A stunningly illustrated look at how Blake's radical vision influenced artists of the Beat generation and 1960s countercultureIn his own lifetime, William Blake (1757–1827) was a relatively unknown nonconventional artist with a strong political bent...

Stephen Greenblatt—Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning author of The Swerve and Will in the World—investigates the life of one of humankind’s greatest stories. Bolder, even, than the ambitious books for which Stephen Greenblatt is already...

“The Origin of Others combines Toni Morrison’s accustomed eloquence with meaning for our times as citizens of the world.” —Nell Irvin Painter, New RepublicAmerica’s foremost novelist reflects on the themes that preoccupy her work and increasingly...

The first-ever collection of essays from across Elizabeth Hardwick's illustrious writing career, including works not seen in print for decades.A New York Times Notable Book of 2017Elizabeth Hardwick wrote during the golden age of the American literary...

2018 Edgar Award NomineeFrom Michael Sims, the acclaimed author of The Story of Charlotte�s Web, the rich, true tale tracing the young Arthur Conan Doyle�s creation of Sherlock Holmes and the modern detective story.As a young medical student, Arthur...

"I want you to know that I'm not a critic or theorist, which means that in my work I look for solutions as problems arise." So begins the first of eight classes that the great Argentine writer Julio Cortázar delivered at UC Berkeley in 1980. These...

“Full of intelligence and insights, as the author gleefully turns ideas upside down to better understand them. . . Replete with lots of nifty, whimsical footnotes, this clever, speculative book challenges our beliefs with jocularity and perspicacity.”...

"Humane yet often horrifying, Tell Me How It Ends offers a compelling, intimate look at a continuing crisis--and its ongoing cost in an age of increasing urgency." --Jeremy Garber, Powell's Booksp”"Valeria Luiselli's extended essay on her volunteer work...

Mere Reading argues for a return to the foundations of literary study established nearly a century ago. Following a recent period dominated by symptomatic analyses of fictional texts (new historicist, Marxist, feminist, identity-political), Lee Clark...

In a timely follow-up to her national bestseller Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit offers indispensable commentary on women who refuse to be silenced, misogynistic violence, the fragile masculinity of the literary canon, the gender binary, the...

A leading German scholar reveals his astonishing discovery about Nabokov’s influential novelWe know the girl and her story, just as we know the title. But the author was Heinz von Eschwege, whose tale of Lolita appeared in 1916 under the pen name Heinz...

This radically original book argues for the power of ordinary language philosophy—a tradition inaugurated by Ludwig Wittgenstein and J. L. Austin, and extended by Stanley Cavell—to transform literary studies. In engaging and lucid prose, Toril Moi...

A repackaged edition of the revered author’s treasury of essays and stories which examine the value of creative writing and imaginative exploration.C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and...

“Profound, overwhelmingly moving . . . a richly complex love story.” — New York TimesAcclaimed biographer Nancy Milford brings to life the tormented, elusive personality of Zelda Sayre and clarifies as never before Zelda’s relationship with her husband F...

A noted British cultural critic takes on some of the strangest works of art from the 20th century and dissects our fascination with the unsettling in popular music, film, and writing   What exactly are the Weird and the Eerie? Two closely related but...

Political Magic examines early modern British fictions of exploration and colonialism, arguing that narratives of intercultural contact reimagine ideas of sovereignty and popular power. These fictions reveal aspects of political thought in this period...

An original collection of incandescent cultural criticism, both experimental and personal, full of pragmatic advice for how to live a considered, joyful existence in our era of screen living and hipster irony, by a Gen-X Princeton professor and...

Inventing Agency addresses some of the most central and pressing concerns in criticism, theory, and philosophy today. As new metaphysics of the realia of power and independently animated objects have replaced ancient conceptualizations of substance,...