James Baldwin was beginning to be recognized as the most brilliant black writer of his generation when his first book of essays, Notes of a Native Son,established his reputation in 1955.
An invaluable companion for any writer seeking to make the writing life a more complex and cooperative venture "e;Illuminating, deeply endearing essays.
United States Poet Laureate and winner of the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award Joy Harjo examines the power of words and how poetry summons us toward justice and healing "e;Her enduring message-that writing can be redemptive-resonates: 'To write is to make a mark in the world, to assert "e;I am.
The most authoritative account of a pivotal event in legal and cultural history: the trials of Oscar Wilde on charges of "e;gross indecency"e; Among the most infamous prosecutions of a literary figure in history, the two trials of Oscar Wilde for committing acts of "e;gross indecency"e; occurred at the height of his fame.
A fascinating history of Jorge Luis Borges's efforts to revolutionize and revitalize literature in Latin America Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) stands out as one of the most widely regarded and inventive authors in world literature.
An in-depth look into the life of Romantic essayist Charles Lamb and the legacy of his workA pioneer of urban Romanticism, essayist Charles Lamb (1775'Ai1834) found inspiration in London's markets, theaters, prostitutes, and bookshops.
The untold life story of All-of-a-Kind Family author Sydney Taylor, highlighting her dramatic influence on American children's literatureThis is the first and only biography of Sydney Taylor (1904'Ai1978), author of the award-winning All-of-a-Kind Family series of books, the first juvenile novels published by a mainstream publisher to feature Jewish children characters.
The first English-language biography of one of the great literary talents of the twentieth century, written by his award-winning translator"e;Bernofsky takes us into the heart of an artist's life/work struggles, brilliantly illuminating Walser's exquisite sensibility and uncompromising radical innovations, while deftly tracking how his life gradually came apart at the seams.
A fascinating, richly illustrated exploration of the poignant origins of Rudyard Kipling's world-famous children's classic From "e;How the Leopard Got Its Spots"e; to "e;The Elephant's Child,"e; Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories have delighted readers across the world for more than a century.
A thematically rich, provocative, and lyrical study of one of Germany's most important, world-famous, and imaginative writers Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was a virtuoso German poet, satirist, and visionary humanist whose dynamic life story and strikingly original writing are ripe for rediscovery.
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a meditation on the deeply Jewish and surprisingly spiritual roots of Stan Lee and Marvel Comics Few artists have had as much of an impact on American popular culture as Stan Lee.
A magnificent new biography of Henrik Ibsen, among the greatest of modern playwrights Henrik Ibsen (1820–1908) is arguably the most important playwright of the nineteenth century.
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 answer yet it is central to the project of one of the most influential writers working today.
A best-selling author and world-renowned bibliophile meditates on his vast personal library and champions the vital role of all librariesIn June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France's Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
The first English-language biography of Astrid Lindgren provides a moving and revealing portrait of the beloved Scandinavian literary icon whose adventures of Pippi Longstocking have influenced generations of young readers all over the world.
An intimate portrait of two pivotal Restoration figures during one of the most dramatic periods of English history Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn are two of the most celebrated English diarists.
Beautifully written and incisive, this is the first English biography of a major Scandinavian author who is ripe for rediscovery While largely unknown today, Danish writer and Darwin translator Jens Peter Jacobsen was the leading prose writer in Scandinavia in the late nineteenth century and part of a generation that included Henrik Ibsen, Knut Hamsun, and August Strindberg.
A definitive new biography of James Fenimore Cooper, early nineteenth century master of American popular fictionAmerican author James Fenimore Cooper (1789'Ai1851) has been credited with inventing and popularizing a wide variety of genre fiction, including the Western, the spy novel, the high seas adventure tale, and the Revolutionary War romance.
A major publishing event: the third volume of Michel Leiris’s renowned autobiography, now available in English for the first time in a brilliant translation by Lydia Davis A beloved and versatile author and ethnographer, French intellectual Michel Leiris is often ranked in the company of Proust, Gide, Sartre, and Camus, yet his work remains largely unfamiliar to English-language readers.
The second volume of Michel Leiris’s hugely influential four-volume autobiographical essay, available to English-language readers in a brilliant and sensitive translation by Lydia Davis One of the most versatile and beloved French intellectuals of the twentieth century, Michel Leiris reconceives the autobiography as a literary experiment that sheds light on the mechanisms of memory and on the way the unconnected events of a life become connected through invented narrative.
A dazzling translation by Lydia Davis of the first volume of Michel Leiris’s masterwork, perhaps the most important French autobiographical enterprise of the twentieth century Michel Leiris, a French intellectual whose literary works inspired high praise from the likes of Simone de Beauvoir and Claude Lévi-Strauss, began the first volume of his autobiographical project at the age of 40.
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a moving inquiry into the dramatic life, epic success, and ultimate tragedy of the great Hebrew poet By the time he was twenty-eight, Hayim Nahman Bialik was already considered the National Hebrew Poet.
A fascinating look into the life and work of controversial French novelist Irène Némirovsky Irène Némirovsky succeeded in creating a brilliant career as a novelist in the 1930s, only to have her life cut short: a “foreign Jew” in France, she was deported in 1942 and died in Auschwitz.
Son of the famous Thomas Mann, homosexual, drug-addicted, and forced to flee from his fatherland, the gifted writer Klaus Mann’s comparatively short life was as artistically productive as it was devastatingly dislocated.
In this richly illustrated portrait, a prize-winning biographer surveys the entire sweep of William Blake’s creative work while telling the story of his life William Blake, overlooked in his time, remains an enigmatic figure to contemporary readers despite his near canonical status.
Romanian exile Norman Manea’s internationally acclaimed memoir/novel, now available to English-language readers At the center of The Hooligan’s Return is the author himself, always an outcast, on a bleak lifelong journey through Nazism and communism to exile in America.
A new account of the brilliant and prolific Danish writer whose works captivated readers across EuropeRarely does an American or European child grow up without an introduction to Hans Christian Andersen's "e;The Ugly Duckling,"e; "e;The Princess and the Pea,"e; or "e;Thumbelina.
One of Britain’s best-known and most loved poets, Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) was killed at age 25 on one of the last days of the First World War, having acted heroically as soldier and officer despite his famous misgivings about the war's rationale and conduct.
Reissued with a new preface to commemorate the first publication of À la recherche du temps perdu one hundred years ago, Marcel Proust portrays in abundant detail the extraordinary life and times of one of the greatest literary voices of the twentieth century.
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a highly original and engaging appraisal of Kafka’s life, work, legacy, and thought Franz Kafka was the poet of his own disorder.
An entirely new portrait of Keats, rich with insights into the torments of his life and the imaginative sources of his works This landmark biography of celebrated Romantic poet John Keats explodes entrenched conceptions of him as a delicate, overly sensitive, tragic figure.
Curiosity has been seen through the ages as the impulse that drives our knowledge forward and the temptation that leads us toward dangerous and forbidden waters.
In this book John Radner examines the fluctuating, close, and complex friendship enjoyed by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, from the day they met in 1763 to the day when Boswell published his monumental Life of Johnson.
Novelist, poet, playwright, and short story writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839–1908) is widely regarded as Brazil’s greatest writer, although his work is still too little read outside his native country.
This passionate and monumental biography reassesses the life and legacy of one of the most significant cultural figures of the twentieth century Unevenly respected, easily hated, almost always suspected of being inferior to his reputation, Jean Cocteau has often been thought of as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
This seminal American work from the Yiddish literary canon, in a restored English edition, offers the luminous narrative of the author’s journey home to his Polish birthplace In 1934, with World War II on the horizon, writer Jacob Glatstein (1896–1971) traveled from his home in America to his native Poland to visit his dying mother.
From a master biographer and leading scholar of eighteenth-century literature comes an award-winning new portrait of the greatest satirist in the English language Jonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries.
An intimate, penetrating study of Joseph Brodsky’s life and work, written by his lifelong friend, the eminent Russian literary scholar Lev Loseff The work of Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), one of Russia’s great modern poets, has been the subject of much study and debate.
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a fresh look at Hellman’s restless life, her extraordinary plays, and her autobiographical myths Glamorous, talented, audacious—Lillian Hellman knew everyone, did everything, had been everywhere.
Beautifully written, and composed with a novelist’s eye for detail, this book tells the story of an exceptional man and the culture from which he emerged.
