Literature Recent Picks

June 2009

The underlined titles will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to a bookseller to enable you to read more information.

In Jane's fame : how Jane Austen conquered the world, by Claire Harman.
"Award-winning biographer Claire Harman traces the growth of Jane Austen's fame, the changing status of her work and what it has stood for - or has been made to stand for in English culture - in a wide-ranging study aimed at the general reader. This is a story of personal struggle, family intrigue, accident, advocacy and sometimes surprising neglect as well as a history of changing public tastes and critical practices. Starting with Austen's own experience as a beginning author (and addressing her difficulties getting published and her determination to succeed), Harman unfolds the history of how her estate was handled by her brother, sister, nieces and nephews, and goes on to explore the eruption of public interest in Austen in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the making of her into a classic English author in the twentieth century, the critical wars that erupted as a result and, lastly, her powerful influence on contemporary phenomena such as chick-lit, romantic comedy, the heritage industry and film." (Amazon.co.uk)

Writing with intent : essays, reviews, personal prose, 1983-2005, Margaret Atwood.
"From one of the world's most passionately engaged literary citizens comes Writing with Intent, the largest collection to date of Margaret Atwood's nonfiction, ranging from 1983 to 2005. Composed of autobiographical essays, cultural commentary, book reviews, and introductory pieces written for great works of literature, this is the award-winning author's first book-length nonfiction publication in twenty years. Arranged chronologically, these writings display the development of Atwood's worldview as the world around her changes. Included are the Booker Prizewinning author's reviews of books by John Updike, Italo Calvino, Toni Morrison, and others, as well as essays in which she remembers herself reading Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse at age nineteen, and discusses the influence of George Orwell's 1984 on the writing of The Handmaid's Tale. Atwood's New York Times Book Review piece that helped make Orhan Pamuk's Snow a bestseller can be found here, as well as a look back on a family trip to Afghanistan just before the Soviet invasion, and her "Letter to America," written after September 11, 2001. The insightful and memorable pieces in this book serve as a testament." (Amazon.co.uk)

The annotated Pride and prejudice, by Jane Austen ; annotated and edited, with an introduction, by David M. Shapard.
"This first-ever fully annotated edition of one of the most beloved novels in the world is a sheer delight for Jane Austen fans. Here is the complete text of Pride and Prejudice with more than 2,300 annotations on facing pages." (Amazon.co.uk)

How beautiful it is and how easily it can be broken : essays, Daniel Mendelsohn.
"How Beautiful It Is And How Easily It Can Be Broken reveals all at once the enormous stature of Daniel Mendelsohn's achievement and demonstrates why he is considered one of our greatest critics. Writing with a lively intelligence and arresting originality, he brings his distinctive combination of scholarly rigor and conversational ease to bear across eras, cultures, and genres, from Roman games to video games." (Book Jacket)

A jury of her peers : American women writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx, Elaine Showalter.
"Fascinating, incisive, intelligent and never afraid of being controversial, Elaine Showalter introduces us to more than 250 writers. Here are the famous and expected names, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Willa Cather, Dorothy Parker, Flannery O'Connor, Gwendolyn Brooks, Grace Paley, Toni Morrison, and Jodi Picoult. And also many successful and acclaimed yet little-known writers, from the early American bestselling novelist Catherine Sedgwick to the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell. A JURY OF HER PEERS is an irresistible invitation to discover great authors never before encountered and to return to familiar books with a deeper appreciation. It is a monumental work that enriches our understanding of American literary history and culture." (Amazon.co.uk)

Karlology : what I've learnt so far, by Karl Pilkington.
"An irreverent look at culture and learning from cult author Karl Pilkington Drawing from visits to national museums, galleries and places of cultural interest Karl Pilkington explores the world of knowledge from his own unique viewpoint. Read Karl’s irreverent exploration of each subject, approached with his inimitable combination of innocent wonder and cheeky wisdom. Karl quizzes the world’s top experts and teasing out insights with hilariously naive and muddled questions. A hilarious new book from the author of bestselling The World of Karl Pilkington and Happyslapped by a Jellyfish." (Amazon.co.uk)

White heat : the friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, by Brenda Wineapple.
"The first book to portray one of the most remarkable friendships in American letters, that of Emily Dickinson--recluse, poet--and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, minister, literary figure, active abolitionist." (Amazon.co.uk)

Stepping stones : interviews with Seamus Heaney, Dennis O'Driscoll.
"Widely regarded as the finest poet of his generation, Seamus Heaney is the subject of numerous critical studies; but no book-length portrait has appeared until now. Through his own lively and eloquent reminiscences, "Stepping Stones" retraces the poet's steps from his early works, through to his receipt of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature and his post-Nobel life. It is supplemented with a large number of photographs, many from the Heaney family album and published here for the first time. In response to firm but subtle questioning from Dennis O'Driscoll, Seamus Heaney sheds a personal light on his work (poems, essays, translations, plays) and on the artistic and ethical challenges he faced, providing an original, diverting and absorbing store of reflections, opinions and recollections." (Amazon.co.uk)

The magical chorus : a history of Russian culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn, Solomon Volkov ; translated from the Russian by Antonina W. Bouis.
"In the first book to fully examine the intricate and often deadly interconnection between Russian rulers and Russian artists, cultural historian Solomon Volkov (who experienced firsthand many of the events he describes) brings to life the human stories behind some of the greatest masterpieces of our time." "Here is Tolstoy who used his godlike place among the Russian people to rail against the autocracy, even as he eschewed violence; Gorky, the first native writer to openly welcome the revolution and who would go on to become Stalin's closest cultural advisor; Solzhenitsyn. who famously brought the horrors of the Soviet regime to light. Here, too, are Nabokov, Pasternak, Mayakovskv, Akhmatova. In each case, Volkov analyzes the alternate determination and despair, hope and terror borne by writers in a country where, in Solzhenitsyn's maxim, "a great writer is like a second government." (Book Jacket)

Check your card I New fiction, DVD and cd lists I How to place a reserve I Borrowing I Contact us