Literary Criticism

The Portable Nineteenth-Century Russian Reader magnificently represents the great voices of this era. It includes such masterworks of world literature as Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman"; Gogol's "The Overcoat"; Turgenev's...

Umberto Eco was an international cultural superstar. A celebrated essayist as well as novelist, in this, his last collection, he explores many aspects of the modern world with irrepressible curiosity...

Literature suffers from appearing both deceptively easy and dauntingly difficult. We all like to think we can read a novel and understand what 'genre', 'style' and 'narrative' mean, but do...

Lucid, entertaining and full of insight, How To Read A Poem is designed to banish the intimidation that too often attends the subject of poetry, and in doing so to...

An enlightening collection of essays, reviews and speeches by 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel) and 'the Irish novelist everyone should read' (Colm Toibin).'Wise and compelling...

The instant New York Times bestseller from the author of Furiously Happy and Let's Pretend This Never Happened. Now with a new bonus chapter.'Broken is the party of the year...

Take Note for Exam Success! York Notes offer an exciting approach to English literature. This market leading series fully reflects student needs. They are packed with summaries, commentaries, exam advice,...

"The Crime Writers Guide to Police Practice and Procedure" is the detective in your pocket - something you can reach for when you feel your writing needs that short sharp...

The first study to bring Hemingway, Vonnegut, O'Brien, and 9/11 literature together in order to examine views about war, gender, and domesticity over a hundred-year period.War has often been seen...

"The Guardian's" 2008 "How to Write" supplements were a huge success with wordsmiths of all stripes. Covering fiction, poetry, comedy, screen writing, biography and journalism, they offered invaluable advice and...

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...

"If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much." Mark TwainFrom Six...

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...

'An enchanting story about love, loss and the power of language' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory Sometimes you have to start with what's lost to truly find yourself......

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...

'This book is an excellent place to start. I love it and hope your copy becomes as dog-eared with overuse as many of my old ones did.' David CohenThis bestselling...

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...

Shakespeare / Sex interrogates the relationship between Shakespeare and sex by challenging readers to consider Shakespeare's texts in light of the most recent theoretical approaches to gender and sexuality studies....

"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...