Showing titles in Essays

The Monsters and the Critics, a new HarperCollins book, full description to follow when available...

From one of the most important chroniclers of our time, come two extended excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks–writings that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations...

After fleeing Chicago to quarantine at home in Michigan, Irby finds herself bleaching groceries and wondering if her upper lip hairs are visible on Zoom. Her career reaches new heights: she gets to work with the iconic ladies of Sex and the City - her dream! - but behind the new-found glam, Irby is just trying to keep her life together. Our friend in print is back, on point, and ready to take us with her, from adopting Abe (her scrawny, watery-eyed firstborn dog) to her favourite, extremely specific porn searches (including two old nuns).

A collection of insightful and uproariously funny non-fiction by the bestselling author of INFINITE JEST - one of the most acclaimed and adventurous writers of our time. A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING... brings together Wallace's musings on a wide range of topics, from his early days as a nationally...

The final and most personal work from Pulitzer Prize - winning author and historian Will Durant - discovered 32 years after his death - is a message of insight for everyone who has sought meaning in life or the council of a wise friend in navigating life's journey. From 1968 to 1978, Will Durant made four public allusions to the existence of Fallen Leaves. One, in 1975, hinted at its contents: "a not very serious book that answers the questions of what I think about government, life, death, and God."

A classic work of psychology, this international bestseller provides a groundbreaking insight into the human mind. With an introduction by Will Self, read by Oliver Sacks. If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self – himself – he cannot...

'This book is heaven. Elspeth Barker writes like no one else' OLIVIA LAING 'Deserves to be permanently on the bedside table - to cheer, reassure and inspire' OBSERVER 'Gothic, poetic and exuberantly funny. What a pleasure it was to read' ESTHER FREUD 'Joyous, startling, funny, lush, dark and...

You've heard him on This American Life! Now read his book! Wherever he is, David Rakoff is a fish out of water. Whether impersonating Sigmund Freud in a department store window during the holidays, climbing an icy mountain in cheap loafers, playing an evil modeling agent on a daytime soap opera...

Bloomsbury presents Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean, written and read by Alex Christofi SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2025 "A brilliant exploration of Cyprus’s long history of cultural resilience. Superbly composed." -- Guardian One of National...

Stockinette, ribbing, cables, even the humble yarn over can instantly evoke places, times, people, conversations, all those poignant moments that we’ve tucked away in our memory banks. Over time, those stitches form a map of our lives. —From the preface In The Yarn Whisperer: Reflections on...

Anne Carson's remarkable first book about the paradoxical nature of romantic love Since it was first published, Eros the Bittersweet, Anne Carson's lyrical meditation on love in ancient Greek literature and philosophy, has established itself as a favorite among an unusually broad audience...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Justin Avoth and Laurence Dobiesz. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Christopher Rowe read by Justin Avoth. 'Consider just this, and give your minds to this alone: whether or not what I say is just' Plato's...

Brought to you by Penguin. From twice Booker-shortlisted author Deborah Levy, a moving and revelatory collection exploring the muses that have shaped her life and work as a writer In The Position of Spoons, Deborah Levy invites the reader into the interiors of her world, sharing her most...

Brought to you by Penguin. **SUNDAY TIMES BESTELLER** This book is about learning to live. Echoing Socrates' statement that the unexamined life not worth living, psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz draws on his twenty-five years of work and more than 50,000 hours of conversations to form a collection of...

‘Most smart people tend to feel queasy when the conversation turns to things like “certain death” and “total failure” and the idea of “a doomed generation”. But not me. I am comfortable with these themes.’ Hunter S. Thompson, celebrated author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas...

Read by the full cast of authors When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter? Shortlisted for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year 'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' – Observer In 2016, Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the...

Incredible true stories reveal strange new magic in American history in this wondrous first book from the creator of the award-winning podcast The Memory Palace. “One doesn’t often find the words imagination and history in the same sentence. Nate DiMeo has forever woven them together. The...

Brought to you by Penguin. Since her canonical 2017 essay 'On Liking Women', the Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Andrea Long Chu has established herself as a public intellectual straight out of the 1960s. With devastating wit and polemical clarity, she defies the imperative to leave politics out...

Brought to you by Penguin. ‘The only dividend of the years’ vanishing, as far as I can see, is that it makes aspects of the past appear more interesting or humorous than they felt at the time.’ In Fires Which Burned Brightly, Faulks, a reluctant memoirist, offers readers a series of...

Brought to you by Penguin. 'I've inherited a love of a writing and a talent for the visual arts from my mother, as well as her long and tapered fingers; I've also inherited a tendency for madness' Esmé Weijun Wang was officially diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2013, although the...