Literary Criticism - Books & Reading

"The ultimate literary bucket list." --The Washington Post "If there's a heaven just for readers, this is it." --O, The Oprah Magazine Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that's as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising,...

A collection of life-affirming books to guide you through. Settle down with 100 Books to Live By and learn which book prescriptions can be dispensed to lift your spirits, whatever you may need. Sometimes, only a good book will help. In life's biggest moments...

***2023 Bram Stoker Awards(R) Winner*** The Ultimate List of Must-Read Horror Curious readers and fans of monsters and the macabre, get ready to bulk up your TBR piles! Sadie "Mother Horror" Hartmann has curated the best selection of modern horror books, including plenty of...

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres comes an essential guide for writers and readers alike: an exhilarating tour through one hundred novels that "inspires wicked delight." --Los Angeles Times Book ReviewFrom classics such as the thousand-year-old Tale of Genji to fiction...

What was it like to start a feminist bookshop, in an industry dominated by men? How could a lesbian thrive in Thatcher's time, with the government legislating to restrict her rights? How do you run a business when your real aim is to change...

Curated from the archives of World Literature Today, this landmark anthology celebrates a century of exploration through pen and ink, and reimagines what international readership can be.From Nobel laureates to dissident authors, iconic mainstays to extraordinary newcomers, this global chorus of fiction, essays, poetry,...

An engaging, insightful meditation on death, from one of our leading mindsDeath is ever-present in literature. From Shakespearean tragedies to elegiac poetry, the spectre of human mortality has always haunted writers.In this wide-ranging and personal account, Terry Eagleton examines the ways in which western...

"A Horse at Night is like light from a candle in the evening: intimate, pleasurable, full of wonder. It asks us to consider fiction as life and life as fiction. Amina Cain is our generous, gentle guide through an exquisite library. A truly beautiful...

Bibliophiles everywhere will find something contained herein which will delight them - over 200 one-liners and quotes, as well as great lines from great works have been brought together and put into this small but perfectly formed little book about books.Author: OhPublisher: OhPublished: 09/06/2022Pages:...

From the former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner, an illuminating dissection of poetic form for students, enthusiasts, and newcomers alikeA Little Book on Form brilliantly synthesizes Hass's formidable gifts as both a poet and essayist. In it he takes up...

A vibrant guide to the world of literature, from dramatic plays to engrossing novels Literature has inspired every civilisation, from Greek myth to today's graphic novels. John Sutherland, who has researched, taught and written on the entire glorious span of human literary activity, here...

An inspirational book that is "a smart, sweeping run through the history of Western philosophy. Important for the way it illuminates life today and for the controversial advice it offers on how to live" (The New York Times)."What constitutes human excellence?" and "What is...

A coming-of-age memoir set in late-twentieth-century Dublin, recounting writer and critic Brian Dillon's first encounters with pivotal writers in his life--Virginia Woolf, Samuel Beckett, Walter Benjamin, and others--and in the process arguing for the transformative power of art, literature, and learning. When Brian Dillon...

From a writer who has "invented a new form" (Annie Ernaux), an exploration of mortality, alienation, boredom, surveillance, and how we regard ourselves among the animals.Animal Stories begins with Kate Zambreno's visit to the monkey house at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where...

Contagiously curious essays on reading, art, and the life of the mind, from the acclaimed author of The Unreality of Memory. Who are we when we read? When we journal? Are we more ourselves alone or with friends? Right now or in memory? How...

In an age of globalization characterized by the dizzying technologies of the First World, and the social disintegration of the Third, is the concept of utopia still meaningful? Archaeologies of the Future, Jameson's most substantial work since Postmodernism, Or, the Cultural Logic of Late...

A copiously illustrated global history of magic books, from ancient papyri to pulp paperbacks "A beautiful production: a typographic and calligraphic treat as treasurable as a rare magical text itself. Almost every page is filled with wonder."--Suzi Feay, The Spectator Grimoires, textbooks of magic...

E. M. Forster's guide sparkles with wit and insight for contemporary writers and readers. With lively language and excerpts from well-known classics, Forster (author of A Passage to India, Howards End, and A Room With a View) takes on the seven elements vital to...

In this powerful reframing of the stories that make us, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec leads us into the borderlands of history, science, memoir, and fiction to ask: What worlds do books written by marginalized people describe and invite us to inhabit? When a friend...

Searching for perfect book lovers gifts? Rejoice! Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany, is a love letter to all things bookish. Author Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations. It's a must-have for every book collection, and...