly for publications including The Times, Guardian, TLS and Spectator. Radio and television appearances include Start the Week and The Culture Show, and he has also acted as the historical consultant on TV adaptations of Jane Eyre, Emma, Great Expectations, the BBC drama series Dickensian, and the feature film Enola Holmes. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

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Book SynopsisCan you get lost in a crowd? It is polite to stare at people walking past on the street? What differentiates the city of daylight and the nocturnal metropolis? What connects walking, philosophy and the big toe? Can we save the city - or ourselves - by taking the pavement?There is no such thing as the wrong step; every time we walk we are going somewhere. In a series of riveting intellectual rambles, Matthew Beaumont retraces a history of the walker from Charles Dicken's insomniac night rambles to wandering through the faceless, windswept monuments of the neoliberal city including Edgar Allen Poe, Andrew Breton, H G Wells, Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys and Ray Bradbury. As the author shows, the act of walking is one of escape, self-discovery, disappearances and potential revolution, and explores the relationship between the metropolis and its pedestrian life.Trade Review“[The Walker] is an erudite book that moves at a pace alternating between brisk and leisurely … Like his prose, Beaumont’s mind is anything but pedestrian. He is as attuned to matters of medicine and science, anthropology, economics, philosophy and psychology as he is to literature and the visual arts … Beaumont uses the language of contemporary literary theory, but with none of the rebarbative jargon-mongering of others in the professoriate. His references to the usual suspects—from Marx, Freud and Adorno through Lacan and Derrida, to Deleuze and Guattari, Žižek and Agamben—are never gratuitous, but always helpful in understanding the literary, historical, and psychological terrain he explores.”—Willard Spiegelman, Wall Street Journal “Matthew Beaumont’s prose is the golden thread of elegance and erudition we need to guide us through the labyrinth of the modern city. These essays confirm him to be simultaneously the possessor of a coherent and convincing overview of emergent Modernist thought and creativity in the urban context, and the inheritor of all the radical subjectivities he engages with. This is a superb and always engrossing collection.”—Will Self, author of Psychogeography “[The Walker] is absolutely fascinating and [Beaumont’s] literary references are wonderful … I absolutely loved it.”—Jo Good, BBC Radio London “The Walker seeks to take its reader on an intriguing journey … if you’re looking for some escapism that goes beyond the clichés of repetitive travel literature, this could well be the book for you.”—Northern Soul “[Beaumont’s] style is a treat—elegant, intelligent and entertaining as he describes the ways we read a city with our feet and mind, and guides us through a history of walking writing from Dickens and Poe to Marx and Žižek.”—Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times “An uncanny and haunting foreshadowing of our cities as they now appear to us … familiar subjects are given revelatory new interpretations … thought-provoking.”—Margaret Drabble, Times Literary Supplement “Drawing on numerous literary sources, both familiar and obscure, Beaumont takes the reader on a labyrinthine journey into the literature of walking and thinking.”—Sean O’Hagan, Observer“[A] heady blend of history and theory.”—New Yorker “Fascinating … those interested in how literature has explored urban modernity are sure to find ample food for thought.”—Publishers Weekly“Dazzling.”—Eminetra “Dazzlingly erudite.”—Chris Moss, Guardian “Elegantly written and compellingly argued … A highly commendable, engaging, and thoroughly researched study, The Walker infuses the poetics of walking with the politics of homing.”—‪Maxim Shadurski‬, English Studies‬‬“Striking … a poetic heft rings resoundingly throughout [Beaumont’s] commentary, justly inviting a reader’s own imagined extensions.”—Patrick James Dunagan, Rain Taxi Review of Books “From start to finish a delight to read, The Walker is the beginning of wisdom in all things metro-pedestrian.”—Ian Thomson, New Statesman “[The Walker] fascinates and informs from beginning to end … Beaumont has positioned himself as the foremost theorist of walking working in English literary studies today.”—Jeremy Withers, The Wellsian“Intriguing … The Walker celebrates the secret, subversive life of cities and the people who pace their streets.”—Jane Shilling, Daily Mail “[A] well-researched work of literary criticism.”—Hannah Beckerman, Observer“Drawing on numerous literary sources, both familiar and obscure, Beaumont takes the reader on a labyrinthine journey into the literature of walking and thinking … Baudelaire, the flâneur poet of the Parisian dispossessed of another time, would surely have approved.”—Sean O’Hagan, Guardian

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Book SynopsisAs a child, Lucy Mangan was reading all the time, using books to navigate the challenges and complexities of this world and many others. As an adult, she uses her new relationship with literature to seize upon the most important question: (how) do books prepare us for life?Bookish picks up where Bookworm left off: at the cusp of teenage, when everything including the way we read undergoes a not-so-subtle transformation. Here, Mangan vividly recounts her metamorphosis from young bookworm to bookish adult, from the way GCSE curricula can impact our relationship with literature to the growing pains of swapping the pleasures of re-reading for those of book-hoarding. Revisiting the books of all genres - from thrillers and bonkbusters to historical sagas and apocalyptic zombie stories - that ferried her through each important stages of life falling in love, finding a job, becoming a mother and navigating grief Bookish is a coming-of-age in books. It''s an ode to our favourite bookish spaces - from the smallest secondhand bookstalls to libraries, glorious big bookshops and our very own book rooms - and a love story to how books not only shelter our souls through hard times and help us find ourselves when we feel lost, but also help us connect with the people we love through shared stories.

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Book SynopsisHecate-like, A True & Just Record invites us to the three-way crossroads of poetry, feminist rhetorics, and early modern studies. Kate Bolton Bonnici weaves together archival materials from the English witch trials, 20th- century poets and philosophers, and her own family. With fury and care, haunted by absences, these poems—all also forms of experimental scholarship—interrogate, disrupt, and play.Here, a multitude of stellar engagements delve spiritedly into what sonic and visual presences may be made of form, utterance, accusation, exchange, and page on the troubled edge of devilish societal inquisition ... . Bring on the prizes, this poetry is delicious! Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, author of Look at This BlueKate Bolton Bonnici’s A True & Just Record movingly demonstrates poetry’s capacity to forge critical and philosophical dialogue across time and space. ... The result is a daring and gorgeous poetic conversation. Melissa E. Sanchez, Donald T. Regan Professor, University of PennsylvaniaWitch as spell, curse, praise, eulogy, recovery, incantation, archival raid and save, library as cathedral and books as catechism — as befits poetry as anarchic art, in Kate Bolton Bonnici’s hands the sacred is barbaric and the profane is holy. ... A wicked and wise achievement. Fred D’Aguiar, author of Letters to America and For the UnnamedBonnici’s collection reveals that, far from being remote and unapproachable, centuries-old writings remain vibrantly relevant to our own historical moment. Kimberly Johnson, author of Fatal

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Book SynopsisThis concise yet comprehensive study explores innovative practice in the novel and, from the perspective of creative writing, the astonishing resilience of the novel form. It offers a practical guide to the many possibilities available to the writer of the novel, with each chapter offering exercises to encourage innovation and to expand the creative writer's narrative skills. Beginning with early iterations of the novel in the 17th century, this book follows the evocation of innovation in the novel through Realism, Modernism, Postmodernism and into today's dizzying array of digital and interactive possibilities. While guiding the reader through the possibilities available (in both genre and literary fiction), this book encourages both aspiring and established writers to produce novels with imagination, playfulness and gravitas. Dynamic and interactive, this text is distinctive in offering a grounding in the literary history of the novel, while also equipping readers to write in the fTrade ReviewI highly recommend Novel Ideas for aspiring writers and creative writing tutors - the volume combines sound practical advice with detailed knowledge of wider literary and theoretical contexts. Beautifully written, informative and accessible, this is an essential text. * James Miller, Kingston University London, UK *With entertaining and provocative exercises, Paul Williams details the genesis and development of this essential art form, and includes a welcoming embrace of different voices and identities, as the novel arrives in the present moment. * Alan Michael Parker, Davidson College, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Novel 1.Rise of the Novel: It was a Dark and Stormy Night 2.Realism: The Willing Suspension of Disbelief 3.Modernism: The Fragmentation of Reality 4.Minimalism: Le Mot Juste 5.Magical Realism: How Flying Carpets Really Fly 6.Postmodernism: Constructing ‘Reality’ 7.Metafiction: Writing About the Mirror 8.The Transgressive Novel: Writing with Dark Ink 9.Ecriture Feminine: Writing the Body 10.Postcolonialism: Writing Back to Empire 11. The Graphic Novel and Illustrated Books 12. Interactive Narrative and Digital Possibilities Conclusion: Writing Innovative Fiction

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Book SynopsisThe most supportive, easy-to-use and focussed literature guides to help your students understand the texts they are studying at GCSE and A LevelTable of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The text Part 3: Critical approachs Part 4: Critical history Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A wonderful critical edition. I’m impressed with the quality of the essays. I will use this book in my Brit Lit II survey course." -- Mary Thompson, University of Sussex"This is a magnificent edition of Frankenstein! The articles selected are really relevant... The notes are also significant and informative, and the materials are equally interesting. Very good indeed!" -- Dr. Antonio Gonzales, Filologia Moderna, University of Castilla–La Mancha, Spain

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Book SynopsisDrawing parallels with the #MeToo movement, this book explores how a series of brilliant female authors in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries cleverly used the novel as a vehicle for ground-breaking discussions about consent. -- .

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The Historians of Ancient Rome is the most comprehensive collection of ancient sources for Roman history available in a single English volume. After a general introduction on Roman historical writing, extensive passages from more than a dozen Greek and Roman historians and biographers trace the history of Rome over more than a thousand years: from the cityâs foundation by Romulus in 753 B.C.E. (Livy) to Constantineâs edict of toleration for Christianity (313 C.E.)Selections include many of the high points of Romeâs climb to world domination: the defeat of Hannibal; the conquest of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean; the defeat of the Catilinarian conspirators; Caesarâs conquest of Gaul; Antony and Cleopatra; the establishment of the Empire by Caesar Augustus; and the Roman Peace under Hadrian and long excepts from Tacitus record the horrors of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero.The book is intended both for undergraduate courses in Roman history and for the gen

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Book Synopsis''I am beginning to realize that taking the self out of our essays is a form of repression. Taking the self out feels like obeying a gag order - pretending an objectivity where there is nothing objective about the experience of confronting and engaging with and swooning over literature''On the last day of December 2009 Kate Zambreno, then an unpublished writer, began a blog arising from her obsession with literary modernism. Widely shared on social media, Zambreno''s blog became an outlet for her highly informed and passionate rants and melancholy portraits of the fates of the modernist ''wives and mistresses,'' reclaiming the traditionally pathologized biographies of Vivienne Eliot, Jane Bowles, Jean Rhys, and Zelda Fitzgerald: writers and artists themselves who served as male writers'' muses only to end their lives silenced, erased, and institutionalized. Over the course of two years, her blog helped create a community of writers and devised a new feminist discourse

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Book SynopsisThe stunning new novel from the author of the National Book Award–finalist A Children’s BibleTrade Review"Tender but never sentimental, wearing its intelligence in a low-slung style, Dinosaurs is a garden of earthly delights." -- Laura Mechling - Vogue"Deceptively simple and quietly lovely, Dinosaurs is a compassionate character study of a loner who discovers community. " -- Adrienne Westenfeld - Esquire"Effortlessly readable... there is something new and unusual about Dinosaurs." -- Sam Sacks - The Wall Street Journal"Quietly powerful" -- Adam Begley - The Spectator"This gentle, redemptive novel follows a damaged, trusting man as he heals through human connection and requited love… it leaves a warm afterglow and an optimism that lingers." -- Sally Morris - Daily Mail"Dinosaurs’ solidifies a new phase of Millet’s career. . . . The spaciousness of the style makes the sense of loss richer and the questions posed — what constitutes moral action, how best can we help one another — at once simpler and more profound." -- Christine Smallwood - The New York Times"Millet has perfected charged, science-based prose that takes a surgeon’s loupe to how people interact with nature." -- The San Francisco Chronicle"Dinosaurs is sharp and implacably funny; it evades the sanctimony you’d expect." -- Katy Waldman - The New Yorker

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Book SynopsisA farewell to Eastern Europe and its vanishing culture.

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Book SynopsisBrea and Mallory, passionate bibliophiles, and hosts of the Reading Glasses podcast are not too shy to admit that the book-lovers community can easily get a bit snobby and pretentious. Many people with the desire to read get lost in the smog of countless sources commanding how much you should be reading and what you must keep on your shelves. Take in a breath of fresh air with The No-Pressure Book Journal. This journal is carefully designed to help people read better by finding and achieving their reading goals without any guilt, shame, or pressure. Along with plenty of space to track your reading, The No-Pressure Book Journal offers unique prompts, thoughtful essays on reading topics (like how to dump a book when you just aren't feeling it, without a hint of remorse!), and dedicated sections to record all your exciting and insightful reading reflections. This is the perfect journal for readersfrom those who speed through their TBR lists on the regular, to those who just thought, what is a TBR list?Elevate your reading and writing life, on your own schedule and at your own pace, with The No-Pressure Book Journal.

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.Water is the element that, more than any other, ties human beings in to the world around them from the oceans that surround us to the water that makes up most of our bodies. Exploring the cultural and philosophical implications of this fact, Bodies of Water develops an innovative new mode of posthuman feminist phenomenology that understands our bodies as being fundamentally part of the natural world and not separate from or privileged to it. Building on the works by Luce Irigaray, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Gilles Deleuze, Astrida Neimanis's book is a landmark study that brings a new feminist perspective to bear on ideas of embodiment and ecological ethics in the posthuman critical moment.Trade ReviewFor the last couple of decades, feminist theory has been immersed in a new materialist wave that has produced among the most innovative and capacious ways to think and to respond critically--ontologically, ethically, and politically--within the depths of the ongoing ecological crises. If hardly any field of philosophy, cultural studies, or science studies has been as well-equipped to think the posthuman turn as feminist approaches have, Astrida Neimanis's Bodies of Water brilliantly synthesizes, illustrates, and continues this feminist ebullition. * Hypatia *To read Astrida Neimanis’s Bodies of Water is to immerse oneself in a fluid poetics, contemplating the teeming, virtual infinity of lifeforms for which water, in its myriad incarnations, supplies the medium of connection and dispersal; of gestation and differentiation through space-time. Through its feminist posthuman phenomenological lens, this work recasts the intertextual net eloquently and generously, re-inflecting a polyphony of feminist, philosophical, poetic, and scientific voices to address our planetary emergency in the wake of ecocidal extractionist and consumerist practices. -- Marion May Campbell, Deakin University * Swamphen Journal *[Neimanis] does however, offer some important and somewhat revolutionary concepts to environmental educators and researchers in both her analysis of what she terms watery embodiment and in her intentional melding of posthu-man feminist theory with phenomenology. Neimanis is immediately frank about the reasons why embracing both of these concepts is crucial in these times, citing increasing Anthropocenic global water crises as an obvious instigator of the need to reconsider how we understand, and act on, the impact of our human bodies on our surrounding ecology. -- Lisa Siegel * Australian Journal of Environmental Education *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: Figuring Bodies of Water Bodies of Water (A Genealogy of a Figuration) Posthuman Feminism for the Anthropocene Living with the Problem Water is What We Make It The Possibility of Posthuman Phenomenology CHAPTER ONE: Embodying Water: Feminist Phenomenology for Posthuman Worlds A Posthuman Politics of Location Milky Ways: Tracing Posthuman Feminisms How to Think (About) a Body of Water: Posthuman Phenomenology Between Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze How to Think (As) a Body of Water: Access, Amplify, Describe! Posthuman Ties in a Too-Human World CHAPTER TWO: Posthuman Gestationality: Luce Irigaray and Water's Queer Repetitions Hydrological Cycles Elemental Bodies: Irigaray as Posthuman Phenomenologist? Love Letters to Watery Others: Marine Lover of Friedrich Nietzsche Gestationality as (Sexuate) Difference and Repetition The Onto-Logic of Amniotics (Queering Water’s Repetitions) Bodies of Water Beyond Humanism CHAPTER THREE: Fishy Beginnings Other Evolutions Dissolving Origin Stories Carrier Bags and Hypersea Wet Sex Waters Remembered (Moving Below the Surface) Unknowability as Planetarity (Or, Becoming the Water that We Cannot Become) Aspiration, That Oceanic Feeling CHAPTER FOUR: Imagining Water in the Anthropocene Prologue / Kwe Swimming into the Anthropocene Learning from Anti-Colonial Waters Water is Life? Commodity, Charity and Other Repetitions Material Imaginaries and Other Aqueous Questions REFERENCES NOTES INDEX

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Book SynopsisThis collection of beautiful Persian love poetry is richly illustrated with images from the British Museumâ s world-famous collection.

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Book SynopsisCelebrate the timeless wit and wisdom of Jane Austen with this exquisite collection of classic quotations, fascinating facts and trivia questions that will enchant and inspire. Each page is filled with tart humour, astute observations, and the essential truths of love and life, showcasing Austen at her finest.

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

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Book Synopsis'Everything a reader could desire: wit, passion, mystery, brilliant detective work, a love of rare books, a deep dive into literary history and, best of all, the restoration of reputation for a group of great women authors whose names should never have been forgotten' Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, LovePublishing to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. It all started with a book that made me curious. When rare books dealer Rebecca Romney found an emerald clothbound edition of Evelina by Frances Burney, she was happy to discover that she'd stumbled across a novel by one of Jane Austen's favourite authors. Inspired by the connection between the two writers, she returned to Austen's books with a new lens, picking out clues sprinkled throughout her works that pointed to the writers she had admired. Austen read William Shakespeare, John Milton, Daniel Defoe, and Samuel Richardson, all authors Rebecca had read. But Austen also read Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Hannah More, Charlotte Smith, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth, all authors Romney hadn't. These female writers all sat proudly on Austen's bookshelf, but have disappeared from ours. Romney became fascinated with these writers and wanted to answer three important questions: What were the stories behind the lives of these women? Why have they disappeared from our bookshelves? Who wrote them out of history? She had a mission, an obligation: she needed to collect Jane Austen's bookshelf.

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

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling phenomenon - an enthralling 6,000-year journey through the history of books and readingA FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE 2023'Outstanding, universal and unique' NEW YORK TIMES'A literary phenomenon.' TLS'Masterly.' ECONOMIST'Mindboggling' TELEGRAPHLong before books were mass-produced, scrolls hand copied on reeds pulled from the Nile were the treasures of the ancient world. Emperors and Pharaohs were so determined to possess them that they dispatched emissaries to the edges of the earth to bring them back.In Papyrus, celebrated classicist Irene Vallejo traces the dramatic history of the book and the fight for its survival. This is the story of the book's journey from oral tradition to scrolls to codices, and how that transition laid the very foundation of Western culture. And it is a story full of heroic adventures, bloodshed and megalomania - from the battlefields of Alexander the Great and the palaces of Cleopatra to the libraries of war-torn Sarajevo and Oxford.An international bestseller, Papyrus brings the ancient world to life and celebrates the enduring power of the written word.Trade ReviewA literary phenomenon . . . didactic and daring . . . elegant and richly digressive. * Times Literary Supplement *'Outstanding, universal and unique' * New York Times *[A] bestselling phenomenon... Irene Vallejo recounts the birth of literary culture in the ancient world while interweaving dynamic, thrilling tales that underscore and celebrate the power of words to change the world. * Financial Times, Books of the Year *A mindboggling history of the earliest books... Vallejo is a novelist and she has a storyteller's ability to animate her subjects... and the story she tells is impressively rip-roaring. She draws a six-thousand-year line from the clay tablets of Mesopotamia to the e-reader tablets of today and leaves her readers inspired, invigorated and sincerely grateful for the invention of the book.' * Henry Eliot, Daily Telegraph *Packed with fascinating insights into literacy in the ancient world... Vallejo is a diligent scholar, excelling with her accounts of the human experience of books in the era. * i news *Irene Vallejo, a Spanish journalist and scholar, has a writer's passion for books and a classicist's fascination with the way they came to be. She is also imaginative, lively and contemporary. In her hands written texts are not only a sensual pleasure, but living and frequently disruptive... Ms Vallejo has a notable talent for evoking ancient scenes. Her description, for example, of the poet Martial returning to Spain from Rome, near the end of the book, is masterly. * Economist *This prize-winning Spanish title has a classy jacket and impressive heft, which is only fitting really, since it celebrates the book as an object. More enticingly still, novelist and essayist Vallejo enlivens history with imagination and personal anecdote as she traces the book's lineage from scrolls made of aquatic plant pith to codices and tablets, digressing to show how its development is interwoven with the development of western civilisation. Is Papyrus available as an ebook? Yes, but I'll bet any reader drawn to it is going to want to save up for the hardcover. * Observer *In this generous, sprawling work... Vallejo sets out to provide a panoramic survey of how books shaped not just the ancient world but ours too. While she pays due attention to the physicality of the book... Vallejo is equally interested in what goes on inside its covers. And also, more importantly, what goes on inside a reader when they take up a volume and embark on an imaginative and intellectual dance that might just change their life. As much as a history of books, Papyrus is also a history of reading. * Guardian *An excellent, illuminating celebration... Vallejo's vigorous celebration of book culture excels at illuminating the ancient world through contemporary references - including to Margaret Atwood, Bob Dylan and Taxi Driver - and draws revealing parallels between antiquity and today.' * The Irish Times *[A] masterpiece . . . I am absolutely sure that it will continue to be read when its readers today are already in the afterlife. * Mario Vargas Llosa *

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisWhat can freedom really mean?'One of the most electrifying writers at work in America today, among the sharpest and most supple thinkers of her generation' OLIVIA LAINGIn this invigorating, essential book, Maggie Nelson explores how we might think, experience or talk about freedom. Drawing on pop culture, theory and real life, she follows freedom - with all its complexities - through four realms: art, sex, drugs and climate. On Freedom offers a bold new perspective on the challenging times in which we live.'Tremendously energising' Guardian'This provocative meditation...shows Nelson at her most original and brilliant' New York Times'Nelson is such a friend to her reader, such brilliant company... Exhilarating' Literary Review* A New York Times Notable Book *Trade ReviewWith insight and intellectual rigour Nelson wrestles the concept of "freedom" away from its contemporary political misuses and explores what it means in the context of art, sex, drugs and climate. * Guardian *Part of what makes [Nelson's] writing so compelling is a comfort with uncertainty... It is a delight to spend time with Nelson's erudite mind. * Times Literary Supplement *Nelson is such a friend to her reader, such brilliant company. Her book is a nuanced, exhilarating rallying cry for all those who are tired of the drab norms of our tech-topia and who long for another conversation * Literary Review *[Nelson's] books vary between an academic or lyrical register, but all revel in the recognition that feeling and thought aren't fixed... They encourage a slowing down, an absorbing... [and a] willingness for intellectual and linguistic exploration. * Financial Times *This account soars in its ability to find nuance in considering questions of enormous importance... Once again, Nelson proves herself a masterful thinker and an unparalleled prose stylist. * Starred Publishers Weekly Review *

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Book SynopsisTeaching writing is not for the faint of heart, but it can be a tremendous gift to teachers and students. Students often approach writing courses with trepidation because they think of writing as a mystical and opaque process. Teachers often approach these same courses with dread because of the enormous workload and the often-unpolished skills of new writers. This approachable composition textbook for beginning writers contends that writing can be a better experience for everyone when taught as an empathetic and respectful conversation. In a time in which discourse is not always civil and language is not always tended carefully, a conversation-based writing approach emphasizes intention and care. Written by a teacher with more than fifteen years of experience in the college writing classroom, Composition as Conversation explores what happens when the art of conversation meets the art of writing. Heather Hoover shows how seven virtues--including curiosity, attentiveness, relatability, open-mindedness, and generosity--inform the writing process and can help students become more effective writers. She invites writers of all skill levels to make meaningful contributions with their writing. This short, accessible, and instructive book offers a reflective method for college-level writing and will also work well in classical school, high school, and homeschool contexts. It demystifies the writing process and helps students understand why their writing matters. It will energize teachers of writing as they encourage their students to become careful readers and observers, intentional listeners, and empathetic arguers. The book also provides helpful sample assignments.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Composition as Conversation1. Be Curious2. Be Attentive3. Be Relatable4. Be on Topic5. Be Engaging6. Be Open-Minded7. Be GenerousConclusion: Stay in ConversationAppendix 1: Sample Call for PapersAppendix 2: Research Proposal TemplateAppendix 3: Annotated Bibliography GuideAppendix 4: Peer Review Interview and Peer Review GuideAppendix 5: Research Essay Guided RevisionAppendix 6: Revision Workshop TemplateAppendix 7: Conversation Extension PlanAppendix 8: Sample Conference PanelAppendix 9: Conference Response SheetAppendix 10: Ongoing Research AssignmentIndex

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Book SynopsisBooks That Changed the World tells the fascinating stories behind 50 books that, in ways great and small, have changed the course of human history. Andrew Taylor sets each text in its historical context and explores its wider influence and legacy. Whether he's discussing the incandescent effect of The Qu'ran, the enduring influence of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, of the way in which Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe galavanized the anti-slavery movement, Taylor has written a stirring and informative testament to human ingenuity and endeavour. Ranging from The Iliad to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the Kama Sutra to Lady Chatterley's Lover, this is the ultimate, thought-provoking read for book-lovers everywhere.Trade Review'Fascinating to dip into' Manchester Evening News. * Manchester Evening News *Table of ContentsIntroduction. THE ILIAD - c.8th century, Homer. THE HISTORIES - 5th century BC, Herodotus. THE ANALECTS - 5th century BC, Confucius. THE REPUBLIC - 4th century BC, Plato. THE BIBLE - 2nd century BC-2nd century AD. ODES - 23-13 BC, Horace. GEOGRAPHIA - c.AD 100-170. KAMA SUTRA - 2nd or 2rd century AD, Mallanaga Vatsyanyana. THE QU'RAN - 7th century. CANON OF MEDICINE - 1025, Avicenna. THE CANTERBURY TALES - 1380s-90s, Geoffrey Chaucer. THE PRINCE - 1532, Niccolo Machiavelli. ATLAS, or, COSMOGRAPHIC MEDITATIONS - 1585-95, Gerard Mercator. DON QUIXOTE - 1605-15, Miguel de Cervantes. FIRST FOLIO - 1623, William Shakespeare. AN ANATOMICAL STUDY OF THE MOTION OF THE HEART AND BLOOD IN ANIMALS - 1628, William Harvey. DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE TWO CHIEF WORLD SYSTEMS - 1632, Galileo Galiliei. PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA - 1687, Isaac Newton. A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE - 1755, Samuel Johnson. THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER - 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. THE WEALTH OF NATIONS - 1776, Adam Smith. COMMON SENSE - 1776, Thomas Paine. LYRICAL BALLADS - 1798, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - 1813, Jane Austen. A CHRISTMAS CAROL - 1843, Charles Dickens. THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO - 1848, Karl Marx. MOBY-DICK - 1851, Herman Melville. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN - 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe. MADAME BOVARY - 1857, Gustave Flaubert. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES - 1859, Charles Darwin. ON LIBERTY - 1859, John Stuart Mill. WAR AND PEACE - 1869, Leo Tolstoy. THE TELEPHONE DIRECTORY - 1878, New Haven District Telephone Company. THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS - 1885, translated by Sir Richard Burton. A STUDY IN SCARLET - 1888, Arthur Conan Doyle. THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS - 1899, Sigmund Freud. THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION - 1905. POEMS - 1920, Wilfred Owen. RELATIVITY: THE SPECIAL AND THE GENERAL THEORY - 1920, Albert Einstein. ULYSSES - 1922, James Joyce. LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER - 1928, D.H. Lawrence. THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST AND MONEY - 1936, John Maynard Keynes. IF THIS IS A MAN - 1947, Primo Levi. NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR - 1949, George Orwell. THE SECOND SEX - 1949, Simone de Beauvoir. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE - 1951, J.D. Salinger. THINGS FALL APART - 1958, Chinua Achebe. SILENT SPRING - 1962, Rachel Carson. QUOTATIONS FROM CHAIRMAN MAO - 1964, Mao Zedong. HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE - 1997, J.K. Rowling. Index.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review[A] startling collection of essays . . . The passion and beauty of her voice is unabated . . . Azadi is the outcome of a life of writing from the frontline of solidarity and humanism, and from a writer who is perhaps only now reaching the height of her literary powers * Guardian *An eloquent and scorching indictment of the growing authoritarianism of Hindu nationalism . . . it is a tour de force * i *Azadi is a deeply-committed literary artist’s vision of what is wrong with our world today and a heartfelt appeal to join together to try and heal the wounds before it is too late * Telegraph India *

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Book SynopsisBorn Jalal ad-Din Mohammed Balkhi in Persia early in the thirteenth century, the poet known as Rumi expressed the deepest feelings of the heart through his poetry. This volume consists of new translations edited by Deepak Chopra to evoke the rich mood and music of Rumi''s love poems. Exalted yearning, ravishing ecstasy, and consuming desire emerge from these poems as powerfully today as they did on their creation more than 700 years ago. ''These poems reflect the deepest longings of the human heart as it searches for the divine. They celebrate love. Each poetic whisper is urgent, expressing the desire that penetrates human relationships and inspires intimacy with the self, silently nurturing an affinity for the Beloved. Both Fereydoun Kia, the translator, and I hope that you will share the experience of ravishing ecstasy that the poems of Rumi evoked in us. In this volume we have sought to capture in English the dreams, wishes, hopes, desires, and feelings of a Persian poet

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Book SynopsisBeginning theory has been helping students navigate through the thickets of literary and cultural theory for over two decades. This new and expanded fourth edition continues to offer readers the best single-volume introduction to the field. The bewildering variety of approaches, theorists and technical language is lucidly and expertly unravelled. Unlike many books which assume certain positions about the critics and the theories they represent, Beginning theory allows readers to develop their own ideas once first principles and concepts have been grasped. The book has been updated for this edition and includes a new introduction, expanded chapters, and an overview of the subject ('Theory after "Theory"') which maps the arrival of new 'isms' since the second edition appeared in 2002 and the third edition in 2009.Trade Review'There is no other book that offers such a comprehensive account of the field, combined with thoughtful, detailed exposition of the theoretical approaches under discussion. Far from being a modest survey of contemporary literary theory, it has had a vital role in shaping the way that theory is taught in Britain and North America.'English Association Newsletter‘In the fourth edition of his popular introduction to literary theory, Barry (emer., Aberystwyth Univ., Wales) amends and updates earlier versions (1995, 2002, 2009) and adds sections on newer theories such as consilience and posthumanism. The book is written explicitly for students of English literature, and in citing examples Barry tends to stick to the canonical—Wordsworth, Austen, Shakespeare, et al.—which renders the book less useful than it might be for students of other literatures and languages. Nevertheless, Barry’s readable text focuses helpfully on putting students at ease and giving them tools to think through difficult concepts and theories. In addition, practical exercises familiarize students new to the discipline with different ways of using theory to analyze literature. Most of the changes to the new edition are insubstantial, and some newer theories and practices, such as those relating to technology, are given short shrift. The majority of the references and suggestions for further reading are also the same as those used in earlier versions. Even so the book provides an approachable, understandable introduction to literary theory and would be useful to those not already in possession of the third edition.’M. Anderson, Southern Oregon University, Choice connect, Vol. 56, No. 2, October 2018 -- .Table of ContentsPreface to the fourth editionIntroduction1 Theory before 'theory'2 Structuralism 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction 4 Postmodernism 5 Psychoanalytic criticism 6 Feminist criticism7 Queer theory8 Marxist criticism 9 New historicism and cultural materialism 10 Postcolonial criticism 11 Stylistics 12 Narratology 13 Ecocriticism14 Literary theory – a history in ten events15 Theory after 'Theory'AppendicesWhere do we go from here? Further readingIndex

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Book Synopsis“She was our conscience. Our seer. Our truth-teller. She was a magician with language, who understood the power of words.” - Oprah WinfreyA vital non-fiction collection from one of the most celebrated and revered American writersSpanning four decades, these essays, speeches and meditations interrogate the world around us. They are concerned with race, gender and globalisation. The sweep of American history and the current state of politics. The duty of the press and the role of the artist. Throughout Mouth Full of Blood our search for truth, moral integrity and expertise is met by Toni Morrison with controlled anger, elegance and literary excellence.The collection is structured in three parts and these are heart-stoppingly introduced by a prayer for the dead of 9/11, a meditation on Martin Luther King and a eulogy for James Baldwin. Morrison’s Nobel lecture, on the power of language, is accompanied by lectures to Amnesty International and the Newspaper Association of America. She speaks to graduating students and visitors to both the Louvre and America’s Black Holocaust Museum. She revisitsThe Bluest Eye, Sula and Beloved; reassessing the novels that have become touchstones for generations of readers.Mouth Full of Blood is a powerful, erudite and essential gathering of ideas that speaks to us all. It celebrates Morrison’s extraordinary contribution to the literary world.Trade ReviewA large, rich, heterogeneous book, and hallelujah... Mouth Full of Blood is a bracing reminder of what words do, how carefully they should and can be used… magnificent [and] rigorously argued -- RO Kwon * Guardian *Morrison's voice rings out, bold and hopeful, welcoming us into a world where moral integrity reigns * Culture Whisperer *Mouth Full of Blood demonstrate[s] the writer’s enduring eagerness to examine the contradictions of being both “native” and “alien” to her own country… She takes pride in challenging a traditional literary canon… at every stage, the reader is grateful for an author allowing, encouraging even, such intimate access to their work, thought and reflections -- K Biswas * New Statesman *[Mouth Full of Blood] proves Morrison to be as astute and important an essayist as she is a novelist… These pieces are a wake-up call… [and] a brilliant insight into the mind and work of one of the world’s finest writers -- Anita Sethi * i *Morrison’s fierce yearning for literature to be a more true and just realm over time, is a gift… [Mouth Full of Blood] is startling in its relevance to the conflicts and challenges of the present moment. In a time of turmoil and political greed, her writings have the power to bring, not a false comfort, but the hard-won belief that words can reshape the world. Toni Morrison’s own words certainly have -- Nilanjana Roy * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThis is an edition of Christopher Marlowe’s play Dr Faustus as it was printed in its revised and augmented form in 1616. It follows the publication of the Malone Society edition of the 1604 text in 2018. This is one of the most celebrated of all Elizabethan plays, famous for its treatment of the damnation of Faustus and his struggles with his divided conscience. It combines spectacular visual effects with sophisticated theological discussion.The edition reproduces in facsimile the only surviving copy of the play, which is held in the British Library. The differences from the 1604 text, including revisions and additional passages, are fully described and analysed, and placed in the context of changing theatre practices at the time. A major feature of the edition is that it identifies the printer of the 1616 text, whose name has been hitherto unknown.Table of ContentsIntroductionDr Faustus 1616

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Book Synopsis“This admirable new and expanded Norton Critical Edition, with its judiciously selected and expertly curated secondary materials, both historical and critical, and accompanied by Jonathan Warren's excellent introduction, is an invaluable resource for students, instructors, and scholars.” —Sheila Teahan, Michigan State University

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Book SynopsisPractising French Grammar, fifth edition, offers a set of varied and accessible exercises for developing a practical awareness of French as it is spoken and written today.Practising French Grammar provides concise summaries of key grammatical points at the beginning of each exercise, as well as model answers to the exercises and translations of difficult words. The lively examples and authentic texts have been updated to reflect current usage.This is an invaluable resource for students and teachers of French at the intermediate to advanced levels.This book can be used alone or as the ideal companion to the fifth edition of French Grammar and Usage by Richard Towell, MarieâNoÃlle Lamy, and Roger Hawkins (available to purchase separately ISBN 978â1â032â44463â5). An Instructor and Student Resource site also accompanies the book and offers additional resources at https://routledgelearning.com/frenchgrammarandusage.

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