Joseph Epstein demonstrates time and again his talent fortaking nearly any subject and polishing it into a gem of sparklingwit and fascination. In Narcissus Leaves the Pool, he displays hissignature verve and charm in sixteen agile, entertaining pieces.Among his targets in this collection are name-dropping, talentversus genius, the cult of youthfulness, and the informationrevolution.
The best-known novellas and stories of one of the seminalwriters of the twentieth century. Included are "The Judgment, " "ACountry Doctor, " and "A Hunger Artist." New Foreword by AnneRice.
Based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk, who survivedalone for almost five years on an uninhabited island off the coastof Chile, "The Mysterious Island" is considered by many to be JulesVerne's masterpiece. "Wide-eyed mid-nineteenth-century humanisticoptimism in a breezy, blissfully readable translation by Stump"("Kirkus Reviews"), here is the enthralling tale of five men and adog who land in a balloon on a faraway, fantastic island ofbewildering goings-on and their struggle to survive as they uncoverthe island's secret.
Seventeen interlinked tales by the winner of the 1988 NobelPrize for Literature follow such themes as betrayal, intrigue,obsessive love, social injustice, reincarnations, and wrongsrighted or made worse. Reprint. K.
In his long-awaited, vastly innovative new novel, Naipaul,"one of literature's great travelers" (Los Angles Times), spanscontinents and centuries to create what is at once an autobiographyand a fictional archaeology of colonialism. "Dickensian . . . abrilliant new prism through which to view (Naipaul's) life andwork."--New York Times.
Leo Tolstoy’s short works, like his novels, show readers his narrative genius, keen observation, and historical acumen—albeit on a smaller scale. This Norton Critical Edition presents twelve of Tolstoy’s best-known stories, based on the Louise and Aylmer Maude translations (except “Alyosha Gorshok”), which have been revised by the editor for enhanced comprehension and annotated for student readers. The Second Edition newly includes “A Prisoner in the Caucasus,” “Father Sergius,” and “After the Ball,” in addition to Michael Katz’s new translation of “Alyosha Gorshok.” Together these stories represent the best of the author’s short fiction before War and Peace and after Anna Karenina. “Backgrounds and Sources” includes two Tolstoy memoirs, A History of Yesterday (1851) and The Memoirs of a Madman (1884), as well as entries—expanded in the Second Edition—from Tolstoy’s “Diary for 1855” and selected letters (1858–95) that shed light on the author’s creative p
In a small Pennsylvania town in the late 1940s, schoolteacherGeorge Caldwell yearns to find some meaning in his life. Alone withhis teenage son for three days in a blizzard, Caldwell sees his songrow and change as he himself begins to lost touch with his life.Interwoven with the myth of Chiron, the noblest centaur, and hisown relationship to Prometheus, The Centaur one of John Updike'smost brilliant and unusual novels.
At forty, the writer Nathan Zuckerman comes down with amysterious affliction--pure pain, beginning in his neck andshoulders, invading his torso, and taking possession of his spirit.Zuckerman, whose work was his life, is unable to write a line. Nowhis work is trekking from one doctor to another, but none can finda cause for the pain and nobody can assuage it. Zuckerman himselfwonders if the pain can have been caused by his own books. Andwhile he is wondering, his dependence on painkillers grows into anaddiction to vodka, marijuana, and Percodan. The Anatomy Lesson isa great comedy of illness written in what the English criticHermione Lee has described as "a manner at once...brash andthoughtful... lyrical and wry, which projects through comicexpostulations and confessions...a knowing, humane authority." Thethird volume of the trilogy and epilogue "Zuckerman Bound," TheAnatomy Lesson provides some of the funniest scenes in all ofRoth's fiction as well as some of the fiercest.
Portnoy's Complaint "n." after Alexander Portnoy (1933- )] Adisorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses areperpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of aperverse nature. Spielvogel says: 'Acts of exhibitionism,voyeurism, fetishism, auto-eroticism and oral coitus are plentiful;as a consequence of the patient's "morality," however, neitherfantasy nor act issues in genuine sexual gratification, but ratherin overriding feelings of shame and the dread of retribution,particularly in the form of castration.' (Spielvogel, O. "ThePuzzled Penis," "Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse,"Vol. XXIV, p. 909.) It is believed by Spielvogel that many of thesymptoms can be traced to the bonds obtaining in the mother-childrelationship. With a new Afterword by the author for the 25thAnniversary edition.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter. The stories are accompanied by delightful pen-and-ink illustrations by Ms. Rowling herself, featuring a still-life frontispiece for each one. Professor Dumbledore’s commentary—apparently written some eighteen months befor
(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed) Set in the secluded forestcommunity of Little Hintock, Thomas Hardy's "The Woodlanders"inextricably links the dramatic English landscape with the story ofa woman caught between two rivals of radically different socialstatures. Grace Melbury is promised to her longtime companion,Giles Winterborne, a local woodlander and a gentle, steadfast man.When her socially motivated father pressures her to wed theambitious doctor Edred Fitzpiers, Grace's loyalties shift--and herdecision leads to tumultuous consequences. With its explorations ofclass and gender, lust and betrayal, "The Woodlanders" is one ofHardy's most vivid and powerful works. This Modern LibraryPaperback Classic is set from the text of the 1912 Wessex editionand includes Hardy's map of fictional Wessex.
A stunning novel by the widest-read Arab writer currentlypublished in the U.S. The age of Nasser has ushered in enormoussocial change, and most of the middle-aged and middle-class sonsand daughters of the old bourgeoisie find themselves trying torecreate the cozy, enchanted world they so dearly miss. One night,however, art and reality collide--with unforeseencircumstances.
One of the most celebrated writers of our time gives us hisfirst cycle of short fiction: five brilliantly etched,interconnected stories in which music is a vivid and essentialcharacter. A once-popular singer, desperate to make a comeback, turningfrom the one certainty in his life . . . A man whose unerring tastein music is the only thing his closest friends value in him . . . Astruggling singer-songwriter unwittingly involved in the failingmarriage of a couple he’s only just met . . . A gifted,underappreciated jazz musician who lets himself believe thatplastic surgery will help his career . . . A young cellist whosetutor promises to “unwrap” his talent . . . Passion or necessity—or the often uneasy combination of thetwo—determines the place of music in each of these lives. And, inone way or another, music delivers each of them to a moment ofreckoning: sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, sometimes justeluding their grasp. An exploration of love, need, and the ineluctable fo
"Time" Magazine Best American Novel (1993) In this fiendishlyimaginative book (which may or may not be fiction), Philip Rothmeets a man who may or may not be Philip Roth. Because "someone"with that name has been touring Israel, promoting a bizarre reverseexodus of the Jews. Roth is intent on stopping him, even if thatmeans impersonating his own impersonator. With excruciatingsuspense, unfettered philosophical speculation, and a cast ofcharacters that includes Israeli intelligence agents, Palestinianexiles, an accused war criminal, and an enticing charter member ofan organization called Anti-Semites Anonymous, Operation Shylockbarrels across the frontier between fact and fiction, seriousnessand high comedy, history and nightmare.
Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has alwaystried to make the best books ever written available to the greatestnumber of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorialfeatures that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from thecrowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introductionto the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or hislife and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a conciseplot summary. All books published since 1993 have also beencompletely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarityand ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; avibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great textswith beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature mustbe Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers theseextensive materials at a price that competes with the mostinexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks havedurable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial an
The Trial is one of the most important novels of the twentiethcentury: the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bankofficer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defendhimself against a charge about which he can get no information.Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy ofthe excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness oftotalitarianism, Kafka's nightmare has resonated with chillingtruth for generations of readers. This new edition is based uponthe work of an international team of experts who have restored thetext, the sequence of chapters, and their division to create aversion that is as close as possible to the way the author left it.In his brilliant translation, Breon Mitchell masterfully reproducesthe distinctive poetics of Kafka's prose, revealing a novel that isas full of energy and power as it was when it was firstwritten.
Henry Bech, the moderately well known Jewish-American writerwho served as the hero of John Updike's previous Bech: A Book(1970) and Bech Is Back (1982), has become older but scarcelywiser. In these five new chapters from his life, he is still atbay, pursued by the hounds of desire and anxiety, of unbridledcriticism and publicity in a literary world ever more cheerfullycrass. He fights intimations of annihilation in still-CommunistCzechoslovakia, while promiscuously consorting with dissidents,apparatchiks, and Midwestern Republicans. Next, he succumbs to thetemptations of power by accepting the presidency of a quaint andcosseted honorary body patterned on the Académie Fran?aise. Then,the reader finds him on trial in California and on a criminalrampage in a gothic Gotham, abetted by a nubile sidekick calledRobin. Lastly, our septuagenarian veteran of the literary wars isrewarded with a coveted medal, stunning him into a well-deservedsilence. It's not easy being Henry Bech in the post-Gutenbergianworld,
"It is, quite simply, Updike's best novel yet." NEWSWEEK Adeftly satirical portrait of life and love in a suburban town asonly Updike can paint it. "From the Paperback edition."
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Arriving in a village to takeup the position of land surveyor for the mysterious lord of acastle, the character known as K. finds himself in a bitter andbaffling struggle to contact his new employer and go about hisduties. As the villagers and the Castle officials block his effortsat every turn, K.'s consuming quest-quite possibly a self-imposedone-to penetrate the inaccessible heart of the Castle and take itsmeasure is repeatedly frustrated. Kafka once suggested that thewould-be surveyor in "The Castle" is driven by a wish "to get clearabout ultimate things," an unrealizable desire that provided thedriving force behind all of Kafka's dazzlingly uncanny fictions.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir "From the Hardcoveredition."
An iconic novel dressed in a fierce design by acclaimedfashion illustrator Ruben Toledo Ruben Toledo's breathtakingdrawings have appeared in such high-fashion magazines as "Vogue,Harper's Bazaar," and "Visionaire." Now he's turning his talentedhand to illustrating the gorgeous deluxe editions of three of themost beloved novels in literature. Here Elizabeth Bennet'srejection of Mr. Darcy, Hester Prynne's fateful letter "A," andCatherine Earnshaw's wanderings on the Yorkshire moors aretransformed into witty and surreal landscapes to appeal to thenovels' aficionados and the most discerning designer's eyes.
Stevenson’s brooding historical romance demonstrates his mostabiding theme—the elemental struggle between good and evil—as itunfolds against a hauntingly beautiful Scottish landscape, amid thefierce loyalties and violent enmities that characterized Scottishhistory. When two brothers attempt to split their loyalties betweenthe warring factions of the 1745 Jacobite rising, one family findsitself tragically divided. Stevenson’s remarkably vividcharacterizations create an acutely moving, psychologically complexwork; as Andrea Barrett points out in her Introduction, “Thebrothers’ characters, not the historical facts, shape thedrama.” This Modern Library Paperback Classic includes illustrationsreproduced from the original edition.
Featuring the brilliantly drawn Roxanna, a mulatto slave whosuffers dire consequences after switching her infant son with hermaster's baby, and the clever Pudd'nhead Wilson, an ostracizedsmall-town lawyer, Twain's darkly comic masterpiece is aprovocative exploration of slavery and miscegenation. Leslie A.Fiedler described the novel as "half melodramatic detective story,half bleak tragedy," noting that "morally, it is one of the mosthonest books in our literature." "Those Extraordinary Twins," theslapstick story that evolved into Pudd'nhead Wilson, provides afascinating view of the author's process. The text for this ModernLibrary Paperback Classic was set from the 1894 first Americanedition.
