“An entertaining and shrewd little book ... Ashbery is an accomplished raconteur.” —Charles Simic, New York Review of BooksThe most influential American poet of his generation appraises the lesser-known writers who shaped his own confounding, infinitely...

“Erudite, wide-ranging, and slyly humorous.” —The AtlanticOne of the great novelists and public intellectuals of our time gives a master class on the philosophy of fiction.Umberto Eco was fond of pointing out that all writing is narrative. He published...

“A wondrously limpid testament to the pleasures of reading.” —Steven Poole, The GuardianSix incandescent lectures on literature from the patron saint of mirrors, metafiction, and infinite libraries.For more than thirty years, Jorge Luis Borges’s Norton...

A fascinating look into the myths that continue to shape our understanding and appreciation of Jane Austen. Was Jane Austen the best-selling novelist of her time? Are all her novels romances? Did they depict the traditional world of the aristocracy? Is...

A collection of private correspondence from one of the Harlem Renaissance's brightest and most radical voices The Jamaican-born, queer author Claude McKay (1890-1948) was a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance. His 1919 poem "If We Must Die"...

At her death in 1817, Jane Austen left the world six of the most beloved novels written in English—but her shortsighted family destroyed the bulk of her letters; and if she kept any diaries, they did not survive her.  Now acclaimed biographer Claire...

The literary critic defends the importance of Western literature from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Kafka and Beckett in this acclaimed national bestseller. "An impressive work...deeply, rightly passionate about the great books of the past."--Michael...

Taking Leave Is A Lyrical Memoir And Meditation On The Titular Practice In Its Many Senses-from The Author's Mother Leaving Her Marriage, To Her Own Taking Leave Of The Jewish And Christian Faiths She Was Raised In To Embrace Sufi Islam, And Her Taking...

She did it to my dad, though. They used the silent treatment on each other, she explained, because they didn't want to say something they'd regret. What does she want to say now that she'd regret? Jeannie Vanasco's mother starts using the silent...

"How do you tell an impossible story, one that is almost too big to contain in a single book?" In Tracker, Alexis Wright tells the story of charismatic Aboriginal Australian leader Tracker Tilmouth, who died in Darwin in 2015 at the age of 62. Taken from...

The distinguished poet, playwright, and critic combines reflections on American culture, politics, and science during the past decade with autobiographical recollections and appreciations of Frost, Pound, and other fellow writers

On the heels of the bestseller success of her novel The Wedding, Dorothy West, the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance, presents a collection of essays and stories that explore both the realism of everyday life, and the fantastical,...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK"A delicious mashup of narrative that's by turns harrowing and healing." –People“Entertaining, insightful, wrenching … punch-to-the-gut powerful.” –The Washington Post“A blockbuster: brutally...

The landmark book that situates Blake’s poetry within the intellectual movements of his day and unlocks his symbolism for modern readersSince it was first published, Northrop Frye’s Fearful Symmetry has established itself as the defining commentary on...

This second hardcover omnibus edition of Didion's collected nonfiction contains her final four books: Blue Nights, South and West, Let Me Tell You What I Mean, and her bestselling and most famous work, The Year of Magical Thinking.In her essay “Why I...

The moving story of the life and work of novelist Virginia Woolf, revealed through her own letters to those closest to her.Virginia Woolf is considered by many to be one of the greatest British writers and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth...

A new intellectual biography of Goethe, examining the paradox of his thoughtJohann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was a poet, a novelist, a scientist and an essayist on a dizzying range of topics. In the nineteenth century, he was widely regarded as one...

An inquiry into the theories and practices of overhearing When words are not heard but overheard, when phrases are perceived in bits and pieces, and when speakers, failing to do as they intend, state things that they never meant to say, the saying, in...