Literary Criticism

Written with the co-operation of Anne Rice, this is a guide to the historical and mythical background of her four volumes of "The Vampire Chronicles". All the characters, from Louis...

Available now in paperback from the world's bestselling author - A collection of passionate, true stories about the power of reading.'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent...

From bestselling author and provocateur Christopher Hitchens, the classic guide to the art of principled dissent and disagreementIn Letters to a Young Contrarian, bestselling author and world-class provocateur Christopher Hitchens...

Jane Austen for Every Day of the Year is a charming collection of 366 quotes and short passages drawn from Jane Austen's novels, with excerpts from her intimate, witty letters...

The original and insightful collection that combines Mark Twain's journal writings with his rarely seen sketches and doodles. Fascinating and often hilarious, this is a complete record of the thoughts,...

Find out what books and films influenced the young writer, his first idea for a story and the true life tale that inspired Carrie. For the first time, here's an...

How do we respond to disaster? What expressions of care and solidarity might we find among the debris? A Paradise Built in Hell is a study of five major disasters...

Aimed at screenwriters, producers, development executives and educators interested in the crime genre, this book provides an invaluable basis for crafting a film story that considers both audience and market...

Erudite and entertaining in equal measure, Somewhere Becoming Rain is a love letter from the much-loved writer Clive James to one of the world's most cherished poets: Philip Larkin.'This is...

'As soon as we abandon our own reason', wrote Bertrand Russell, 'and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.' For over forty years, Christopher...

A bestselling novelist since 1921, Georgette Heyer is known across the world for her historical romances set in Regency England. Millions of readers love the period for its fashion, famous...

"The Art of Fiction" is essential, thoroughly entertaining reading for writers, students and anyone who wants to understand how literature works. The articles by David Lodge, which first appeared in...

In his foreword to The Ways of Paradise, Peter Cornell presents this so-called found manuscript, the work of a now-deceased, obscure researcher who spent three decades in the National Library...

By the 1960s a copy of Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock" without its dust jacket was worth about #500. But with its dust jacket more like #2000 - if you could...

The Relocation of Culture is about accents and borders-about people and cultures that have accents and that cross borders. It is a book that deals with translation and nomadic identities,...

Offering guidance and inspiration to English literature instructors, this book faces the challenges of real-life teaching and the contemporary higher education classroom head on. Whether you're teaching in a community...

Readers rejoice! From Mental Floss, an online destination for more than a billion curious minds since 2001, comes the ultimate literature lovers' book. From Americanah to War and Peace, from...

The first volume to expound African American literary theory from the 1920s to present African American Literary Theory: A Reader is the first volume to document the central texts and...

This is a unique new reference book to English-language writers and writing throughout the present century, in all major genres and from all around the world - from Joseph Conrad...

Contains: The Umbrella Man; Dip in the Pool; The Butler; The Hitchhiker; Mr Botibol; My Lady Love, My Dove; The Way Up to Heaven; Parson's Pleasure; The Sound Machine; The...

An exploration of the ideas, groupings and the social tensions that shaped the transformation of life caused by the changes of modernity in art, science, politics and philosophy

'A great book'Elif Shafak, Observer'Phenomenal'GuardianIn this remarkable collection of essays, Siri Hustvedt confirms her reputation as one of our most important contemporary writers, bringing a feminist, interdisciplinary perspective to subjects...

A vivid and original account of one of Ireland's greatest poets by an acclaimed Irish historian and literary biographerThe most important Irish poet of the postwar era, Seamus Heaney rose...