Showing titles in Essays

From one of the most important chroniclers of our time, come two extended excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks–writings that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations...

Have you ever seen something that wasn't really there? Heard someone call your name in an empty house? Sensed someone following you and turned around to find nothing? Hallucinations don't belong wholly to the insane. Much more commonly, they are linked to sensory deprivation, intoxication...

As with his previous bestseller, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, in An Anthropologist on Mars Oliver Sacks uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us...

'These beautiful essays, inspired by a life of exploring other cultures through the rituals of cooking and eating - and thinking about cooking and eating - are manna for the hungry listener.' A Times Audiobook of the Year 'One of her finest books yet.' Bee Wilson, the Sunday Times 'Diana Henry's...

From modern literature to menopause, from utopian thought to rodeos - in this classic collection of essays, Ursula K. Le Guin roves with her customary audacity over the intersecting arenas of literature, feminism, and social responsibility, exploding any received notions she comes across and revealing visionary possibilities in their stead.  

Brought to you by Penguin. A far-ranging, invigorating and irrepressible collection of essays on literature, cinema, art - and everything in between - from the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Feel Free and Swing Time How did George Eliot's love life affect her prose?...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know written and read by Colm Tóibín. 'A father...is a necessary evil.' Stephen Dedalus in Ulysses In Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know, Colm Tóibín turns his incisive gaze to three of Ireland's greatest writers, Oscar Wilde, W.B...

From organising the school summer fete - 'Because of our inability to recognise our climatic shortcomings from the outset, arrangements for outdoor jollities get completely out of hand' - to the sometimes rather odd passions of childhood - 'I collect stones with holes in them' - Miss Read captures the essence of rural life, and in particular of village schools, as only she can.

Brought to you by Penguin. ‘We were so happy and didn’t know it…’ A thirty-three-year-old writer lives in a quiet European suburb with his wife and his dog. His parents have bought an apartment nearby. On weekends they go out for brunch, cook and see friends. Life is good; it is normal...

Was ist eigentlich mit den Jungs? Haben wir die in den letzten Jahren eventuell ein bisschen vergessen? Und wenn wir über sie nachgedacht oder öffentlich geredet haben, waren sie dann nicht vor allem ein Problem? Aber gleichzeitig sollen sie unsere Demokratie und unsere Art zu leben mit ihrem eigenen Leben verteidigen? Irgendwas daran ist nicht ganz fair, oder? Wie zieht man in dieser Welt einen Jungen auf?

Memorie di un libraio è un ironico, colto, originale viaggio nel mondo dei libri in compagnia di uno dei più grandi autori del Novecento. George Orwell descrive le lunghe giornate trascorse come commesso in una libreria dell’usato, tra volumi polverosi e clienti stravaganti; ci fa apprezzare...

Horror movies hold a complicated space in the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. It Came from the Closet features twenty-five original essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From Carmen Maria Machado on Jennifer’s Body, Jude Ellison S. Doyle on In My Skin, Addie Tsai on Dead Ringers, and many more, these conversations convey the rich reciprocity between queerness and horror.

A hilarious collection of the many articles written by Stephen Fry for magazines, newspapers and radio. It includes selected wireless essays of Donald Trefusis, the ageing professor of philology brought to life in Fry's novel The Liar, and the best of Fry's weekly column for the Daily Telegraph...

Spanning four decades, these essays, speeches and meditations interrogate the world around us. They are concerned with race, gender and globalisation. The sweep of American history and the current state of politics. The duty of the press and the role of the artist. Throughout A Mouth Full of Blood our search for truth, moral integrity and expertise is met by Toni Morrison with controlled anger, elegance and literary excellence.

A classic work of psychology, this international bestseller provides a groundbreaking insight into the human mind. With an introduction by Will Self, read by Oliver Sacks. If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self – himself – he cannot...

George Orwell's moving reflections on the English character and his passionate belief in the need for political change. 'The Lion and the Unicorn' was written in London during the worst period of the Blitz. It is vintage Orwell, a dynamic outline of his belief in socialism, patriotism and an English revolution. His fullest political statement, it has been described as 'one of the most moving and incisive portraits of the English character' and is as relevant now as it ever has been.

Brought to you by Penguin. In this short sequel to his acclaimed memoir, the legendary filmmaker and global cultural icon explores one of his favourite topics: the nature of truth. What if a lie is told to reveal some underlying truth? Are feelings that seem inappropriate, such as the hysteria...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy. A Guardian Best Book of the 21st Century 'Life falls apart. We try to get a grip. We try to hold it together. And then we realize that we don't want to hold it together...' Picking up where Things I Don't Want to Know...

'A brave writer whose books open up fundamental questions about life and art' – Telegraph In this inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a vivid and politically-engaged case for the importance of art – especially in the turbulent weather of the...

Brought to you by Penguin. A much-loved classic of nature writing from environmentalist and the author of Waterlog, Roger Deakin, Wildwood is an exploration of the element wood in nature, our culture and our lives. From the walnut tree at his Suffolk home, he embarks upon a quest that takes him...