I : Six Nonlectures

Henry Miller on Writing

Henry Miller · 216 pages

Miller's own views on his struggle to perfect his style, his search within himself, his methods in writing, and his ideas on obscenity.

Books for Living: Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting, and Embracing Life

Will Schwalbe · 342 pages

From the author of the international bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club , an inspiring and magical exploration of the enduring power of books - a must for all passionate book lovers, exploring books as diverse as The Girl on the Train , The Little Prince and David Copperfield . 'I've always believed that everything you need to know can be found in a book.' Will Schwalbe Why is it that we re

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

Anne Fadiman · 144 pages

In these eighteen essays, Anne Fadiman "recounts a lifelong love affair with books and language."--Jacket. Ex Libris recounts a lifelong love affair with books and language. For Fadiman, as for many passionate readers, the books she loves have become chapters in her own life story. Writing with remarkable grace, she revives the tradition of the well-crafted personal essay, moving easily from an

A Collection of Essays

George Orwell · 320 pages

Such, such were the joys ... -- Charles Dickens -- The art of Donald McGill -- Rudyard Kipling -- Raffles and Miss Blandish -- Shooting an elephant -- Politics and the English language -- Reflections on Gandhi -- Marrakech -- Looking back on the Spanish War -- Inside the whale -- England your England -- Boys' weeklies -- Why I write.

Mirrored Mind: My Life in Letters and Code

Vikram Chandra · 258 pages

The Disappointment Artist

Jonathan Lethem · 160 pages

Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey

Elena Ferrante · 392 pages

"This book invites readers into Elena Ferrantes workshop. It offers a glimpse into the drawers of her writing desk, those drawers from which emerged her three early standalone novels and the four installments of My Brilliant Friend, known in English as the Neapolitan Quartet. Consisting of over 20 years of letters, essays, reflections, and interviews, it is a unique depiction of an author who embo

My Reading Life

Pat Conroy · 331 pages

Bestselling author Pat Conroy acknowledges the books that have shaped him and celebrates the profound effect reading has had on his life.

Bad Feminist

Roxane Gay · 360 pages

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. "Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink, all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I'm not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once l

The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time

David L. Ulin · 151 pages

Blending commentary with memoir, Ulin addresses the importance of the simple act of reading in an increasingly digital culture, emphasizing the importance of reflection and pause allowed by stopping to read a book, and the focus required to let the mind run free in a world that is not one's own.

Less Than One: Selected Essays

Joseph Brodsky · 501 pages

Ruined By Reading: A Life in Books

Lynne Sharon Schwartz · 123 pages

Schwartz, an author, offers insight into why we read and how what we read shapes us.

Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home

Susan Hill · 236 pages

Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her own collection again. A book which is left on a shelf for a decade i

Heroines

Kate Zambreno · 309 pages

"On the last day of December, 2009 Kate Zambreno began a blog called Frances Farmer Is My Sister, arising from her obsession with the female modernists and her recent transplantation to Akron, Ohio, where her husband held a university job. Widely reposted, Zambreno's blog became an outlet for her highly informed and passionate rants about the fates of the modernist "wives and mistresses." In her b

Negotiating with the Dead

Margaret Atwood · 219 pages

What is the role of the Writer? Prophet? High Priest of Art? Court Jester? Or witness to the real world? Looking back on her own childhood and writing career, Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors which writers of fiction and poetry have used to explain--or excuse!--their activities, looking at what costumes they have assumed, what roles they have chosen to play. In her final chapter she takes up

The Dead Ladies Project: Exiles, Expats, and Ex-Countries

Jessa Crispin · 240 pages

"When Jessa Crispin was thirty, she burned her settled Chicago life to the ground and took off for Berlin with a pair of suitcases and no plan beyond leaving. Half a decade later, she's still on the road, in search not so much of a home as of understanding, a way of being in the world that demands neither constant struggle nor complete surrender, "--Amazon.com.

Reflections: On the Magic of Writing

Diana Wynne Jones · 402 pages

"This collection of more than twenty-five critical essays, speeches, and biographical pieces written and/or chosen by Diana Wynne Jones will be required reading for the author's many fans and for students and teachers of the genre. Reflections includes insightful literary criticism alongside autobiographical anecdotes about reading tours (including an account of the author's famous travel jinx), r

The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them

Elif Batuman · 297 pages

Literally and metaphorically following the footsteps of her favorite authors, Batuman searches for the answers to the big questions in the details of lived experience, combining fresh readings of the great Russians, from Pushkin to Platonov, with the sad and funny stories of the lives they continue to influence--including her own.

The Education of a British-Protected Child

Chinua Achebe · 192 pages

From the celebrated author of Things Fall Apart and winner of the Man Booker International Prize comes a new collection of autobiographical essays--his first new book in more than twenty years.Chinua Achebe's characteristically measured and nuanced voice is everywhere present in these seventeen beautifully written pieces. In a preface, he discusses his historic visit to his Nigerian homeland on th

One for the Books

Joe Queenan · 244 pages

One of America's leading humorists seriously examines his own obsession with books. Joe Queenan became a voracious reader as a means of escape from a joyless childhood in a Philadelphia housing project. In the years since then he has dedicated himself to an assortment of idiosyncratic reading challenges: spending a year reading only short books, spending a year reading books he always suspected he

My Father's Suitcase: The Nobel Lecture

Orhan Pamuk

Confessions of a Young Novelist

Umberto Eco · 235 pages

Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with D. H. Lawrence

Geoff Dyer · 256 pages

Geoff Dyer wanted to write a book about D. H. Lawrence. He wanted, in fact, to write his 'Lawrence book'. The problem was Dyer didn't really know what his 'Lawrence book' would be, what form it would take, or even when he'd start writing it. He set out simply to explore and record his reactions - both as a reader, and as a writer himself. But, just as Lawrence's study of Thomas Hardy ended up bei

Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books

Cara Nicoletti · 283 pages

"As a young bookworm reading in her grandfather's butcher shop, Cara Nicoletti saw how books and food bring people to life. Now a butcher, cook, and talented writer, she serves up stories and recipes inspired by beloved books and the food that gives their characters depth and personality. From the breakfast sausage in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods to chocolate cupcakes with