Search results for ""penguin books""

'I want to be considered a jazz poet blowing a long blues in an afternoon jam session on Sunday'Freewheeling and spontaneous, Mexico City Blues is Jack Kerouac's most significant and emblematic poem. Consisting of 242 loosely linked 'choruses', it takes in life, death, spirituality, jazz improvisation, memory, fantasies and dreams, all infused with the rhythm of the blues, to create a surreal and all-encompassing epic. 'A spontaneous bop prosody and original classic literature' Allen Ginsberg'A jazz poet. His sentences frequently move into tempestuous sweeps and whorls and sometimes they have something of the rich music of Gerard Manley Hopkins or Dylan Thomas' The New York Herald Tribune

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Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is an inspiring and tragic account of an ordinary life lived in extraordinary circumstances that has enthralled readers for generations. This Penguin Classics edition is edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler, translated by Susan Massotty, and includes an introduction by Elie Wiesel, author of Night.'June, 1942: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.'In Amsterdam, in the summer of 1942, the Nazis forced teenager Anne Frank and her family into hiding. For over two years, they, another family and a German dentist lived in a 'secret annexe', fearing discovery. All that time, Anne kept a diary. Since its publication in 1947, Anne Frank's diary has been read by tens of millions of people. This Definitive Edition restores substantial material omitted from the original edition, giving us a deeper insight into Anne Frank's world. Her curiosity about her emerging sexuality, the conflicts with her mother, her passion for Peter, a boy whose family hid with hers, and her acute portraits of her fellow prisoners reveal Anne as more human, more vulnerable and more vital than ever.'One of the greatest books of the twentieth century'Guardian'A modern classic'Julia Neuberger, The Times

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As Brexit reaches its final stretch, find a way to laugh through the pain and or celebrate the end with Ladybird's hilarious and essential guide, The Story of Brexit.'Hilarious' STYLIST________'"Leaving was the will of the people" sighs Angelica's father. He voted to leave.Angelica voted to remain, but she feels the same way. "It is the will of the people," she sighs.They stare at the ducks. They like the ducks. Ducks are better than people.'________'Brexit gave us lots of exciting new words, like brextremist, remoaner, bremoaner, remaybe, breprehensible, remaintenance, brexorcist, remaidstone, brex-girlfriend, remange, brextortion, remayhem and bregret.The new words make it harder for foreigners to understand what we are saying.In a tough, new international business world, small advantages such as this can be crucial.'________This delightful book is the latest in the series of Ladybird books which have been specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them.The large clear script, the careful choice of words, the frequent repetition and the thoughtful matching of text with pictures all enable grown-ups to think they have taught themselves to cope. Featuring original Ladybird artwork alongside brilliantly funny, brand new text.'The latest offering in the hilarious Ladybird for Grown Ups series is a funny mickey-take of the Brexit debate (and boy, do we need some fun)' Sunday Post

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'The best Norwegian novel ever' Karl Ove KnausgaardMattis doesn't understand much about the world. He doesn't understand why others call him simple. Or why his sister Hege, who has cared for him in their peaceful lakeside cottage since they were young, gets so frustrated. But he knows that the woodcock which starts to fly over their house every day is a sign something is about to change. And when Hege falls in love, disrupting their familiar existence and unbalancing his thoughts, he decides he must face his fate.Translated by Torbjørn Støverud and Michael Barnes 'A masterpiece' Literary Review'Mattis, absurd and boastful, but also sweet, pathetic and even funny, is shown with great insight' Sunday Times

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Jude Fawley, the stonemason excluded not by his wits but by poverty from the world of Christminster privilege, finds fulfilment in his relationship with Sue Bridehead. Both have left earlier marriages. Ironically, when tragedy tests their union it is Sue, the modern emancipated woman, who proves unequal to the challenge. Hardy's fearless exploration of sexual and social relationships and his prophetic critique of marriage scandalised the late Victorian establishment and marked the end of his career as a novelist.

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If you spent one hour a month nurturing your finances for the next twelve months, how would you feel this time next year, what would be different? Mapping out a plan for achieving your big goals and managing everyday spending, Money Lessons is your own pocket financial expert. Whether you have it or not, money is often as difficult to talk about as it is to handle. Many of us will at one point need advice on how to: - Ask for a pay rise - Budget for day-to-day life - Save up to buy a place - Pay for a mortgage - Finance a career move - Budget for a wedding - Get out of debt - Retire comfortably Building on her 15 years of experience helping countless people to make smart financial decisions, Lisa Conway-Hughes tackles these topics in a short guide to being savvy and getting what you want in every stage of your life. During a time of uncertainty, Money Lessons is full of dependable expert knowledge and success stories; it's essential reading for anyone who wants greater control over making their day-to-day goals a reality. ___________'If lack of time is your main excuse for putting off sorting out your finances, this is the book for you' Independent

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From the writer whose novels inspired the BBC's Dublin Murders TV series... 'One of the most compulsive psychological mysteries since Donna Tartt's The Secret History' THE TIMES 'An engrossing, unpredictable, beautifully written mystery' SOPHIE HANNAH 'Dark and twisty' SUNDAY TIMES'Mesmerising' GILLIAN FLYNN'I'm a big fan of Tana French' IAN RANKIN________________________________________WHAT DO WE HIDE INSIDE OURSELVES?One night changes everything for Toby. He's always led a charmed life - until a brutal attack leaves him damaged and traumatised, unsure even of the person he used to be. He seeks refuge at his family's ancestral home, the Ivy House, filled with memories of wild-strawberry summers and teenage parties with his cousins.But not long after Toby's arrival, a discovery is made: a skull, tucked neatly inside the old wych elm in the garden.As detectives begin to close in, Toby is forced to examine everything he thought he knew about his family, his past, and himself.A spellbinding book from a novelist who takes crime writing and turns it inside out, The Wych Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, if we no longer know who we are.________________________________________'This book confirms Tana French as [crime fiction's] biggest contemporary star' Guardian'Lyrical, suspenseful, unpredictable' Harlan Coben 'French offers a masterclass in unreliability' Sunday Times 'Terrific - terrifying, amazing, and the prose is incandescent' Stephen King'Another one of her rich psychological thrillers that will work its way under your skin' Lucy Mangan, Stylist'To say Tana French is one of the great thriller writers is really too limiting. Rather she's simply this: a truly great writer' Gillian Flynn'This mystery about family, memory and the cracks in both will haunt you for a long, long time' Erin Kelly'The Wych Elm should cement French's place in the first rank of great literary novelists 'Observer

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Every couple wants a happy relationship and a meaningful career but how do we balance both?In Couples that Work, Professor Jennifer Petriglieri shifts away from the language of sacrifice and trade-offs and focuses on how couples can successfully tackle the challenges they will face throughout their lives--together. The book explores key questions like: - Can you and your partner have equally important careers or must you prioritise one over the other?- How can you juggle children or family commitments without sacrificing your work?- Does every decision require compromise or can you find solutions that benefit you both?Identifying common triggers and traps, and presenting engaging exercises to help you avoid and overcome them, this book will help every couple design their own unique way to combine love and work at every stage of their journey. 'Hugely insightful. A must-read for all couples' Susan David, author of Emotional Agility'Managing one career is hard enough; two often seems impossible. In this book, Jennifer shares what she's learned about how couples can not only survive but thrive' Adam Grant, author of Originals

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'A mellow, gentle read with a lot of words of wisdom' IndependentLet Dawn French guide you through the year with her witty and wise seasonal insights. __________Me You: Not A Diary is a pocket diary without the diary part. Or the pocket. It includes everything you loved about the original but without the calendar pages. To keep a working diary alongside Dawn, we recommend the hardback edition of Me You: A Diary. Me You is a place for me and you to reflect on the patterns and changes of the year. It's full of my thoughts about the seasons, the months and what matters. It's your guide to reflecting on the year you've just had - or the one still to come. Dive in, the paper's lovely . . ._________ 'A witty outlook on life. This will have you laughing about your year' Prima 'It's beautiful, like Dawn, and stuffed full of goodies' Jo Brand

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'The patron saint of poetry' Carol Ann Duffy'McGough is a true original and more than one generation would be much the poorer without him' The Times_______________For fifty years, Roger McGough has delighted readers with poetry that is at once playful and poignant, intimate and universal. In his latest collection, he explores the whole gamut of the human experience, from forgotten friendships and family life, to the trauma of war and contemporary politics, wittily showing us who we are in all our shades of light and dark. _______________'McGough has done for poetry what champagne does for weddings' Time out 'Memorable and enduring and fresh. Age has not withered [his lines] nor diminished their potency. Of how much modern poetry can you say that?' Sunday Herald 'McGough's trademarks: the craft worn as lightly as the crown, the jokes that are something more, the underlying heartache, the acute sense of the way time slips away' Poetry Review

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A superb new translation by Michael Hofmann of some of Kafka's most frightening and visionary short fictionStrange beasts, night terrors, absurd bureaucrats and sinister places abound in this collection of stories by Franz Kafka. Some are less than a page long, others more substantial; all were unpublished in his lifetime. These matchless short works range from the gleeful miniature horror 'Little Fable' to the off-kilter humour of 'Investigations of a Dog', and from the elaborate waking nightmare of 'Building the Great Wall of China' to the creeping unease of 'The Burrow', where a nameless creature's labyrinthine hiding place turns into a trap of fear and paranoia.

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'A landmark of feminist thought and a rhetorical masterpiece' GuardianRanging from the silent fate of Shakespeare's gifted imaginary sister to Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and the effects of poverty and sexual constraint on female creativity, A Room of One's Own, based on a lecture given by Woolf at Girton College, Cambridge, is one of the great feminist polemics. Published almost a decade later, Three Guineas breaks new ground in its discussion of men, militarism and women's attitudes towards war. These two pieces reveal Virginia Woolf's indomitable spirit, sophisticated wit and genius as an essayist.Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Michèle Barrett

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'One of the greatest elegies in the English language, a book which transcends time' Margaret DrabbleTo the Lighthouse is at once a vivid impressionistic depiction of a family, the Ramseys, whose annual summer holiday in Scotland falls under the shadow of war, and a meditation on marriage, on parenthood and childhood, on grief, tyranny and bitterness. The novel's use of stream of consciousness, reminiscence and shifting perspectives gives it an intimate, poetic essence, and at the time of publication in 1927 it represented an utter rejection of all that had gone before.Edited by Stella McNichol with an Introduction and Notes by Hermione Lee

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'A warm and satisfying story' My WeeklyFrom the author of The Liverpool Nightingales comes an uplifting and emotional tale, perfect for fans of Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey and Annie Groves. Is a mother's love enough to protect her child? ___________Liverpool 1868.Shrouded in secrecy Alice Sampson gives birth to a beautiful baby girl.But the former nurse's happiness is blighted by the knowledge that as a penniless, unwed mother, her future, and that of her child, can only be one of shame and disgrace.Then a knock at the door brings a miracle: she is invited to return to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary and her beloved ward.With the help of her friends and the welcome attentions of Reverend Seed, the hospital Chaplain, Alice slowly starts to rebuild her life.Everything is looking up, until her baby's father unexpectedly shows up to claim the child he knew nothing about.Suddenly Alice is in danger of losing her baby, her position and her whole future . . .Praise for Kate Eastham'Deftly written and moving' Woman's Own 'A heartwarming and tear-inducing tale with wonderfully realistic characters' Woman

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'Pavese's novels are works of an extraordinary depth where one never stops finding new levels, new meanings' Italo CalvinoJune, 1943. Allied aircraft are bombing Turin; fascist Italy is on its knees. Every evening, after a day's teaching in the city, Corrado returns to the safety of the hills and the care of his two doting landladies. He has no attachments, no obligations. Yet against his better judgement he is drawn to the easy warmth of a circle of anti-fascists who congregate at a nearby tavern, and confronted with a painful choice: emotional and political commitment, with all its dangers - or devastating retreat. Pavese's extraordinary semi-autobiographical novel is a lucid portrayal of missed opportunities and human weakness, set against the seductive intensity of the Italian countryside.Translated with an introduction by Tim ParksShortlisted for The Society of Authors Translation Award 2022

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'An utterly dazzling book, the best piece of history I have read for a long time' Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps'Not merely an horologist's delight, but an ingenious meditation on the nature and symbolism of time-keeping itself' Richard HolmesThe measurement of time has always been essential to human civilization, from early Roman sundials to the advent of GPS. But while we have one eye on the time every day, are we aware of the power clocks have given governments, military leaders and business owners, and how they have shaped our lives and our world?In this spectacularly far-reaching book, David Rooney narrates a history of timekeeping and civilization in twelve concise chapters. Over their course, we meet the most epochal inventions in horological history, from medieval water clocks to Renaissance hourglasses, and from stock-exchange timestamps to satellites in Earth's orbit. We discover how clocks have helped people navigate the globe and build empires, but also, on occasion, taken us to the brink of destruction.This is the story of time, and the story of time is the story of us.

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Discover the 12 crucial moments in Britain's past that will answer the greatest questions for our future in this richly insightful and fascinating history'A richly entertaining canter through the country's past. Engrossing' INDEPENDENT___________What is Britain?Where lie its boundaries?Why are they always changing?Are we a small island or a big idea?What will we look like next?In Small Island: 12 Maps that Explain the History of Britain, Philip Parker answers these and other crucial questions about this country and its peoples.By pondering our intertwined geography and history, he shows how the past has made Britain and how we might yet shape its future.

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**Nominated for the 2021 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal**'A masterwork, every page a sumptuous feast of colour and composition' - Financial Times, Summer Books of 2020 The lyrical, heart-warming new tale from the award-winning designer and creator of The Fox and the Star Bird loves to sing in the towering tree at the heart of the jungle. It feels like home.When the season changes she must say goodbye, but she isn't ready to let go.As she listens to the other animals, Bird learns to sing a new song.

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Read along with Florence Welch this February and March as part of the Between Two Books book club'Wry, beautiful, surprising and deeply moving' Rachel Seiffert, Guardian'Captures so excellently the low level anxiety that hums through everyday life' Daily Telegraph____________________________________________You wake up. You go to work. You have strategy meetings about how to use hashtags. After work you get so blackout drunk you can't remember the circumstances which have led you to waking up next to your colleague. The next day you stay in bed, scrolling through your social media feeds and wondering why everyone else seems to be achieving so much. Then you hear about Life on Nyx, a programme that offers the chance to move to another planet and start a new, meaningful way of life. But there's a caveat: if you go, you can never come back. ____________________________________________ 'An acute satire of our social media-dominated times and a haunting examination of depression and anxiety rendered in diamond sharp prose' i'Sauma has the horrors of the workplace nailed with satirical precision' Sunday Times Culture 'Weird, wonderful and beautifully written' Daily Mail'For fans of Black Mirror' Elle 'Millennial angst meets sci-fi' Stylist 'Uplifting, unputdownable and mordantly funny' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

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Death and taxes are our inevitable fate. We've been told this since the beginning of civilisation. But what if we stopped to question our antiquated system? Is it fair? And is it capable of serving the needs of our rapidly-changing, modern society? In Daylight Robbery, Dominic Frisby traces the origins of taxation, from its roots in the ancient world, through to today. He explores the role of tax in the formation of our global religions, the part tax played in wars and revolutions throughout the ages, why, at one stage, we paid tax for daylight or for growing a beard. Ranging from the despotic to the absurd, the tax laws of the past reveal so much about how we got to where we are today and what we can do to build a system fit for the future.Featured on Stepping up with Nigel Farage'An important book for investors in gold and bitcoin' - Daniela Cambone, Stansberry Research'This entertaining, surprising, contrarian book is a tour de force!' - Matt Ridley, author of The Evolution of Everything'In this spectacular gallop through history, Frisby shows how taxation has warped, stunted and thwarted human progress' - Mark Littlewood, Director General, Institute of Economic Affairs'Frisby's historical interpretation and utopian ideas will outrage Left and Right' - Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe and Member of the House of Commons Treasury Committee 'Fascinating book which exposes the political and economic basis of tax. A must read for those of us who believe in simpler, lower taxes' - Rt Hon Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade

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Penguin presents I'm Not Here to Give a Speech, the complete speeches of Nobel laureate and beloved novelist Gabriel García Márquez collected and published in English for the first time.Gabriel García Márquez has charmed generations of readers with his distinctive and richly expressive style. His talent for language is seen here as never before, in the public speeches he gave throughout his extraordinary life. These speeches chart Márquez's growth as a writer and orator, from an early talk given as a teenager graduating high school to his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize. They offer new insight into the workings of the author's mind, drawing a portrait of Marquez as a writer and as a man.This is a rare gem from a writer who touched readers across the globe. I Am Not Here to Give a Speech is a must-buy for anyone who ever fell in love with Macondo or cherished a battered copy of Love in the Time of Cholera.Praise for Gabriel García Márquez:'The greatest novel in any language of the last fifty years' Salman Rushdie on One Hundred Years of Solitude'Should be required reading for the entire human race' New York Times on One Hundred Years of Solitude'A masterpiece' Evening Standard on Chronicle of a Death Foretold'As a reading experience it is completely magical' Observer on Living to Tell the Tale'It asks to be read more than twice, and the rewards are dazzling' Observer on The Autumn of the Patriarch'Márquez writes in this lyrical, magical language that no-one else can do' Salman Rusdhie on Collected Stories

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Fans of Beartown and A Man Called Ove will love this festive novella, from the 13 million copy internationally bestselling author. ________It is Christmas Eve and a father and son are meeting for the first time in years.The father has a story he needs to share before it's too late. As he tells his son about a courageous little girl lying in a hospital bed a few miles away, he reveals even more about himself; his triumphs in business, his failures as a parent, his past regrets, his hopes for the future. Now, on this night before Christmas, the father has been given the unexpected chance to do something remarkable that could change the destiny of a little girl he hardly knows. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he must find out what his own life has actually been worth, and only his son can reveal the answer.With humour and compassion, Fredrik Backman's novella The Deal of a Lifetime reminds us that life is a fleeting gift, and our legacies rest in how we share that gift with those we love.

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'The great French feminist writer we need to remember' Guardian 'Violette Leduc's novels are works of genius and also a bit peculiar' Deborah Levy, from the introduction An old woman lives alone in a tiny attic flat in Paris, counting out coffee beans every morning beneath the roar of the overhead metro. Starving, she spends her days walking around the city, each step a bid for recognition of her own existence. She rides crowded metro carriages to feel the warmth of other bodies, and watches the hot batter of pancakes drip from the hands of street-sellers. One morning she awakes with an urgent need to taste an orange; but when she rummages in the bins she finds instead a discarded fox fur scarf. The little fox fur becomes the key to her salvation, the friend who changes her lonely existence into a playful world of her own invention. The Lady and the Little Fox Fur is a stunning portrait of Paris, of the invisibility we all feel in a big city, and ultimately of the hope and triumph of a woman who reclaims her place in the world.'A moving, beautiful and authentic classic. We must be grateful to the Penguin European Writers series, a precious venture in these dark times, for bringing it back to us.' John Banville, Booker prize-winning author of The Sea'This book is as richly humane as anything else you're likely to read' Independent

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Three seasonal stories set in Paris at Christmas, from the celebrated creator of Inspector Maigret.It is Christmas in Paris, but beneath the sparkling lights and glittering decorations lie sinister deeds and dark secrets... This collection brings together three of Simenon's most enjoyable Christmas tales, newly translated, featuring Inspector Maigret and other characters from the Maigret novels. In 'A Maigret Christmas', the Inspector receives two unexpected visitors on Christmas Day, who lead him on the trail of a mysterious intruder dressed in red and white. In 'Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook', the sound of alarms over Paris send the police on a cat and mouse chase across the city. And 'The Little Restaurant in Les Ternes (A Christmas Story for Grown-Ups)' tells of a cynical woman who is moved to an unexpected act of festive charity in a nightclub - one that surprises even her...

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As Westeros returns to our screens, relive all eight seasons of Game of Thrones with the ONLY official tie-in guide to the biggest TV series in the worldTHE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANYONE OBSESSED WITH HOUSE OF THE DRAGON__________Delve deeper into Westeros than ever before . . .Covering all eight seasons of the hit HBO show, this remarkable volume offers a unique and exciting visual exploration into the incredible world of Game of Thrones. In two parts, the book follows the story of the South, where kings and queens battle for the Iron Throne, and of the North, where the White Walkers and their army of the dead gather. Fully illustrated with stunning photography, infographics, timelines and insightful essays, this is the essential guide for any Game of Thrones fan. · Find out more about your favourite characters with in-depth biographies· Read explanations of key relationships from Jon & Daenerys, to Jaime & Brienne· Discover the locations of King's Landing, Oldtown, The Iron Islands and more· Piece together ancestry with family trees of the four Houses· Learn about the creatures of GOT, from Dragons to Direwolves· Get the full story of major battles and events· Discover must-know facts about everything from Heartsbane to GreyscaleAnd so much more . . . __________'Everything a fan could want' Woman & Home'An exciting exploration into the incredible world of Game of Thrones' My Weekly

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Haunting, terrifying and hilarious, The Day of the Oprichnik is a dazzling novel and a fierce critique of life in the New RussiaMoscow 2028: Andrei Danilovich Komiaga, oprichnik, member of the czar's inner circle of trusted courtiers, rouses himself from a drunken stupor and prepares for another day of debauchery, violence, terror and beauty. In this New Russia, futuristic technology combine with the draconian world of Ivan the Terrible to create a dystopia chillingly akin to reality. Over the twenty-four-hour span of the novel, Komiaga will rape, pillage and torture, in the name of the czar he fears and adores. Shimmering with invention, fierce social commentary and razor-sharp wit, Day of the Oprichnik imagines a near future too disturbing to contemplate and too close to reality to ignore.

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'A masterpiece, as fresh and shocking as if it were written yesterday' Craig Brown"I've been told that no one sings the word 'hunger' like I do. Or the word 'love'."Lady Sings the Blues is the inimitable autobiography of one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century. Born to a single mother in 1915 Baltimore, Billie Holiday had her first run-in with the law at aged 13. But Billie Holiday is no victim. Her memoir tells the story of her life spent in jazz, smoky Harlem clubs and packed-out concert halls, her love affairs, her wildly creative friends, her struggles with addiction and her adventures in love. Billie Holiday is a wise and aphoristic guide to the story of her unforgettable life.

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An extraordinary history of French lives under occupation in the First and Second World Wars, this is an intimate, unforgettable meditation on the strange mixture of compromise and betrayal, collaboration and resistance that marks defeat, written by one of the greatest historians of France.'A splendid book for comprehending human kind ... Cobb has a strong sense of how ordinary life has to go on, even through disasters, and a sensitivity for what it was like at the time, matched by a gift for the telling phrase' Economist 'Prophet of the past, Richard Cobb is a visionary' New York Review of Books'His France - urban, northern, provincial, pedestrian, noisy, unpuritanical, festive - was in contrast to, and predicated upon, another France: bureaucratic, official, suburban, safe' Julian Barnes

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'Rugby is great for the soul,' he writes, 'but terrible for the body.'Rugby hurts. It demands mental resilience and resistance to pain. It explores character, beyond a capacity to endure punishment.Dylan Hartley, one of England's most successful captains, tells a story of hard men and harsh truths. From the sixteen-year-old Kiwi who travelled alone to England, to the winner of ninety-seven international caps, he describes with brutal clarity the sport's increasing demand on players and the toll it takes on their mental health, as well as the untimely injury that shattered his dreams of leading England in the 2019 World Cup.The Hurt is rugby in the raw, a unique insight into the price of sporting obsession.'Few have had more twists and turns in a pro rugby career' Robert Kitson, Guardian'Anyone who cares about the game, in which he won 97 caps for England and played 250 times for Northampton, should read Hartley's book' Don McRae, GuardianThe Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year, December 2020

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Jack Kerouac's classic novel about friendship, the search for meaning, and the allure of natureA witty, moving philosophical novel, Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums is a journey of self-discovery through the lens of Zen Buddhist thought. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Ann Douglas.Following the explosive energy of On the Road, the book that put the Beat Genration on the literary map - and Jack Kerouac on the bestseller list - comes The Dharma Bums, in which Kerouac charts the spiritual quest of a group of friends in search of Dharma, or Truth. Ray Smith and his friend Japhy, along with Morley the yodeller, head off into the high Sierras to seek the lesson of solitude and experience the Zen way of life. But in wildly Bohemian San Francisco, with its poetry jam sessions, marathon drinking bouts and experiments in 'yabyum', they find the ascetic route distinctly hard to follow.

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Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading romances of chivalry that he determines to become a knight errant and pursue bold adventures, accompanied by his squire, the cunning Sancho Panza. As they roam the world together, the aging Quixote's fancy leads them wildly astray, tilting at windmills, fighting with friars, and distorting the rural Spanish landscape into a fantasy of impenetrable fortresses and wicked sorcerers. At the same time the relationship between the two men grows in fascinating subtlety. Often considered to be the first modern novel, Don Quixote is a wonderful burlesque of the popular literature its disordered protagonist is obsessed with.

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A New York Times Notable Book 2018'A rebel French writer ... a brilliant storyteller, a master craftsman and one of France's most original writers' Independent 'The Kites is a novel touched from beginning to end with grace, a great saga about the innate dignity of love that succeeds in the feat of being funny and poetic, tender and sharp, committed and fierce, with a touch of brilliance in the art of dialogue' Muriel Barbery, author of The Elegance of the HedgehogA quiet village in Normandy, 1932. Ludo is ten years old and lives with his uncle, a kindly, eccentric creator of elaborate kites. One day, sitting in a strawberry field, Ludo meets the beautiful young Polish aristocrat Lila. And so begins Ludo's lifelong adventure of love and longing for Lila, who only begins to return his feelings just as Europe descends into the devastation of World War 2. After Poland and France fall, Lila and Ludo are separated. Ludo's friends in the village must find their own ways of resisting: the local restaurateur who is dedicated above all to France's haute cuisine, a Jewish brothel madam who sleeps with her unwitting enemies and Ludo, who cycles past the Nazis every day, passing on messages for the French Resistance - thinking always of Lila.

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A Short History of Decay (1949) is E. M. Cioran's nihilistic and witty collection of aphoristic essays concerning the nature of civilization in mid 20th-century Europe. Touching upon man's need to worship, the feebleness of God, the downfall of the Ancient Greeks and the melancholy baseness of all existence, Cioran's pieces are pessimistic in the extreme, but also display a beautiful certainty that renders them delicate, vivid, and memorable. Illuminating and brutally honest, A Short History of Decay dissects man's decadence in a remarkable series of moving and beautiful pieces.

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Take a ringside seat next to A. J. Liebling at some of the greatest fights in history. Here is Joe Louis's devastating final match; Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback; and Rocky Marciano's rise to heavyweight glory. The heated ringside atmosphere, the artistry of the great boxers and the blows and parries of the classic fights are all vividly evoked in a volume described by Sports Illustrated as 'the best American sports book of all time'.'A rollicking god among boxing writers ... before Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson were out of diapers, Liebling was taking his readers on excursions through the hidden and often hilarious levels of this bruised subculture ... the Master' Los Angeles Times'Nobody wrote about boxing with more grace and enthusiasm' The New York Times

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'It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life'Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

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'I saw him taking a different shape before my eyes. His loose draperies all fell off him, and, as they were in the very act of falling, there issued ... a monstrous creature of the beetle type'Eminent politician Paul Lessingham is the toast of Westminster, but when 'the Beetle' arrives from Egypt to hunt him down, the dark and gruesome secret that haunts him is dragged into the light. Bent on revenge for a crime committed against the disciples of an Egyptian goddess, the Beetle terrorizes its victims and will stop at nothing until it has satisfaction. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

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'My guest was lying sprawled on his back. There was a long knife through his heart which skewered him to the floor'Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot which could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his courage and ingenuity to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

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***THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER***'Fast-paced, generous, wise, raw, funny, practical and helpful' Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed 'Millions of young women look to Marie Forleo as their inspiration for empowerment and achievement' Oprah Winfrey'Reading these pages I experienced the sensation of limitless possibility. This book will change lives' Elizabeth Gilbert Do you ever have trouble finishing what you start? Do amazing ideas come to you all the time but after the initial excitement wanes you struggle to follow through? If you're creative and ambitious, the answer is likely yes. The problem isn't you. It's not that you're not hardworking, intelligent or deserving, but that you haven't yet installed the one key belief that will change everything: Everything is figureoutable. Whether you want to leave a dead-end job, heal a relationship, grow a business, master your money, or just find two free hours in your day, Everything is Figureoutable will train your brain to think more positively and help you break down any dream into manageable steps. Inside you'll learn: - How to deal with criticism and imposter syndrome - Why it's crucial that you strive for progress not perfection - How to bounce back from failure - How to overcome a lack of time and money You'll also hear triumphant stories of everyday people using the everything is figureoutable philosophy to transform their life. Everything is figureoutable is more than just a fun phrase to say. It's a practical, actionable discipline. And it's about to make you unstoppable! 'Smart, funny, and as brilliant as it is straightforward. LOVED it!' Brené Brown 'This book delivers a knockout punch to whatever is holding you back' Cheryl Strayed

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'It would be a dull world if we all thought alike.'After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERFull of anecdotes, relatable quotes and beautiful illustrations, this little book makes a wonderful read and thoughtful gift!'Is it the world that's busy, or my mind?'*****Life moves fast, but that doesn't mean we have to.In this timely guide to mindfulness, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist monk born in Korea and educated in the United States, offers advice on everything from handling setbacks to dealing with rest and relationships.Combining his teachings with calming full-colour illustrations, Haemin Sunim's simple messages speak directly to the anxieties that have become part of modern life and remind us of the strength and joy that come from slowing down.*****'Everyone who wants to thrive more in their life should have it on their nightstand' Arianna Huffington'Offers practical advice on everything from handling setbacks to relationships. Best for reclaiming your zen' Stylist

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Based on Mailer's own experience of military service in the Philippines during World War Two, The Naked and the Dead' is a graphically truthful and shattering portrayal of ordinary men in battle. First published in 1949, as America was still basking in the glories of the Allied victory, it altered forever the popular perception of warfare.Focusing on the experiences of a fourteen-man platoon stationed on a Japanese-held island in the South Pacific during World War II, and written in a journalistic style, it tells the moving story of the soldiers' struggle to retain a sense of dignity amidst the horror of warfare, and to find a source of meaning in their lives amisdst the sounds and fury of battle.

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October 21, 1967, Washington, D.C. 20,000 to 200,000 protesters are marching to end the war in Vietnam, while helicopters hover overhead and federal marshals and soldiers with fixed bayonets await them on the Pentagon steps. Among the marchers is Norman Mailer. From his own singular participation in the day's events and his even more extraordinary perceptions comes a classic work that shatters the mould of traditional reportage. Intellectuals and hippies, clergymen and cops, poets and army MPs crowd the pages of a book in which facts are fused with techniques of fiction to create the nerve-end reality of experiential truth.The Armies of the Night uniquely and unforgettably captures the Sixties' tidal wave of love and rage at its crest and a towering genius at his peak.

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'Good b.o means good "box office." You can smell it from a mile away'The legendary sixties New York pop artist Andy Warhol's hilarious and insightful vignettes and aphorisms on the topics of love, fame and beauty.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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'But no, she's abstract, is a birdOf sound in the air of air soaring,And her soul sings unencumberedBecause the song's what makes her sing.'Dramatic, lyrical and ranging over four distinct personae, these poems by one of Portugal's greatest poets trace a mind shaken by intense suffering and a tireless search for meaning.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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'She felt a cozy solidarity with the big company of the voluntary dead.'Wise-cracking and heartbreaking, these tales of women on the edge by the legendary wit Dorothy Parker show the darkness beneath the surface of the Jazz Age.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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'As you are well aware, we never loved each other in your lifetime. Both of us pretended.' Simenon explores the complexity of parent child relationships and the bitterness of things left unsaid in this stark, confessional piece.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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'What did she expect of him? What was her quest? Did she have an unfulfilled desire?'Transgressive desires and sexual encounters are recounted in these four pieces from one of the greatest writers of erotic fiction.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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'Like rotting stakes in a forest clearing' The great journalist of conflict in the Third World finds an even stranger and more exotic society in his own home of post-War PolandPenguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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