Literature: history and criticism Books
HarperCollins Publishers The Science of Storytelling
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
£10.44
Dorling Kindersley Ltd Shakespeare His Life and Works
Book SynopsisUnravel the history, themes, and language of Shakespeare''s plays, poems, and sonnets with this beautifully illustrated guide to his life and works.Comedy and romance, history, and tragedy, Shakespeare''s canon has it all. Some 400 years after they were written and first performed, his works still remain fresh and relevant today. Discover the work of the world''s most celebrated playwright with:- A clear and accessible format- Act-by-act plot summaries of all of his 39 plays with lists of characters- Guidance on how to read and interpret his great sonnets and narrative poems- Plays ordered by time and genre, helping readers to trace the development of Shakespeare''s topics, themes, and artistry- Sidebars that clarify the mythological, geographical, and historical context of each play and decode its language, dramatic action, and themesShakespeare fans will revel in the marvellous depiction of the Stratford-upon-Avon-born Bard hiTrade Review"Should one attempt a complete front-to-back reading, the result would be a thorough grounding in Shakespeare's work and an enlarged astonishment at the range of his imagination." (Previous Edition, 2004) * The New York Times *
£22.50
Penguin Books Ltd The Booksellers Tale
Book SynopsisA SPECTATOR AND EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020''A joy. Each chapter instantly became my favourite'' David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas''Wonderful'' Lucy Mangan''The right book has a neverendingness, and so does the right bookshop.''This is the story of our love affair with books, whether we arrange them on our shelves, inhale their smell, scrawl in their margins or just curl up with them in bed. Taking us on a journey through comfort reads, street book stalls, mythical libraries, itinerant pedlars, radical pamphleteers, extraordinary bookshop customers and fanatical collectors, Canterbury bookseller Martin Latham uncovers the curious history of our book obsession - and his own. Part cultural history, part literary love letter and part reluctant memoir, this is the tale of one bookseller and many, many books.''If ferreting through bookshops is your idea of heaven, you''ll get the same pleasure from this treasure trove of a book'' Jake Kerridge, Sunday ExpressTrade ReviewThe Bookseller's Tale is a joy. I read the first chapters in a single binge-read, and each chapter instantly became my favourite ... Individually, the paragraphs are threads of the very best trivia: collectively, they become a cultural history of the book. Memoir-flecked, magpie-minded, relentlessly engaging ... I loved this gnarly old bookshop in nifty book form. -- David Mitchell, author of CLOUD ATLAS * Twitter *Martin Latham, who has sold [books] for more than 30 years, has done the tradition proud. His exploration of the history of books, and why we love them so much, is packed with touching stories and fascinating facts ... Underpinning the whole narrative is that simple pleasure, the love of a good book. -- Mark Mason * Daily Mail *Latham thinks bookshops should have an "Aladdin's cave feeling" and the same is true of this book, which combinesanecdotes about his career (guest author Spike Milligan was a liability) with a cultural history of reading, printing, bookselling, libraries and anything bookish you care to think of (there's even a digression on the 5,500 different species of booklice). If ferreting through bookshops is your idea of heaven, you'll get the same pleasure from this treasure trove of a book. -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Express *I loved this book, and I don't think I've read a book which is more crammed full of fantastic stories, interesting ideas, great quotes, great insights. It's not just on every page, it's in every paragraph. -- Simon Mayo, Scala RadioGarrulous, wide-ranging and humane ... The Bookseller's Tale has the teetering, ramshackle feeling of a reliably eclectic bookstore. -- Denis Duncan * Times Literary Supplement *Roaming across topics from legendary libraries to humble book pedlars, as well as historically overlooked literary forms like chapbooks and comfort reads, its appeal is vivid enough that even the electronic edition seems to exude the tantalising aroma of a used bookstore. -- Hephzibah Anderson * The Observer *A history and celebration of all things bookish ... This is a book that celebrates stories, scribbling in margins and the collecting, cherishing and even kissing of books - something done with surprising frequency, apparently ... ... Those who enjoy browsing in paper-scented bookshops, run by eccentric old storytellers with yarns to spare, will come away with something unexpected, reassuring and possibly worth a kiss. -- Katy Guest * The Guardian *For sheer enthusiasm, it will be hard to beat Martin Latham, bookseller at Waterstones Canterbury for three decades. His The Bookseller's Tale is a collection of tales about famous writers and bibliophiles, but above all a love letter to pages between covers. -- Paul Laity and Justine Jordan * The Guardian *A celebration of reading and readers and all things bookish. Entertaining, erudite, eccentric - The Bookseller's Tale is a delight. -- Alison Light, author of COMMON PEOPLE: THE HISTORY OF AN ENGLISH FAMILYAside from being a history of books, this is a love letter, larded with charming anecdotes. There's AS Byatt buying a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel and admitting she can't be seen doing it in London, and another customer having a heart attack in his shop and saying it would be "a great place to go". * Evening Standard *A shared love of books creates a fellowship that transcends race, culture, gender, age and class. This book, written with wit, elegance and understanding, by one who knows what he is talking about, celebrates the abiding pleasure, nourishment and comradeship that books provide. -- Salley Vickers, author of THE LIBRARIANDelightful ... a love letter to publishing. -- Jack Blackburn * The Times *God, this book is wonderful. -- Lucy ManganMartin Latham is a man of many parts ... This is jam packed full of interesting facts, amusing anecdotes, and witty quotes. It is to be devoured or dipped into, depending on one's taste and time and rewards both types of readers. A treat for book lovers. -- David Roche * BookBrunch *
£10.44
The University of Chicago Press The Rhetoric of Fiction
Book SynopsisThe first edition of The Rhetoric of Fiction transformed the criticism of fiction and soon became a classic in the field. One of the most widely used texts in fiction courses, it is a standard reference point in advanced discussions of how fictional form works, how authors make novels accessible, and how readers recreate texts, and its concepts and termssuch as the implied author, the postulated reader, and the unreliable narratorhave become part of the standard critical lexicon. For this new edition, Wayne C. Booth has written an extensive Afterword in which he clarifies misunderstandings, corrects what he now views as errors, and sets forth his own recent thinking about the rhetoric of fiction. The other new feature is a Supplementary Bibliography, prepared by James Phelan in consultation with the author, which lists the important critical works of the past twenty yearstwo decades that Booth describes as the richest in the history of the subject.
£23.75
Columbia University Press Dark Ecology
Book SynopsisTimothy Morton explores the foundations of the ecological crisis to reestablish our ties to nonhuman beings and rediscover playfulness and joy. Dark ecology puts us in an uncanny position of radical self-knowledge, illuminating our place in the biosphere and our belonging to a species in a sense that is far less obvious than we like to think.Trade ReviewIn often witty and humorous language, Timothy Morton provides a kind of affective atlas for the human era. The book calls for scholars to recognize the structures of entwinement between (the human) species and ecological phenomena and to develop modes of thought for accommodating them. -- Kate Marshall, University of Notre Dame Dark Ecology is a brave, brilliant interrogation of the presumptions that have driven our approach to the ecological and environmental challenges of our era. Anyone who is willing to ride the rollercoaster of ideas on which Morton takes us will reach the end brimming with new conceptual and intellectual energies with which to face up to our present limits and failures and to shape an alive and joyful future. -- Imre Szeman, University of Alberta Morton is a master of philosophical enigma. In Dark Ecology he treats us to an obscure ecognosis, the essentially unsolvable riddle of ecological being. Prepare to be endarkened! -- Michael Marder, author of The Philosopher's Plant and Pyropolitics Morton commands readers' attention with his free-form style... [Dark Ecology] extends his previous work to offer a seismically different vision of the future of ecology and humankind. Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Beginning After the End The First Thread The Second Thread The Third Thread Ending Before the Beginning Notes Index
£23.80
Dorling Kindersley Ltd Great Novels
Book SynopsisDiscover everything you ever wanted to know about the world''s greatest novels.From medieval romances and tales of chivalry found in the realist novels of the 19th century, to experimental modernist works and today''s explorations of the self, Great Novels explores the finest novels from around the world and through time.Tilt at windmills with Don Quixote, experience heartbreak with Tolstoy, discover the society in which Jane Austen lived, and delve into the complex rites of passage experienced by characters in modern novels. Find out what inspired writers to create their masterpieces, what their aims were, and how they set about writing them.Dive deep into the pages of this inspiring book to discover:- Paintings, photographs, and artefacts that tell the story of each novel and what inspired their authors- Superb images of first editions and manuscripts- The flavour of each novel through quotations and extended extracts - Ch
£22.50
Penguin Books Ltd Thomas Hardy
Book SynopsisThe seminal biography of a great poet, novelist and sacred figure in English writing, Thomas Hardy, from bestselling author Clare Tomalin. ''An extraordinary story, beautifully told. Tomalin is the most empathetic of biographers'' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday Paradox ruled Thomas Hardy''s life. His birth was almost his death; he became one of the great Victorian novelists and reinvented himself as one of the twentieth-century''s greatest poets; he was an unhappy husband and a desolate widower; he wrote bitter attacks on the English class system yet prized the friendship of aristocrats. In the hands of Whitbread Award-winning biographer Claire Tomalin, author of the bestselling Charles Dickens: A Life and The Invisible Woman, Thomas Hardy comes vividly alive. ''Another triumph for a biographer who goes from strength to strength'' Melvyn Bragg, Guardian, Books of the Year ''Tomalin provides an
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group United States
Book SynopsisGore Vidal''s reputation as America''s finest essayist is an enduring one. This collection, chosen by the author from 40 years of work, contains about two-thirds of what he published in various magazines and journals. He has divided the essays into three categories, or states. State of the art covers literature, including novelists and critics, bestsellers, pieces on Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Suetonius, Nabakov and Montaigne (a previosly uncollected essay from 1992). State of the union deals with politics and public life: sex, drugs, money, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, The Holy Family (his essay on the Kennedys), Nixon, and finally Monotheism and its Discontents , a scathing critique of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In state of being, we are given personal responses to people and events: recollections of his childhood, E. Nesbit, Tarzan, Tennessee Williams and Anais Nin.Trade ReviewMagnificent...irresistable from beginning to end. * THE TIMES *All the Vidals are on display in this glittering showcase... Long may he continue to nip and bite at the flanks of the corrupt, the powerful, the moronic and the self-serving. * GUARDIAN *The arc and span of Vidal's erudition and intelligence are prodigious... for forty years it has been Vidal's vocation to restore a witty and classically literate sense of memory and historical continuity to a country he calls "Amnesia" * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *Vidal is the outstanding literary radical of America. * Melvyn Bragg *
£16.14
WW Norton & Co To the Lighthouse
Book Synopsis“One of Woolf's most beloved novels, To the Lighthouse, finally gets a Norton Critical Edition. In Margaret Homans, To the Lighthouse has an ideal editor, for Homans brings her deep knowledge of the Victorian world Woolf portrays, her long admiration forTrade Review"Margaret Homans’ vision of To the Lighthouse is replete. A magnificent array of contexts complements the annotated text, including familial and literary sources for the novel; a chronology of its composition and reception; early reviews; and scholarly interpretations addressing gender, empire, and the role of the artist. The introduction considers the novel’s debt to philosophy, its structure and style, its revelation of the social changes wrought by World War I, and the effect of its Scottish setting. Having studied Woolf with Margaret Homans as an undergraduate, I am delighted that her thoughtful teaching is now widely available in this wonderful classroom edition." -- Emily Kopley, McGill University
£12.80
WW Norton & Co Hamlet
Book Synopsis“A perfect volume to initiate majors into the discipline and delight of carefully examining presumptions, priorities, language, and structures of both primary and secondary texts.” —Stephen R. Honeygosky, University of Pittsburgh
£12.99
WW Norton & Co Frankenstein
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
£11.99
WW Norton & Co Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Book Synopsis“The annotations are useful, particularly for references to biblical and other literary allusions. [The contexts] section is essential to alerting students to the many subtexts/contexts of the story.” —Maria Carrig, Carthage College
£9.99
WW Norton & Co Beowulf A Verse Translation
Book Synopsis“Accomplishes what before now had seemed impossible: a faithful rendering that is simultaneously an original and gripping poem in its own right.” —New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"Magnificent, breathtaking... Heaney has created something imperishable and great that is stainless—stainless, because its force as poetry makes it untouchable by the claw of literalism: it lives singly, as an English language poem." -- The Guardian
£12.99
Cambridge University Press English Literature in Context
This is the second edition of English Literature in Context, a popular textbook which provides an essential resource and reference tool for all English literature students. Designed to accompany students throughout their degree course, it offers a detailed narrative survey of the diverse historical and cultural contexts that have shaped the development of English literature, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day. Carefully structured for undergraduate use, the eight chronological chapters are written by a team of expert contributors who are also highly experienced teachers. Each chapter includes a detailed chronology, contextual readings of selected literary texts, annotated suggestions for further reading, a rich range of illustrations and textboxes, and thorough historical and literary overviews. This second edition has been comprehensively revised, with a new chapter on postcolonial literature, a substantially expanded chapter on contemporary literature, and the addition of over two hundred new critical references. Online resources include textboxes, chapter samples, study questions, and chronologies.
£24.69
Pearson Education Limited A Dolls House York Notes Advanced everything you
Book SynopsisFull of analysis and interpretation, historical background, discussions and commentaries, York Notes will help you get right to the heart of the text you’re studying, whether it’s poetry, a play or a novel.Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The Text Part 3: Critical Approaches Part 4: Critical Perspectives Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms
£7.59
Icon Books Queer: A Graphic History
Book Synopsis'Queer: A Graphic History Could Totally Change the Way You Think About Sex and Gender' ViceActivist-academic Meg-John Barker and cartoonist Jules Scheele illuminate the histories of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action in this groundbreaking non-fiction graphic novel.From identity politics and gender roles to privilege and exclusion, Queer explores how we came to view sex, gender and sexuality in the ways that we do; how these ideas get tangled up with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology and sexology; and how these views have been disputed and challenged.Along the way we look at key landmarks which shift our perspective of what's 'normal' - Alfred Kinsey's view of sexuality as a spectrum, Judith Butler's view of gendered behaviour as a performance, the play Wicked, or moments in Casino Royale when we're invited to view James Bond with the kind of desiring gaze usually directed at female bodies in mainstream media.Presented in a brilliantly engaging and witty style, this is a unique portrait of the universe of queer thinking.Trade ReviewCould totally change the way you think about sex and gender ... an utterly un-dusty tome that questions everything from the way we categorise our sexual desire to the foundations of happiness. -- VICEThis hopeful and welcoming attitude should encourage readers to queer their own lives in whatever ways feel right. -- Publishers WeeklyYanks the jargon of Foucault, Butler and a who's who of philosophers down from the clouds and into simple, clear messages -- Sydney Morning HeraldA concise, precise and beautifully illustrated introduction. -- Kieron GillenA playful, graphic analysis of the paradox that is queer theory - opens our hearts as much as it engages our minds. -- Kate BornsteinWith their inspired synthesis of words and imagery, MJ Barker and Jules Scheele take us beyond binaries to show us the richness of queer as a critique, as a verb and as an approach to life itself. -- Jane Czyzselska, DIVAExceptionally informative ... an invaluable and illuminating resource -- The BeatSucceeds in opening its rarefied subject matter to non-academic audiences and disrupting assumptions and preconceptions about gender and sexuality, not to mention race, class, and the idea of "normal." -- Library JournalUnexpected, extraordinary wit and erudition ... Aha moments come one right after another. One small step for queer theory, this project will leap the layman far down the path of tolerance and understanding. -- Foreword ReviewOne of the most enjoyable aspects of this book is the charm of Jules Scheele's understated, accessible illustrations ... The book holds a great amount of respect for this pantheon of theorists, even when problematizing some of their views, and the art communicates that respect effectively. -- Rain TaxiFresh interpretations and clever illustrations help bring new life to academic constructs and an understanding of the intersection of biology, psychology, and modern culture. -- Washington BladeStudents everywhere rejoice! For we have an explanation of queer theory that is simple, comprehensive, critical and inclusive ... as well as having popular culture references to make the ideas stick. -- Katherine Hubbard, University of Surrey
£15.29
Little, Brown & Company Solo Leveling, Vol. 3 (Manga)
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...
£14.39
Shanghai People's Publishing House The Kite Runner
Book Synopsis
£13.33
HarperCollins Publishers Pride and Prejudice Collins Classics
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.
£5.62
HarperCollins Publishers Byrne P Genius of Jane Austen
Book Synopsis''I relished every page This is the best book on Jane Austen I have ever read'Spectator''Compelling a delightful and engrossing book Byrne's passion is nothing if not persuasive'Sunday TimesWas Jane Austen a woman of prim manners and genteel calm? Or someone who behaved outrageously, filled with sharp wit and wild comedy?Looking afresh at adaptations of Austen's work from the BBC's Pride and Prejudice to Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility and the wildly successful Clueless bestselling biographer Paula Byrne presents a bold new portrait of Austen as you've never seen her before.A definitive and pioneering study of a wholly neglected aspect of Austen's art'' Michael Caines, TLSEntertaining and engaging'Literary Review..[Previously published as The Genius of Jane Austen]Trade Review‘I relished every page … Byrne’s knowledge of everything Austen wrote has an enviable thoroughness and perception which is rare among Austen scholars and which illuminates the whole of her text. I am tempted to say this is the best book on Jane Austen I have ever read.’ Paul Johnson, The Spectator ‘A definitive and pioneering study of a wholly neglected aspect of Austen’s art’ Michael Caines, Times Literary Supplement ‘A fascinating analysis that marries meticulous historical research with critical imagination and flair’ The Historical Journal
£7.49
HarperCollins Publishers M
Book SynopsisTHE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERAn anti-fascist history lesson disguised as a novel'New York TimesExtraordinary'TLSA masterpiece' Roberto SavianoA startling look into the fascist mindset, a portrait of unrelenting determination, and an impeccable work of historical fiction. M tells the story of the rise of fascism from within the mind of its founder. A gripping and masterful exposé, it explores Benito Mussolini's rise to power and a movement that, amidst a failing democracy, came to shape the world.Panoptic and polyphonic, Scurati's book gives us the experiences of the fearful and the feared, the rhetoric of both the revolutionaries and the reactionaries an immense mosaic' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, New StatesmanAn indisputable literary achievement Italo Calvino would have loved it' El PaìsTrade Review‘An anti-fascist history lesson disguised as a novel’ New York Times ‘A masterful historical account, an extraordinary and stimulating book. A portrait of Benito Mussolini all the more accurate and powerful as it is factual and rigorous. An audacious, fluid, dazzling production. A brilliant story’Le Figaro ‘An indisputable literary achievement. Scurati carefully examines history, with an experienced prose rich in literary allusions. Like Yourcenar, Gore Vidal, Sebald, Echenoz or Fences. Italo Calvino would have loved it’El Paìs ‘Resembles a political thriller … surprisingly modern. A must read’ Die Zeit ‘The novel Italy has been waiting for. A masterpiece.’ Roberto Saviano ‘Panoptic and polyphonic, Scurati’s book gives us the experiences of the fearful and the feared, the rhetoric of both the revolutionaries and the reactionaries … a multitude of short fragments that collectively add up to an immense mosaic’ Lucy Hughes-Hallett, New Statesman
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Inc How to Write a Sentence
Book SynopsisNew York Times Bestseller“Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style” —Adam Haslett, Financial Times“A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” —SlateIn this entertaining and erudite gem, world-class professor and New York Times columnist Stanley Fish offers both sentence craft and sentence pleasure, skills invaluable to any writer (or reader). Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving readers an instant play-by-play. Drawing on a wide range of great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works. It is a book that will stand the test of time.Trade Review"Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style." -- Financial Times "A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language." -- Slate "[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence." -- The New Yorker "Stanley Fish just might be America's most famous professor." -- BookPage "How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems-light reading for geeks." -- New York magazine "How to Write a Sentence isn't merely a prescriptive guide to the craft of writing but a rich and layered exploration of language as an evolving cultural organism. It belongs not on the shelf of your home library but in your brain's most deep-seated amphibian sensemaking underbelly." -- Maria Popova, Brain Pickings "[Fish's] approach is genially experiential-a lifelong reader's engagement whose amatory enthusiasm is an attempt to overthrow Strunk & White's infamous insistences on grammar by rote." -- New York Observer "In this small feast of a book Stanley Fish displays his love of the English sentence. His connoisseurship is broad and deep, his examples are often breathtaking, and his analyses of how the masterpieces achieve their effects are acute and compelling." -- New Republic "A sentence is, in John Donne's words, 'a little world made cunningly,' writes Fish. He'll teach you the art." -- People "This splendid little volume describes how the shape of a sentence controls its meaning." -- Boston Globe "Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop." -- Roy Blount Jr. "Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing." -- Booklist "Fish is a personable and insightful guide with wide-ranging erudition and a lack of pretension." -- National Post "For both aspiring writer and eager reader, Fish's insights into sentence construction and care are instructional, even inspirational." -- The Huffington Post "If you love language you'll find something interesting, if not fascinating, in [How to Write a Sentence]." -- CBSNews.com "[A] slender but potent volume. Fish, a distinguished law professor and literary theorist, is the anti-Strunk & White." -- The Globe and Mail "You'd get your money's worth from the quotations alone...if you give this book the attention it so clearly deserves, you will be well rewarded." -- Washington Times "The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen...all are cited throughout." -- Washington Post "How to Write a Sentence is the first step on the journey to the Promised Land of good writing." -- Saudi Gazette "How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing." -- Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, authors of "They Say/I Say" "Coming up with all-or-nothing arguments is simply what Fish does; and, in a sense, one of his most important contributions to the study of literature is that temperament...Whether people like Fish or not, though, they tend to find him fascinating." -- The New Yorker
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Art of Memoir
Book Synopsis“Karr is a national treasure—that rare genius who’s also a brilliant teacher. This joyful celebration of memoir packs transcendent insights with trademark hilarity. Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again. ” — George SaundersCredited with sparking the current memoir explosion, Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club spent more than a year at the top of the New York Times list. She followed with two other smash bestsellers: Cherry and Lit, which were critical hits as well.For thirty years Karr has also taught the form, winning teaching prizes at Syracuse. (The writing program there produced such acclaimed authors as Cheryl Strayed, Keith Gessen, and Koren Zailckas.) In The Art of Memoir, she synthesizes her expertise as professor and therapy patieTrade Review"Karr is a national treasure-that rare genius who's also a brilliant teacher. This joyful celebration of memoir packs transcendent insights with trademark hilarity. Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again. " -- George Saunders "Could have been called 'The Art of Living.'" -- San Francisco Chronicle "Mary Karr has written another astonishingly perceptive, wildly entertaining, and profoundly honest book-funny, fascinating, necessary. The Art of Memoir will be the definitive book on reading and writing memoir for years to come." -- Cheryl Strayed "Should be required reading for anyone attempting to write a memoir, but anyone who loves literature will enjoy it too." -- Wall Street Journal "Terrific and deliciously readable guide." -- Entertainment Weekly, "Must List" "Full of Karr's usual wit, compassion and, perhaps most reassuringly, self-doubt. Her fans should be delighted-and they can't go wrong reading the books she discusses, including her own." -- Washington Post "From a contemporary luminary of the form, Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir examines our enduring drive to make memory speak and to 'wring some truth from this godawful mess of a single life.'" -- Vogue "The Art of Memoir is passionate and irreverent-and reminds us why we love a good memoir." -- Elle "Mary Karr strikes a vein in The Art of Memoir." -- Vanity Fair "Karr is such fun to read-who else would combine the name Nabokov and the phrase "out the wazoo" on her very first page?" -- New Yorker "Engaging." -- Chicago Tribune "A veritable blueprint for the genre... Lovers of the form and aspiring scribblers alike will relish this comprehensive appreciation of and guide to 'writing the real self.'" -- O: The Oprah Magazine "With a trio of notable memoirs ("The Liars' Club," "Cherry," and "Lit"), Mary Karr is exquisitely qualified to write this book, a kind of compendium of advice, warning, and deep insight into what makes a personal history stick in a reader's mind." -- Boston Globe "Karr really is an artist. The Art of Memoir attests to how hard she works at getting her words just right and how deeply she understands the way great writing works." -- Slate "Whip-smart." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "As useful for those of us who want to be better friends and lovers as it is for those of us who want to pen our life story." -- More "A master class on memoir, from a memoirist who pulls no punches." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Lots of practical advice, a great reading list, examples you can bite into." -- Houston Chronicle "Karr's own voice is consistent and authentic, as vivid, down-home, smart, profane and self-deprecating as it is in her own memoirs." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch "A celebration of the creative life." -- Austin American-Statesman "Enlightening...Fresh and heartfelt...Instructs and inspires through example and a love for the art of memoir." -- Library Journal, starred review "Karr write[s] exquisitely...and without pretense, often with raw authenticity...a must-read." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review "Snappy and witty, humorous just when it needs to be, yet plainspoken in the best way." -- Shelf Awareness "Karr's sassy Texas wit and her down-to-earth observations about both the memoir form and how to approach it combine to make for lively and inspiring reading. A generous and singularly insightful examination of memoir." -- Kirkus
£13.01
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A must for a new generation of readers of Wilder's stories and for those who recall having enjoyed the "Little House" books as a child and wish to gain further insight into the life of the series' author." -- Library Journal "Wilder fans will surely rejoice at this collection, which may also serve to introduce a new generation of readers to this important and much-loved American author." -- Booklist "[I]n her letters, just as in her books and in person, Laura Ingalls Wilder is effortlessly sunny good company...[R]eading these wonderfully human letters will make every reader hope for more." -- Christian Science Monitor
£11.96
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Cassandra Speaks
Book SynopsisWith her trademark gifts of both humor and insight, she offers a vision that transcends the either/or ideologies on both sides of the gender debate. Brilliantly structured into three distinct parts, Part One explores how history is carried forward through the stories a culture tells and values, and what we can do to balance the scales.Trade Review“Every chapter of this blazingly wonderful book hit home. It gave me strength, comfort and hope." — Sally Field, Academy-award winning actor, bestselling author of In Pieces “When did we as women start trying so desperately to tame our feelings, our bodies, our ambition? In this powerful and beautiful book, Elizabeth Lesser brings us back to the earliest stories that convinced us to silence our voices, and then forward to a place where we trust ourselves to lead our lives—and the world.” — Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed and founder of Together Rising “Cassandra Speaks is about the power of love instead of the love of power. Elizabeth Lesser speaks to the value of finding your voice in the wilderness of these times and, of taking a new kind of hero’s journey—one that replaces violence and domination with deep feeling and courageous communication. What a blessing!” — Iyanla Vanzant, author and host of Iyanla: Fix My Life (OWN) “Blessed are the truthtellers, and Elizabeth Lesser is one of them. Cassandra Speaks is astute and witty, tender and soulful. It’s a tapestry of memoir, cultural commentary, and spiritual fuel that inspires women—and all people left out of history’s storytelling—to reclaim our lineage, to become prophetic alchemists in a world in grave need of healing.” — Jamia Wilson, executive director and publisher of the Feminist Press “Cassandra Speaks is a nod to the power of storytelling in our journey to build a truly equitable society. It lays bare the relationship between gender and power, and makes a compelling case for deepening our connections and embracing our collective humanity.” — Tony Porter, CEO of A Call to Men “Elizabeth is a wise and powerful storyteller. Cassandra Speaks helps us understand the roots of women’s shame and guilt and offers a path forward—by changing our stories, we change our lives." — Eileen Fisher, founder of Eileen Fisher, Inc. "A book that will change women’s lives—and therefore, everyone’s lives—by calling out the stories that have held us back for millennia. Cassandra Speaks delivers an urgent message to women to listen within, follow their instincts, and do power differently." — Alyssa Milano, actor and activist
£11.69
Columbia University Press Antigones Claim
Book SynopsisAntigone, the insurgent from Sophocles's Oedipus, has long been a feminist icon of defiance. This book redefines Antigone's legacy, recovering her significance and liberating it for a progressive feminism and sexual politics. It reconceptualizes the incest taboo in relation to kinship - and open up the concept of kinship to cultural change.Trade ReviewButler is interested in Antigone as a liminal figure between the family and the state, between life and death... but also as a figure, like all her kin, who represents the non-normative family, a set of kinship relations that seems to defy the standard model... one senses in Butler's interest... homage to those who have lived, or have tried to live, and to those who have died 'on the sexual margins.' -- Georgette Fleischer The Nation Antigone's Claim is a work of intricate and detailed analysis of enormously difficult material. Butler masterfully leads us to... a newfound theoretical activism within the political domain. -- Maria Cimitile Hypatia Brief but powerful and provocative nook. -- Shireen R. K. Patell, New York University Signs Thought-provoking and politically provocative... Bulter joins the great philosophical tradition which grapples with the ancient tragedy of Sophocles. -- Ido Geiger Hagar: Studies in Culture Polity IdentitiesTable of ContentsAntigone's Claim Unwritten Laws, Aberrant Transmissions Promiscuous Obedience
£19.80
Columbia University Press Far Beyond the Field
Book SynopsisA collection of haiku by Japanese women, this volume includes translations of 400 haiku written by 20 poets from the 17th century (Basho's school) to the second half of the 20th. For each poet there is a brief biographical and critical headnote, followed by 20 haiku.Table of ContentsIntroduction Den Sutejo (1633-1698) Kawai Chigetsu (1634?-1718) Shiba Sonome (1664-1726) Chiyojo (1703-1775) Enomoto Seifu (1732-1815) Tagami Kikusha (1753-1826) Takeshita Shizunojo (1887-1951) Sugita Hisajo (1890-1946) Hashimoto Takako (1899-1963) Mitsuhashi Takajo (1899-1972) Ishibashi Hideno (1909-1947) Katsura Nobuko (b. 1914) Yoshino Yoshiko (b. 1915) Tsuda Kiyoko (b. 1920) Inahata Teiko (b. 1931) Uda Kiyoko (b. 1935) Kuroda Momoko (b. 1938) Tsuji Momoko (b. 1945) Katayama Yumiko (b. 1952) Mayuzumi Madoka (b. 1965)
£25.50
Columbia University Press Rivalry
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPortraits of Japanese geisha most often present these women either as tragic victims of oppressive institutions catering to male sexual desire or as sexually empowered entrepreneurs navigating a harsh reality. In Rivalry: A Geisha's Tale, Nagai Kafu introduces us to an altogether different geisha. Because Komayo's story is not offered as an allegory for a woman's place in a man's world, she emerges as a vivid, complex character fiercely resistant to narrow-minded moralizing and simplistic glorification. Her tale pulls readers into a far more compelling world--that of messy, inconsistent, and irreconcilable human attitudes toward love, sex, power, and performance. -- James Dorsey, Dartmouth College Nagai Kafu's novel is powerfully observed, exposing the tension between the elegant surface of the geisha districts and the sexual hierarchy that unfolds behind closed doors between the geisha and their patrons. Stephen Snyder's sensitive and smooth translation draws the reader into a sometimes outrageous, sometimes alluring world. An important corrective to the romanticized and exoticizing Hollywood versions of the geisha experience. -- Ann Sherif, Oberlin College Now we have a complete translation of Rivalry, Nagai Kafu's novel about the couplings and calculations in the world of geisha. The inclusion of the sexually explicit scenes left out in the prior translation makes this version funnier and infinitely tougher. Komayo's distress in the final chapters can only be comprehended if we know the full demands she faces as a geisha. -- Ken K. Ito, University of Michigan An awesomely economical and incisive writer, Nagai packs this short novel with incident and astonishingly thorough characterizations. Booklist (starred review) This new translation by Snyder... successfully transforms Nagai's Taisho-era Japanese into flowing modern English. Library Journal Snyder is to be thanked both for translating this half-forgotten novel... and for doing it so compellingly. -- Bradley Winterton Taipei TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction 1: Intermission 2: A Real Gem 3: Dayflowers 4: Welcoming Fires 5: A Dream in the Daylight 6: The Actor's Seal 7: Afterglow 8: Crimes in Bed 9: The Autumn Review 10: Box Seat 11: The Kikuobana 12: Rain on an Autumn Night 13: The Road Home 14: Asakusa 15: At the Gishun 16: Opening Day (I) 17: Opening Day (II) 18: Yesterday and Today 19: Yasuna 20: The Morning Bath 21: Turmoil 22: One Thing or Another
£19.80
Columbia University Press Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword, by Stephen F. Teiser Foreword to the 1976 Edition, by Wm. Theodore de Bary Preface Roll One 1. Introduction 2. Expedient Devices Roll Two 3. Parable 4. Belief and Understanding Roll Three 5. Medicinal Herbs 6. Bestowal of Prophecy 7. Parable of the Conjured City Roll Four 8. Receipt of Prophecy by Five Hundred Disciples 9. Prophecies Conferred on Learners and Adepts 10. Preachers of Dharma 11. Apparition of the Jeweled Stupa Roll Five 12. Devadatta 13. Fortitude 14. Comfortable Conduct 15. Welling up out of the Earth Roll Six 16. The Life Span of the Thus Come One 17. Discrimination of Merits 18. The Merits of Appropriate Joy 19. The Merits of the Dharma Preacher Roll Seven 20. The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging 21. The Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One 22. Entrustment 23. The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King 24. The Bodhisattva Fine Sound Roll Eight 25. The Gateway to Everywhere of the Bodhisattva He Who Observes the Sounds of the World 26. Dharani 27. The Former Affairs of the King Fine Adornment 28. The Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universally Worthy Glossary Notes on the Sanskrit Text Index
£27.20
Columbia University Press Nomadic Subjects
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewFor all of those seeking a positive turn building on the powerful critique that so influenced the academy in recent decades, Rosi Braidotti offers an understanding of philosophy-of thinking-that she views as crucial to creative production. At a time when intellectual discourse is becoming increasingly disciplinary, Braidotti opens a path for broad discussion and debate. -- Elizabeth Weed, director, Pembroke Center, Brown University The second edition of Nomadic Subjects by Rosi Braidotti rightly proves that this book's legacy is well and alive after 15 years of its first publication... An essential read... Beautifully written... Her book in general is full of inspiration for change and a provocative call for feminism to move forward. -- Mujde Kliem Foucault StudiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. By Way of Nomadism 2. Context and Generations 3. Sexual Difference Theory 4. On the Female Feminist Subject: From "She-Self" to "She-Other" 5. Sexual Difference as a Nomadic Political Project 6. Organs Without Bodies 7. Images Without Imagination 8. Mothers, Monsters, and Machines 9. Discontinuous Becomings: Deleuze and the Becoming-Woman of Philosophy 10. Envy and Ingratitude: Men in Feminism 11. Conclusion: Geometries of Passion-a Conversation Bibliography Index
£23.80
Columbia University Press Genuine Pretending
Book SynopsisThis book presents an innovative reading of Daoist philosophy that highlights the critical and therapeutic functions of satire and humor. Moeller and D’Ambrosio show how the Zhuangzi expounds the Daoist art of “genuine pretending”: the paradoxical skill of enacting social roles without submitting to them or letting them define one’s identity.Trade Review[The book's] scholarship is first rate and the contribution original and timely. The authors offer genuinely illuminating and original readings of many of the widely discussed parts of the Zhuangzi. -- Barry Allen, McMaster University A highly insightful new reading of the Zhuangzi that is exceptionally sensitive to both philosophical and textual subtleties, highlighting the key theme of genuine pretending-the adoption of multiple roles while maintaining a form of radical flexibility that prevents full identification, thereby allowing all roles to be at once fulfilled and transcended. -- Brook Ziporyn, University of Chicago Divinity SchoolTable of ContentsForeword by Chen GuyingPrefaceIntroduction: A Joker in the Fold1. Sincerity, Authenticity, and Ancient Chinese Philosophy2. The Confucian Regime of Sincerity3. Philosophical Humor and Incongruity in the Zhuangzi4. Smooth Operators: The Arts of Genuine PretendingConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex
£25.50
Columbia University Press The Membranes
Book SynopsisFirst published in Taiwan in 1995, The Membranes is a classic of queer speculative fiction in Chinese. Chi Ta-wei weaves dystopian tropes—heirloom animals, radiation-proof combat drones, sinister surveillance technologies—into a sensitive portrait of one young woman’s quest for self-understanding.Trade ReviewNamed a Reviewer's Choice Best Book of 2021 * Tor.com *A Books of the Year 2021 selection * The White Review *Chosen as a Best Translated Book of 2021 * Words Without Borders *Books are all time-capsules, of course, but Chi’s novel offers an exquisite dual experience—because while The Membranes is a modern classic, it hasn’t lost an ounce of its provocative significance. As a gently incisive puzzle-box it works to pry at the readers’ own emotions about the nature of stories and how we’re made of them; as a novel of queer attachment, it explores how we attempt to connect to one another through endless membranes—and often fail to do so. * Tor.com *There’s something very timely about [The Membranes'] play with gender fluidity and the social construction of identity. There’s also something timeless about Chi’s future, because of how it bends and defies time itself. The novel is about how identity is a story we tell ourselves through time — or back through time. And that story, for Chi, is queer . . . English readers who finish it now, 25 years after it was first published, may regret finding it so late, and missing out on all the stories and selves we could have been, even as it seems like it’s been here the whole time. * Los Angeles Times *This rather astonishing science fiction novel is a powerful story about consciousness and connection with other people. It cuts right to the heart of our current moment by way of metaphor, but in a manner that is entirely Chi’s, and thus a new thing for English-language readers. What a surprising and exciting addition to science fiction and world literature. -- Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Red MarsWhat a breath of retro-fresh air! This wicked-smart cyberpunk throwback from the early days of networked digital culture presciently foregrounds issues of gender, embodiment, identity, and technology that have become all the more relevant over the quarter-century since its original publication. -- Susan Stryker, executive editor of TSQ: Transgender Studies QuarterlyReaders will notice prescient echoes of modern life in Chi’s depictions of all-absorbing media consumption and loneliness in the midst of hyper-connection . . . [T]his captivating novel is rich and rewarding. * Publishers Weekly *A fascinating new book. * MIT Technology Review *A mind-blowing book . . . I have NEVER read anything like it. * Literary Infatuation *The Membranes speaks as much to hard-core sci-fi fans seeking an exhilarating read as to regular readers who desire a moment of introspection. -- Stella Jiayue Zhu * Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing Book Review Network *The Membranes is a welcome addition to the small but growing ranks of international science fiction available in English translation, and is an excellent early example of climate fiction. * Booklist *A plunging submersible disguised as a novel—filled with incisive, inventive peculiarities. * Du Mois Archival Institute, 2021 Reading List Selection *It is almost unfathomable that, in 1995, Chi could have imagined a world so full of the terrors that technological rises inevitably bring, but he does and mostly to devastating effect. Chi’s project is large, as is his vision . . . it imagines the future like the best of our dystopian meditations. * South China Morning Post Magazine *Mind-blowing . . . This 1995 Taiwanese sci-fi with casual queer characters is a short read, but it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Way after finishing the story, the questions it posed still linger, surely to haunt me for a long time to come. * Hsinju’s Lit Log *Chi is an excellent novelist and Momo’s story, with the unanswered questions, her mental state and the climate change issues and consequences, all help make this a first-class novel. * The Modern Novel *One of the most profound LGBTQ books of our time. * Books & Bao *An exploration of the contact zones between human and non-human consciousness, corporality, and identity. Reading it feels like peeling off the skin of a fruit, except that when it seems you are getting to the juicy flesh, it turns out to be only another veil—a membrane—and you’ve got to keep going. * Cha: An Asian Literary Journal *Effectively a modern fable, The Membranes creates a punk, dystopian novella set in the near future. It is ideal for anyone who wishes to immerse themselves in a queer future which interrogates the very nature of authentic humanism. * Saoirse Edits *The Membranes is a fascinating and beautifully conceived novel, deceptively simple and alluringly deep, smoothly mediated by the membrane of Heinrich’s excellent translation. -- Astrid Møller-Olsen * Xiaoshuo Blog *[The Membranes] lives up to its reputation as a classic of the genre . . . Compact enough to be read in an afternoon, the novella contains a plot so expansive that it will preoccupy the mind far longer. * Asian Review of Books *A slim, intelligent novella that ambitiously projects a militarised and corporate new world order in the rubble of environmental collapse, Chi’s brand of world-building is equally invested in envisioning new global formations as it is in attesting to emerging sexual subjectivities. It bristles with the emancipatory energy that characterises the novels coming out of post-martial-law Taiwan . . . Beneath its troubling view of a world plunged into crisis, there is still a hint of humanism in the novel’s belief that if selfhood is not an eternal truth but a queer fiction, then we must keep reading, writing, translating, pirating, photocopying, citing, and sharing ourselves into existence. * Asymptote *Whether as time capsule or prophecy, this novel holds up. -- Adam Wescott * Politics & Prose Staff Picks *Originally published in Chinese in 1995, this sci-fi novel is still able to sweep you off your feet . . . Boundaries are softened in this narrative in more than one sense and even 25 years after its debut in Taiwan, this classic of queer speculative fiction still gives us plenty of food for thought. * 24stories *The Membranes is an exceptionally well-conceived and turned science fiction story. Deceptively simple-looking on the surface, it is a truly impressive piece of work. * Complete Review *[This book] is so deliciously weird . . . The plot twist at the end is one of the best I’ve read. * Biblio Obscura *The Membranes rewards repeated reading, growing increasingly poignant as it builds toward its startling – and haunting – conclusion. * ABC News (Australia) *It’s the astonishing intimacy of Chi’s Wachowski-worthy plot twist (and for those who go on to read the book, note that The Membranes predates any Keanu Reeves-helmed cyberpunk by at least three years) that has me still mulling over this book. It’s not a twist that relies on shock and bombast. Chi’s modus here relies on gentleness, on familial love against all odds. Ari Larissa Heinrich does an excellent job translating these complicated plot elements into English, obscuring the truth while making us think we have everything plainly. -- Spencer Ruchti * Du Mois Monthly Newsletter *[I]t’s only when you see later on how all these ideas, old and new, gender-concerned and not, merge together, that the sheer power of this piece comes to the fore. The rug-pulling has been so subtle no seismometer would ever have sensed it, but by the end we’re upended by it all in quite dramatic fashion. * NB Magazine *In Ari Larissa Heinrich’s adept translation, the prose of this Taiwanese 1995 novella arrives direct and declarative, like the semi-confessional writing that internet users committed to sites like LiveJournal around that time. It’s short, propulsive, and deceptively approachable . . . The queer liberation we can read in The Membranes is that we each contain the freedom to define ourselves, using scraps of experience, story, and fantasy in and around us. Recognizing how malleable we are, we can reimagine ourselves as needed. It can be terrifying and vulnerable to let one’s certainties crumble, but in a world that limits or rejects you, it’s the only way to survive. * The World of Chinese *The world of The Membranes is one where consequential new freedoms cohabitate with climate destruction, hyper-corporatization, and militarization, encouraging the reader to dream big while staying vigilant. * Necessary Fiction *A classic that appeared far ahead of the current new wave science fiction in the Sinophone world, The Membranes remains a unique alterity in terms of genre-crossing and gender reflexivity. Chi’s beautiful, mesmerizing, provocative narrative creates a splendid labyrinth of metaphors and significances that leads to a revelation about the (post)human changeability in a matrix of monotonous inhumanity. -- Mingwei Song, coeditor of The Reincarnated Giant: An Anthology of Twenty-First-Century Chinese Science FictionAn extraordinary novella . . . at last available in English in a brilliant translation by Ari Larissa Heinrich. At just 134 pages, its scope is dazzling. Now, from the vantage point of the future, its playful and unsettling insights into digital saturation, the traps of consciousness and labor, and the fugitive fabulations of identity and the self, have only grown more profound. -- Chris Littlewood * The Paris Review Daily *The Membranes presents a future where possibility is not defined only by technologies and economics, where gender is fluid, families are chosen, and the narratives we construct for ourselves are part of what makes us human. -- Ruth Joffre * The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide *Trust me on this — if you have even the tiniest interest in storytelling, you want to read The Membranes. -- Deepanjana Pal * Dear Reader *A pitch-perfect meditation on medical advances, transplantation, advanced technology, loneliness, memory, and love. -- Rachel Cordasco * Strange Horizons *Chi’s rendering of certain surveillance and communications technologies is strikingly accurate. The novel offers a fin de siècle vision of a bleak future, while distilling kaleidoscopic influences into the textured intimacy of a mother-daughter tale that alternately reads as a quest for one’s origins. -- Mike Fu * Public Books *The Membranes (膜) is more than original. It’s extraordinary. -- Bradley Winterton * Taipei Times *The Membranes is not the novel that will teach readers how to deal with climate change. But it does, in its intimate way, show readers how we might live with it . . . [The book] is a climate novel not because it contends with catastrophe, but because it shows that everydayness has a way of proceeding alongside disaster. -- Ariel Chu * The Rumpus *An amazing, wild experience . . . It completely made me rethink the human experience and my grasp on reality. -- Chloe Gong * Viva Magazine NZ *It offers an original, entertaining, and fast-paced vision, translated from Chinese with perfect pitch, and can be pleasantly devoured in a single sitting. -- Josh Stenberg * Australian Book Review *The Membranes is a treasure in that it offers readers something new in each subsequent reading, and it is certain to increase in relevance as we move into our own future. -- Eleanor Keisman * Litro Magazine *The reading experience is like peeling back thin layers of truth, as each chapter reveals the darker and twisted realities that Momo inhabits. Like nesting dolls, or a dream inside a dream, each layer takes hold onto a sublimated anxiety of our collective consciousness. This book is a diamond, it’s a double edged sword, and it’s a bubble ripe to pop. -- Iris Tobin of A Room of One’s Own Bookstore * Literary Hub *An excellent, moving novel. -- Scott Manley Hadley * Triumph of the Now *Table of ContentsThe MembranesPromiscuous Literacy: Taipei Punk and the Queer Future of The Membranes, by Ari Larissa HeinrichAcknowledgments
£12.59
University of Illinois Press The Useless Mouths and Other Literary Writings
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2013. "An impressive team of experts introduces the book's 10 pieces and thoroughly annotates them. . . . This book nicely puts the philosopher's work into an expanded context for nonspecialists."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)"This engaging volume ... is the result of painstaking research and meticulous translation by a team of international scholars. . . . Essential."--Choice"English-speaking readers can now hear the subleties of a Beauvoir clearly engaged in the pursuit of defining the purpose and value of literature in her time."--H-France Review"This collection of previously untranslated pieces by Simone de Beauvoir makes available for the first time in English a variety of literary writings that are also of philosophical interest. As with previous volumes in the Beauvoir Series, "The Useless Mouths" and Other Literary Writings breaks new ground, and it will become indispensible to Beauvoir scholars."--Claudia Card, author of Confronting Evils: Terrorism, Torture, Genocide"This collection of Beauvoir's literary works not only presents us with further evidence of the importance of Beauvoir's existentialist literary style but also gives new insight into her thinking about aesthetics, existentialism, intersubjectivity, aging, and her relationship with Sartre. In addition, here we see some of her most incisive engagements with her critics and critics of existentialism more generally."--Kelly Oliver, author of Animal Lessons: How They Teach Us to Be HumanTable of ContentsForeword to the Beauvoir Series ix Sylvie Le Bon de BeauvoirAcknowledgments xiIntroduction 1 Margaret A. Simons1. The Useless Mouths (A Play) 9 Introduction by Liz Stanley and Catherine Naji2. Short Articles on Literature 89 Introduction by Elizabeth Fallaize3. Existentialist Theater 125 Introduction by Dennis A. Gilbert4. A Story I Used to Tell Myself 151 Introduction by Ursula Tidd5. Preface to La Batarde by Violette Leduc 165 Introduction by Alison S. Fell6. What Can Literature Do? 189 Introduction by Laura Hengehold7. Misunderstanding in Moscow 211 Introduction by Terry Keefe8. My Experience as a Writer 275 Introduction by Elizabeth Fallaize9 Short Prefaces to Literary Works 303 Introduction by Eleanore Holveck10. Notes for a Novel 327 Introduction by Meryl AltmanContributors 379Index 385
£17.99
MIT Press Ltd The Limit of the Useful
Book Synopsis
£24.00
Yale University Press The Madwoman in the Attic
Book Synopsis
£19.82
Yale University Press The Vampire
Book SynopsisTrade Review"An authoritative take on the history of the vampire."—New York Times Book Review"Nick Groom concludes this invigorating study of vampires by suggesting that we should try to be a bit more like them. Thankfully this doesn’t entail hanging shiftily around blood donor banks . . . Rather, Groom wants us to think about vampires as a way of re-enchanting the contemporary human condition."—Kathryn Hughes, Guardian (Book of the Day)‘Colossally smart. . . Groom is interested in undead Byron, but he is more interested in the aspects of vampirology that pop culture tends to neglect. . . It is a great relief to meet Groom’s vampire, still icy from the void and unburdened by the aesthetic of Gothic nightingale-lite. When it materializes, on the threshold of a worrisome dream, it looks nothing like what one expected. . ."—Katy Waldman, New Yorker"Groom impressively manages to analyze vampires’ influence on almost every facet of private and public life—social, theological political, medical, cultural, sexual, literary—over the span of four centuries."—Regina Munch, Commonweal“Formidably well-researched study” — Kevin Jackson, Literary Review“With the unflappable pace of a phantom coachman, Groom takes us to year zero - an outbreak of vampire panics stemming from the Serbian communities of the Austrian Empire's newly acquired Balkan marches.” —All About History“Printed with a number of vibrant and shocking illustrations and plates, this is a fascinating work of both cultural history and literary criticism.” —Seán Hewitt, Irish Times“The historical sections of this study are wonderfully nuanced, carefully argued takes on the vampire as a specific monstrous manifestation…Groom’s contention that the vampire cannot and should not be conflated with other monsters and his evidence against an inaccurate history of it as an ancient folkloric superstition are groundbreaking and refreshing.”—Elizabeth Bridgham, Wilkie Collins Journal “In this erudite and engaging history of the vampire Nick Groom explores the blood sucker’s journey through the European Enlightenment and beyond, illuminating broader aspects of religion, medicine and culture on the way. In doing so, Groom provides us with a valuable prehistory of the literary Dracula.”—Owen Davies, author of Grimoires“Groom succeeds in contextualising the vampire thoroughly, for the first time, in the changing cultures of two hundred years of European history: a remarkable achievement.”—Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch“Likely to be the definitive history of the vampire for years to come. In an accessible yet deeply scholarly dive into the archives of medicine, folk-lore, travel writing, theology, politics and literature, Groom produces a compelling account of the vampire as the product of the Enlightenment’s clash with its superstitious Eastern other from the seventeenth century onwards. A blood feast that will sustain every kind of vampirologist, from teen Goth up to Professor Van Helsing.”—Roger Luckhurst, author of Zombies"Our centuries-long fascination with the living dead is given a fresh and welcome consideration by Nick Groom, who mines historical reality—and unreality—with a keen appreciation of cultural meaning and metaphor."—David J. Skal, author of Something in the Blood
£12.34
Yale University Press Critical Revolutionaries
Book SynopsisTerry Eagleton looks back across sixty years to an extraordinary critical milieu that transformed the study of literature
£10.99
Zondervan Rembrandt Is in the Wind
Book SynopsisRembrandt Is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey is part art history, part biblical study, part philosophy, and part analysis of the human experience; but it's all story. An invitation to discover some of the world’s most celebrated artists and works, it presents the beauty of the gospel in a way that speaks to our most common struggles and longings.Trade Review'Art and the act of creating is essential. We must remember that without it, we would not be here. To notice beauty is to be fully alive and without the act of intimately engaging life, we are numb to ourselves and to the world around us. Ramsey points us towards God through the raw, sensual power of the art, disrupting our unconscious lives that often want to grasp for whatever makes us un-feel.' * Wayne Brezinka, award-winning artist and illustrator *'Encountering paintings drawings and sculpture as a little boy set me up for my life arc. Encountering Christ set me up for a lifelong love affair with my creator. Russ has gone to great lengths to examine art and faith in a way that helps us define our path forward. Art making is sometimes a lonely experience relying on one's own imagination and talent. This book illustrates the tight wire one must balance on to find the peace and beauty in expression. It's often difficult to maintain balance with all life offers is pulling on us. Rembrandt in the wind helps us find a way forward by the examples and stories of art makers who have gone before us.' * Jimmy Abegg, visual artist and musician with Rich Mullins and the Ragamuffin Band, Charlie Peacock, and Steve Taylor and the Perfect Foil *'Here's what I love about Russ Ramsey's latest project--it understands down deep that Truth is exclusive to no party or sect; that Goodness arrives in the form of the lonely, the ill, and the outcast; and that Beauty, amid the church's moral twilight, might be the last apologetic that holds.' * Leif Enger, Bestselling Author of Virgil Wander and Peace Like A River *'In days fractured by those who aim to seize power, darkened by those who play dirty politics, and clouded by those who use platforms to polarize, perhaps the artists can lead us home. The artists featured in these pages, artists who devoted their life and work to what is good, true, and beautiful, remind us that we can--and should--do the same.' * Karen Swallow Prior, Research Professor of English and Christianity & Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books *'It is easy to believe that enjoying and understanding 'Art' is only for those who have a PhD in Art History. Russ Ramsey reminds us how simple and holy it is to be stirred by the mystery of images.' * John Hendrix, author/illustrator of The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler *'Ramsey is a deep lover of art and a student of art history. In this book he takes the reader on an amazing guided tour through an art museum that doesn't exist. In this carefully curated collection of art from around the world, he offers you an experience that only someone who really loves art can. This book inspires the reader to engage art in an eye-opening way and understand how these famous works of art bring glory to God.' * Ned Bustard, is the illustrator of the Every Moment Holy series, Creative Director of Square Halo Books, and the artist and author of History of Art: Creation through Contemporary *'Ramsey leads us well into one of the best possible uses of our time--engaging with art and beauty.' * Mark Maggiori is an award-winning painter of the American West *'Russ Ramsey doesn't just see some of the wonders seen and painted by great artists of the past, but even more wonderfully, he helps us see them too. Yet it is full of surprises. What he offers is never a matter of beauty for its own sake, although we are drawn into a glorious journey of beauty down the ages; nor is it one of artistic skills and accomplishments, although every one of the artists he focuses on could easily claim to have mastered their art; nor even can this book be distilled into a mere, fascinating overview of five centuries of human creativity (even though the story told provides a superb entry-point to the novice keen to learn more). The greatest joy of this book, however, is that the accumulative effect of these nine artists has helped me glimpse something of the world and of humanity as God our Creator sees us. And what a gift that is!' * Mark Meynell, Director (Europe & Caribbean), Langham Partnership, writer and cultural critic: A Wilderness of Mirrors and When Darkness Seems My Closest Friend *'Russ Ramsey has gone deep into the histories of nine artists and their masterworks, revealing how each struggled--in both their giftedness and fallenness--to create beauty. I am reminded anew of how beauty leads us to God, 'the Author of beauty.' I cannot wait to share this book!' * Debbie Taylor, visual artist *'Russ Ramsey was kind enough to give me an early chapter of this book a few years ago when I was preparing to go on a silent retreat and asked him for a work of art I might spend some time meditating on during my weekend away. Thanks to Russ's recommendation, I spent hours contemplating Rembrandt's painting, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. I was shaken by the depiction of this scene and the disciples' question to Jesus, 'Do you not care that we are perishing?' Russ's gentle shepherding of my understanding regarding the painting and the Biblical story behind it was a balm in my life just when I needed it. I know that this book will be the same for you.' * Shawn Smucker, author of The Day the Angels Fell and The Weight of Memory *'Sometimes, when standing at a museum, I think to myself 'I wish somebody who knows something would explain this to me.' And I look around and see, on one side of me, someone expertly pointing out every intricacy in the painting and, on the other, someone bored and looking at a phone in hand. Somehow this book is able to captivate people in all those categories. In this book, Russ Ramsey walks us through a museum of artists and art works, showing how each of them illuminates something about God, humanity, and the meaning of life. And this book does so in a way that won't bore the expert or intimidate the novice. Those who love art will find here new paths to the gospel. And those who love the gospel will find that they can love art. That's a lot to ask from a book, and this one delivers.' * Russell Moore, Director of Christianity Today’s Public Faith Project *
£18.00
Pan Macmillan A Writers People
Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20Trade ReviewEssential reading . . . it offers the insights and observations – on literature, history and cultural sensibility – of an honest and truly global thinker. * Evening Standard *The greatest writer now living in Britain. His courage in seeing and telling the truth represents a level of high seriousness that has all but vanished. * Sunday Times *Naipaul has a sharp visual sense . . . And then there is his chiselled prose, elegant and economical: who, now living, writes as well as he? * Financial Times *
£11.69
Pearson Education Limited AWS Classics When Rain Clouds Gather
Book SynopsisIn the heart of rural Botswana, the poverty stricken village of Golema Mmidi is a haven to exiles from far and wide. A South African political refugee and an Englishman join forces to revolutionise the villagers' traditional farming methods, but their task is fraught with hazards as the pressures of tradition.
£14.51
Pearson Education Limited Jane Eyre York Notes Advanced everything you
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 Level Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The Text Part 3: Critical Approaches Part 4: Critical History Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms
£7.59
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Collected Poems of Anthony Hecht
Book SynopsisThe New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • In his centenary year, this volume of the Pulitzer Prize winner and former poet laureate’s poems celebrates the indispensable artistry of a writer who faced the history of his era with a “clear-eyed mercy toward human weakness” (The New York Times Book Review) and was hailed in his day as “the best poet writing in English” (Joseph Brodsky).This volume brings together for the first time all of the poems that appeared in Anthony Hecht’s seven trade collections, from A Summoning of Stones of 1954 through to The Darkness and the Light of 2001; it adds the remarkable work contained in his posthumously issued Interior Skies: Late Poems from Liguria of 2011; and it rounds this out with the best of the many poems which were left uncollected at the time of his death in 2004, the earliest dating from 1950 and the latest from 2001. Including the w
£31.50
Princeton University Press Dostoevsky
Book SynopsisCarefully preserving the original work's acclaimed narrative style and combination of biography, intellectual history, and literary criticism, this title illuminates the author's works from his first novel "Poor Folk" to "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov" by setting them in their personal, historical, and ideological context.Trade ReviewCo-Winner of the Etkind Prize, European University at St. Petersburg "A monumental achievement... This is not a literary biography in the usual sense of the term... It is, rather, an exhaustive history of Dostoyevsky's mind, an encyclopedic account of the author as major novelist and thinker, essayist and editor, journalist and polemicist... Wrought with tireless love and boundless ingenuity, it ... [is] a multifaceted tribute from an erudite and penetrating cultural critic to one of the great masters of 19th-century fiction."--Michael Scammell, New York Times Book Review "It is unquestionably the fullest, most nuanced and evenhanded--not to mention the most informative--account of its subject in any language, and it has significantly changed our understanding of both the man and his work."--Donald Fanger, Los Angeles Times Book Review "In his aim of elucidating the setting within which Dostoevsky wrote--personal on the one hand, social, historical, cultural, literary, and philosophical on the other--Frank has succeeded triumphantly."--J. M. Coetzee, New York Review of Books "Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time thus immediately becomes the essential one-volume commentary on the intellectual dynamics and artistry of this great novelist's impassioned, idea-driven fiction... To understand Dostoevsky's often savage satire or nightmarish visions or just the conversations among the Karamazov brothers, one needs to grasp not only the text but also the ideological context. To both of these there is no better guide than Joseph Frank."--Michael Dirda, Wall Street Journal "Magnificent... A deeply absorbing account."--James Wood, New Republic "The ideal one-volume biography of Dostoevsky could only come through a distillation of the much-acclaimed five-volume biography (1976-2002) by Joseph Frank. In compressing his longer work, editor Mary Petrusewicz tightens the rigor of a narrative that already departed from traditional biography by focusing chiefly on the ideas with which the Russian author wrestled so powerfully, providing the details of his personal life only as incidental background. Thus, for example, while readers do learn of formative incidents during Dostoevsky's four years in tsarist prison camp, what they see most clearly is how the prison experience deepened the author's faith in God while dampening his zeal for political reform. In a similar way, Frank limns only briefly the life experiences surrounding the writing of the major novels--Crime and Punishment, Demons, and Brothers Karamazov--devoting his scrutiny largely to how Dostoevsky develops the ideological tensions within each work. Readers consequently see, for instance, how Napoleonic illusions justify Raskolnikov's bloody crimes, how the Worship of Man dooms Kirillov to suicide, and how deep Christian faith enables Alyosha to resist Ivan's corrosive rationalism. Yet while probing Dostoevsky's themes, Frank also examines the artistry that gives them imaginative life, highlighting--for example--perspectival techniques that anticipate those of Woolf and Joyce. A masterful abridgement."--Bryce Christensen, Booklist (Starred Review) "Frank displays a brilliant command of Dostoyevsky's heroic endeavors, and his biography reads readily, especially for such a scholarly work. It compares nicely with Leon Edel's multivolume biography of Henry James. Highly recommended."--Robert Kelly, Library Journal "It is wonderfully lucidly written and a marvellous portrait of the man behind the books."--Nadine Gordimer, Independent "This extraordinary biography succeeds in making both irony and great ideas wholly alive, immediately accessible to us. It is a great work, both of scholarship and of art."--A. S. Byatt, Sunday Times (London) "A narrative of such compelling precision, thoroughness and insight as to give the reader a sense not just of acquaintanceship, but of complete identification with Dostoevsky, of looking through his eyes and understanding with his mind."--Helen Muchnic, Boston Globe "One of the finest achievements of American literary scholarship."--Rene Wellek, Washington Post Book World "Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time at last offers non-specialist readers access to the definitive biography of an important figure in the history of the novel... Patient, cautious, critical but not judgmental, using clear language and a chronologically ordered narrative structure, Frank neutralises the unreliable and hysterical self-constructions of which his subject was capable. The result is like watching an artist building an intricate, large-scale painting around a single figure... Frank's great insight is that, just as no one aspect of Dostoevsky's complex personality can be separated from the others, no part of his writing--whether aesthetic, moral, religious or political--can be quarantined from the others. Frank's biography honours the polyphony of Dostoevsky's novelistic imagination: even in truncated form, it is a rare triumph."--Geordie Williamson, Australian "Frank's monumental five-volume study of Dostoevsky deserves to be read, if only as an inspiring lesson about how much more thrilling a focus on ideas can be than the standard biography's obsession with the connections between creativity and the subject's personal life. The series has been condensed with incisive care and respect, giving those with limited time (and budget) a chance to engage with a revelatory vision of the Russian writer's enduring greatness."--Bill Marx, PRI's "The World" "This is the Dostoevsky we encounter in Joseph Frank's superb Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time, a one-volume, 984-page condensation of Frank's five-volume biography of the author, written over the course of a long and distinguished career... Few biographers could muster the intelligence and imagination needed to capture all this in a single tome. We should be grateful for Joseph Frank."--Peter Savodnik, Commentary "With the publication of Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time earlier this year, a massive abridgement of five volumes written over three decades, Frank breaks once and for all with his early critic's stilted categories in portraying the human subject. His innovative method of biography, influenced heavily by literary criticism, starts with artistic expression and moves backward, seeking to carefully situate his subject within ideological context... Without a doubt, the genius of Frank's form is in combining three modalities in crafting his narrative: literary criticism, social and intellectual history, and biography."--Aaron Stuvland, Politics and Culture "Joseph Frank's magisterial five-volume biography of Dostoevsky--one of the exemplary achievements of our era--has invaluably been published in an abridged one-volume edition."--Jeff Simon, Buffalo News "The depth of Frank's achievement is to put the writer and his work in social, political, ideological and historical context."--Jeff Baker, Oregonian "Most of us spend much of our life trying to understand only a handful of people we know and love, in a span of time usually extending just three generations (from our parents to our children). Imagine, then, devoting your life to trying to make sense of one other person long dead, whom you had necessarily never met, with whom you may have nothing in common, and whose times and works must always seem elusive, encoded and frustratingly out of your reach. In a pursuit of that kind, Leon Edel trudged through five volumes on Henry James, Robert Caro is working away on his fourth installment of Lyndon Johnson's biography, and Edmund Morris is finalizing his third book on Teddy Roosevelt. Joseph Frank, though, trumps them all. After writing Feodor Dostoevsky's biography in five volumes, Frank and a gifted editor (Mary Petrusewicz) have now turned that massive, interminable endeavour into an abridged, accessible one-volume edition."--Mark Thomas, Canberra Times "Joseph Frank, emeritus professor of Slavic and comparative literature at Stanford and Princeton universities, fully grasped the pressure of the political and religious issues seething in and around the visionary author to whom he dedicated his career. It took him five highly praised volumes and 26 years (1976-2002) to give a full account of Dostoevsky's life, works and times; this new, hefty condensation was done in collaboration with editor and Russian scholar Mary Petrusewicz, on condition that the original five volumes remain in print, available to anyone 'wishing for a wider horizon.' ... Frank's magisterial homage deserves no less recognition."--Judith Armstrong, The Age "Frank's five-volume biography has been called 'magisterial' and monumental,' as well as 'nuanced,' 'lucid' and 'penetrating.' The same might be said of this shorter version."--Marilyn McEntyre, Christian Century "Frank's contribution to understanding Dostoevsky is no less than Dostoevsky's own gift to the world of literature."--Sarthak Shankar, Organiser "Interspersed with others, it took me a while to read this altogether majestic book--but I'm so glad I did. [T]his tomb more than illuminates Dostoevsky's life vast array of brilliant writing."--David Marx, David Marx "One of the greatest literary biographies ever written, Frank's five-volume account details the nearly unfathomable life and literary career of a writer who endured epilepsy and exile."--Jonathon Sturgeon, FlavorwireTable of ContentsList of I llustrations xi Preface: Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time xiii Acknowledgments xix Transliteration xxi Abbreviations xxiii PART I: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849 Chapter 1: Prelude 3 Chapter 2: The Family 5 Chapter 3: The Religious and Cultural Background 23 Chapter 4: The Academy of Military Engineers 38 Chapter 5: The Two Romanticisms 51 Chapter 6: The Gogol Period 61 Chapter 7: Poor Folk 76 Chapter 8: Dostoevsky and the Pleiade 86 Chapter 9: Belinsky and Dostoevsky: I?94 Chapter 10: Feuilletons and Experiments 104 Chapter 11: Belinsky and Dostoevsky: II?119 Chapter 12: The Beketov and Petrashevsky Circles 129 Chapter 13: Dostoevsky and Speshnev 145 PART II: The Y ears of Ordeal, 1850-1859 Chapter 14: The Peter-and-Paul Fortress 163 Chapter 15: Katorga 185 Chapter 16: "Monsters in Their Misery" 196 Chapter 17: Private Dostoevsky 223 Chapter 18: A Russian Heart 243 Chapter 19: The Siberian Novellas 255 Chapter 20: Homecoming 273 PART III: The Stir of Liberation, 1860-1865 Chapter 21: Into the Fray 281 Chapter 22: An Aesthetics of T ranscendence 298 Chapter 23: The Insulted and Injured 317 Chapter 24: The Era of Proclamations 330 Chapter 25: Portrait of a Nihilist 341 Chapter 26: Time: The Final Months 358 Chapter 27: Winter Notes on Summer Impressions 372 Chapter 28: An Emancipated Woman, A Tormented Lover 384 Chapter 29: The Prison of Utopia 399 Chapter 30: Notes from Underground 413 Chapter 31: The End of Epoch 441 PART IV: The Miraculous Y ears, 1865-1871 Chapter 32: Khlestakov in Wiesbaden 455 Chapter 33: From Novella to Novel 472 Chapter 34: Crime and Punishment 483 Chapter 35: "A Little Diamond" 509 Chapter 36: The Gambler 521 Chapter 37: Escape and Exile 531 Chapter 38: In Search of a Novel 549 Chapter 39: An Inconsolable Father 564 Chapter 40: The Idiot 577 Chapter 41: The Pamphlet and the Poem 590 Chapter 42: Fathers, Sons, and Stavrogin 601 Chapter 43: Exile's Return 616 Chapter 44: History and Myth in Demons 626 Chapter 45: The Book of the Impostors 650 PART V: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871-1881 Chapter 46: The Citizen 669 Chapter 47: Narodnichestvo: Russian Populism 682 Chapter 48: Bad Ems 694 Chapter 49: A Raw Youth 706 Chapter 50: A Public Figure 723 Chapter 51: The Diary of a Writer, 1876-1877 738 Chapter 52: A New Novel 760 Chapter 53: The Great Debate 779 Chapter 54: Rebellion and the Grand Inquisitor 788 Chapter 55: Terror and Martial Law 804 Chapter 56: The Pushkin Festival 813 Chapter 57: Controversies and Conclusions 835 Chapter 58: The Brothers Karamazov: Books 1-4 848 Chapter 59: The Brothers Karamazov: Books 5-6 867 Chapter 60: The Brothers Karamazov: Books 7-12 886 Chapter 61: Death and Transfiguration 912 Editor's Note 933 Index 935 Contents
£27.00
Princeton University Press The Tale of Genji
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""[A] beautiful book. . . . An exquisite work of art in its own right. . . . [The Tale of Genji] is a fascinating way to immerse oneself not only in Genji’s world but also in the refined culture of 16th-century Japan, through both words and pictures."---Lesley Downer, Literary Review"Written in the 11th century by the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji is a masterpiece of prose and poetry that is widely considered the world’s first novel. This stunning compendium combines discussions of all 54 of its chapters with paintings and calligraphy from the Genji Album (1510) in the Harvard Art Museums, the oldest dated set of Genji illustrations known to exist, here fully reproduced for the first time. English and Japanese transcriptions of the album’s calligraphy are included." * Publishers Weekly *"[Tale of Genji: A Visual Companion] serves equally well as a thorough introduction to a work of great literary and art-historical importance, and a deep dive into the book’s cultural and narrative subtleties for those who are already students of The Tale of Genji. . . . McCormick’s elucidation of the sprawling, dramatic, and beautiful Tale of Genji makes this book an educational experience for those of us without access to a Harvard survey course on the subject." * Hyperallergic *"McCormick here provides a condensed version of the novel ….[Her] commentary provides not only synopses of the corresponding chapters in the original novel, but also an interpretation of the album’s calligraphy, which often includes some symbolic meaning….McCormick also analyses the paintings, all of which are phenomenal works of art."---Claire Kohda Hazelton, Times Literary Supplement
£35.70
Princeton University Press Forms
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWinner of the 2015 James Russell Lowell Prize, Modern Language Association Winner of the 2016 Dorothy Lee Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Culture, Media Ecology Association One of Flavorwire's 10 Best Books by Academic Publishers in 2015 "Challenging and original."--Michael Wood, London Review of Books "This impressive, innovative book connects art and politics by way of forms."--Andrew Sturgeon, Flavorwire, from "10 Must-Read Academic Books of 2015" "Levine proposes a fresh way to think of formalism in literary studies... To illustrate her methodology, Levine turns her sights in many directions, from 19th-century classics by writers such as Dickens to contemporary television (The Wire). Throughout, Levine's prose is lucid and engaging."--Choice "Forms is a genuinely interdisciplinary book, and Levine exhibits considerable ambition and intellectual dexterity in her integration of different disciplinary perspectives."--Gregory Tate, Review of English StudiesTable of ContentsPreface ix Acknowldgements xv I Introduction The Affordances of Form 1 II Whole 42 III Rhythm 49 IV Hierarchy 82 V Network 112 VI The Wire 132 Notes 151 Index 169
£16.19
Manchester University Press The Historians Craft
Book SynopsisThis work, by the co-founder of the Annales School deals with the uses and methods of history. It is useful for students of history, teachers of historiography and all those interested in the writings of the Annales school. -- .Table of ContentsA note on the manuscripts of the present book, Lucien Febvre; "The Historian's Craft" introduction; history, men and time; historical observation; historical criticism; historical analysis; historical causation.
£14.24
University of Nebraska Press Shakespeare and Company
Book SynopsisSylvia Beach was intimately acquainted with the expatriate and visiting writers of the Lost Generation, a label that she never accepted. This book evokes the zeitgeist of an era through its revealing glimpses of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, Andre Gide, Ezra Pound, and others already famous or soon to be.Trade Review"In 1919 Sylvia Beach "opened an American bookshop in Paris called Shakespeare and Company. During the following two decades it became practically a clearing house for writers of this vital post-1918 period. When no publisher would touch her friend James Joyce's Ulysses, Miss Beach published it, in 1922, under her shop imprint. . . . Headquarters for the expatriate American writers, the shop was also a favorite stopping-off place for Gide, Valéry, and other faithful international friends and customers."—San Francisco Chronicle"Miss Beach's book is intimate, not scholarly, and thus full of interesting information. Her reminiscences are literally an index of everybody in the twenties, and she knew them all."—Janet Flanner, New Yorker
£16.14
W. W. Norton & Company The Obscene Bird of Night
Book Synopsis
£16.14
