Books & Reading

The fear of oblivion obsessed medieval and early modern Europe. Stone, wood, cloth, parchment, and paper all provided media onto which writing was inscribed as a way to ward off loss. And the task was not easy in a world in which writing could be...

The untold story of how the Dutch conquered the European book market and became the world's greatest bibliophiles-"an instant classic on Dutch book history" (BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review)"[An] excellent contribution to book history."-Robert...

'A vital and timely introduction to some of the best books I've ever read. Perfectly curated and filled with brilliant literature'Nikesh Shukla'The ultimate introduction to post-colonial literature for those who want to understand the classics and the...

Close friendships are a heart-warming feature of many of our best-loved works of fiction. From Jane Eyre and Helen Burns' poignant schoolgirl relationship to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn's adventures on the Mississippi, fictional friends have...

Pure Pleasure gives us fifty of the most enjoyable books of the twentieth century, chosen on a single principle - the pleasure they inspire. Pure Pleasure is an idiosyncratic antidote to the 'definitive' lists of twentieth-century classics. John Carey,...

A lighthearted look at how to bring more humor, happiness, and joie de vivre into our lives through French literature Like many people the world over, Viv Groskop wishes she was a little more French. A writer, comedian, and journalist, Groskop...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781598536409Author Harold BloomFormat HardbackPage Count 436Imprint The Library of AmericaPublisher The Library of AmericaWeight(grams) 709gDimensions(mm)...

These essays (and a ballad) have their origins in Terry Eagleton's continuing engagement with the possibilities of a literary criticism that is both materialist and open to diverse currents of thought in the human sciences.Eagleton's combative...

A sharp and provocative new essay collection from the award-winning author of Freedom and The Corrections In The End of the End of the Earth, which gathers essays and speeches written mostly in the past five years,...

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...

Does fiction enhance reality, or threaten our sense of what is real? What, if anything, is special about experiencing fictional works and worlds? Today we speak casually of parallel universes and virtual reality; how much do we really know about what...

Works of genre fiction are a source of enjoyment, read during cherished leisure time and in incidental moments of relaxation. This original book takes readers inside popular genres of fiction, including crime, fantasy, and romance, to reveal how personal...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781632461544Author Lucy FerrissFormat PaperbackPage Count 160Imprint Ig PublishingPublisher Ig Publishing

The greatest bibliographer of our time, was how historian Robert Darnton described D.F. McKenzie. Yet until now many of McKenzie's major essays, scattered in specialist journals and inaccessible publications, have circulated mainly in tattered...

A fascinating, richly illustrated exploration of the poignant origins of Rudyard Kipling's world-famous children's classic"In this concise and remarkable book . . . Batchelor guides us expertly . . . drawing on multiple sources and making intriguing...

A reader's journey along the French Riviera, from Hyeres and Saint-Tropez to the Italian border, introducing the lives and work of writers who passed this way. The sunlight and calm of the French Riviera have been a magnet for writers since the...

'You think it will never happen to you, that it cannot happen to you, that you are the only person world to whom none of these things will ever happen, and then, one by one, they all begin to happen to you, in the same way they happen to everyone else...

`Probably the most compulsive text ever penned about what it means to handle and possess a book' - Christopher de Hamel, author of Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts; `A real treasure trove for book lovers' - Alexander McCall Smith; We love books. We...

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. Since Hemingway's personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined and debated the changes made to the text before publication. Now this...

Have you lost the art of reading for pleasure? Are there books you know you should read but haven't because they seem too daunting? In The Well-Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer provides a welcome and encouraging antidote to the distractions of our age,...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780399532382Author Ian C. EllisFormat PaperbackPage Count 336Imprint TarcherPerigeePublisher Penguin Putnam IncWeight(grams) 346gDimensions(mm) 208mm *...

Every Sunday, readers of The New York Times Book Review turn with anticipation to see which novelist, historian, short story writer, or artist will be the subject of the popular By the Book feature. These wide-ranging interviews are conducted by Pamela...

The second book in the Why I Write series provides generous insight into the creative process of the award-winning Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard "Why I Write" may prove to be the most difficult question Karl Ove Knausgaard has struggled to...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781400033188Author Jane SmileyFormat PaperbackPage Count 608Imprint Alfred A. KnopfPublisher Alfred A. KnopfWeight(grams) 413g

Louise M. Rosenblatt's award-winning work continues increasingly to be read in a wide range of academic fields literary criticism, reading theory, aesthetics, composition, rhetoric, speech communication, and education. Her view of the reading transaction...

In a recent sale catalog, one bookseller apologized for the condition of a sixteenth-century volume as "rather soiled by use." When the book was displayed the next year, the exhibition catalogue described it as "well and piously used [with] marginal...

Textual criticism-the traditional term for the task of evaluating the authority of the words and punctuation of a text-is often considered an undertaking preliminary to literary criticism: many people believe that the job of textual critics is to provide...

Explaining both why theory is important and how to use it, Lois Tyson introduces beginning students of literature to this often daunting field in a friendly and readable style. The new edition of this textbook is clearly structured with chapters based on...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780804171632Author Peter MendelsundFormat PaperbackPage Count 448Imprint Vintage BooksPublisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams) 510gDimensions(mm) 198mm *...

A comprehensive survey examining the vibrant and sumptuous art of illumination during a period of profound intellectual and cultural transformation Hand-painted illumination enlivened the burgeoning culture of the book in the Italian Renaissance,...

An introductory guide to some of the most significant perspectives on the subject of power within social and political theory. Contains extracts from such leading contemporary thinkers as Giddens, Lukes and Bourdieu alongside recent conceptions of power...

The revered teacher and best-selling author reflects on the power, importance, and joy of a life dedicated to reading books in this delightful collection drawn from his wide body of writings. More than fifty years after his death, revered...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780802824974Author Fleming RutledgeFormat PaperbackPage Count 373Imprint William B Eerdmans Publishing CoPublisher William B Eerdmans Publishing...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780375706394Author Henry PetroskiFormat PaperbackPage Count 304Imprint Vintage BooksPublisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams) 329gDimensions(mm) 202mm *...

The flood of information brought to us by advancing technology is often accompanied by a distressing sense of "information overload," yet this experience is not unique to modern times. In fact, says Ann M. Blair in this intriguing book, the...

The Book Lover's Joke Book is the funniest book about books you'll ever read. You'll find jokes about writers, agents, publishers, librarians, grammar, poetry, bookcases, and lightbulbs. There are rib-ticklers for typographers, crackers for critics, and...

The art and literature of our time is pregnant with catastrophe, with weather and water, wildness and weirdness. The Anthropocene - the term given to this geological epoch in which humans, anthropos, are wreaking havoc on the earth - is to be found...

'A searing, triumphant story. A testament to the tenacity of the human spirit as well as a beautiful ode to an iconic figure' IRENOSEN OKOJIE Letters to Gil is...

Is reading under threat? No, says Alan Jacobs--but people do need help iand encouragemnt to enjoy it to the full. Jacobs's experience as a lecturer and many-time author suggests that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading...

'Like all good diarists Paling's musings are funny, tender and uncensored' Sunday Times6 April 2007Writing income for the year so far: minus GBP300'I feel that this might just be the year in which something happens. Then again it might not. But hope...