"[A] THOUGHTFUL AND HEARTFELT BOOK...A literary cri de coeur--a lament for literature and everything implicit in it."--The Washington PostIn our zeal to embrace the wonders of the electronic age, are we sacrificing our literary culture? Renowned critic...

"A heart set on love will do no wrong," declared Confucius. This compact gift book presents an international assortment of romantic ruminations from ancient and modern philosophers, playwrights, poets, novelists, commentators, critics, actors, and others...

“An absolutely fascinating blend of history, design, sociology, and cultural poetics—highly recommended.”—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating...

The unmatched guide—and perfect gift—for stymied scribes and working wordsmiths everywhere, now expanded and updated.A singular and indispensable reference tool, The Describer's Dictionary—now expanded and updated—has served for over twenty years as the...

Eric Hayot teaches graduate students and faculty in literary and cultural studies how to think and write like a professional scholar. From granular concerns, such as sentence structure and grammar, to big-picture issues, such as adhering to genre...

Combining a dictionary and a thesaurus in a single volume, this book offers readers a convenient way to examine dictionary entries and research corresponding synonyms at the same time. The split-page design displays full dictionary entries on the upper...

Writers write—but what do they do for money?In a widely read essay entitled "MFA vs NYC," bestselling novelist Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding) argued that the American literary scene has split into two cultures: New York publishing versus university...

When a dissertation crosses my desk, I usually want to grab it by its metaphorical lapels and give it a good shake. “You know something!” I would say if it could hear me. “Now tell it to us in language we can understand!” Since its publication in 2005,...

The Compact Oxford German Dictionary covers over 90,000 words and phrases, and 120,000 translations of contemporary German and English. This handy reference book covers all the words you need, based on findings from the Oxford Languages Tracker and the...

The Compact Oxford Italian Dictionary covers over 90,000 words and phrases, and 120,000 translations of contemporary Italian and English. Includes all essential Italian and English words, based on findings from the Oxford Languages Tracker. More than...

In A Poet’s Guide to Poetry, Mary Kinzie brings her decades of expertise as poet, critic, and director of the creative writing program at Northwestern University to bear in a comprehensive reference work for any writer wishing to better understand poetry...

An indispensable and distinctive book that will help anyone who wants to write, write better, or have a clearer understanding of what it means for them to be writing, from widely admired writer and teacher Verlyn Klinkenborg. Klinkenborg believes that...

Sociolinguistics deals with the social life of language, language in its sociocultural context. It is a branch of linguistics that looks less at the shape or sound of words--morphology or phonology--and more at how our words and sentences are influenced...

Senior moment. Think outside the box. Idioms like these can't be understood just from the words that make them up. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms explores the meanings of idioms, including phrasal verbs such as kick back, proverbs such as...

This guide reveals how writers can utilize cognitive storytelling strategies to craft stories that ignite readers’ brains and captivate them through each plot element.Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the...

Larousse Dictionary of Twentieth Century History

How many languages are there? What differentiates one language from another? Are new languages still being discovered? Why are so many languages disappearing? The diversity of languages today is varied, but it is steadily declining. In this Very Short...

New 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...

Elegant ideas deserve elegant expression. Sword dispels the myth that you can’t get published without writing wordy, impersonal prose. For scholars frustrated with disciplinary conventions or eager to write for a larger audience, here are imaginative,...

The truth about English is that it can get pretty boring. Dangling modifiers, gerunds, punctuation marks--it's enough to make you want to drop out of high school. Swearing and sex on the other hand, well, these time-honored pastimes warm the cockles of...