Literature
An entertaining tour of Old English words for animals, from the author of The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English, which Neil Gaiman called “a marvelous book”
An entertaining and illuminating collection of weird, wonderful, and downright baffling words from the origins of English—and what they reveal about the lives of the earliest English speakers
The first book in English to examine Leon Battista Alberti’s major literary works in Latin and Italian, which are often overshadowed by his achievements in architecture
A compelling personal introduction to the life and work of Nobel Prize–winning writer Czesław Miłosz from his fellow Polish exile and acclaimed writer Eva Hoffman
The first book-length selection from the extraordinary unpublished diary of the late-Victorian writer “Michael Field”—the pen name of two female coauthors and romantic partners
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism
A history of the chapter from its origins in antiquity to today
An illustrated biography of the pioneering British artist and writer, tracing her life and work through the many places around the world where she lived
The first biography of Henry VIII’s court fool William Somer, a legendary entertainer and one of the most intriguing figures of the Tudor age
A biography of the remarkable woman whose bestselling Mythology has introduced millions of readers to the classical world
What Thoreau can teach us about working—why we do it, what it does to us, and how we can make it more meaningful
A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life—and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgrounds
The first comprehensive biography of an extraordinary English poet and composer whose life was haunted by fighting in the First World War and, later, confinement in a mental asylum
From their acclaimed biographer, a final, powerful book about how Emerson, Thoreau, and William James forged resilience from devastating loss, changing the course of American thought
A unique look at Thomas Mann’s intellectual and political transformation during the crucial years of his exile in the United States
A vivid and original account of one of Ireland’s greatest poets by an acclaimed Irish historian and literary biographer
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography
A double portrait of two of America’s most influential writers that reveals the surprising connections between them—and their uncanny relevance to our age of crisis
How modernist women writers used biographical writing to resist their exclusion from literary history
An incisive critique that examines the origins of contemporary American ideas about surveillance, terrorism, and white supremacy
How eighteenth-century literature depended on misinterpretation—and how this still shapes the way we read
A collection of new and startlingly original essays from an acclaimed poet, essayist, and playwright
Revisiting an almost-forgotten American interracial literary culture that advanced racial pluralism in the decades before the 1960s
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism
A leading trans scholar and activist explores cultural representations of gender transition in the modern period
A literary and cultural history of coral—as an essential element of the marine ecosystem, a personal ornament, a global commodity, and a powerful political metaphor
A vivid historical imagining of life in the early United States
“One of the richest books ever to come my way.”—Annie Proulx, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Shipping News
From the award-winning biographer of Chaucer, the story of his most popular and scandalous character, from the Middle Ages to #MeToo
How nineteenth-century “disciplines of attention” anticipated the contemporary concern with mindfulness and being “spiritual but not religious”
From the UK Poet Laureate and bestselling translator, a spirited book that demystifies and celebrates the art of poetry today
Why a monumental diary by an aunt and niece who published poetry together as “Michael Field”—and who were partners and lovers for decades—is one of the great unknown works of late-Victorian and early modernist literature
A unique look at how classical notions of ascent and flight preoccupied early modern British writers and artists
An engaging look at how debates over the fate of literature in our digital age are powerfully conditioned by the nineteenth century's information revolution
How English has become a language of the people in India—one that enables the state but also empowers protests against it
A collection of colorful and candid essays and other pieces about Freud and his legacy today, featuring twenty-five leading writers
With original contributions by André Aciman • Sarah Boxer • Jennifer Finney Boylan • Susie Boyt • Gerald Early • Esther Freud •...
A fresh and original introduction to the Odyssey—and how it continues to shape literature, film, art and even the ways we make sense of our lives
Twenty-nine Breton tales, as told over a series of long winter nights, featuring an ingenious miller, a Jerusalem-bound ant, a mad dash at midnight, and more
An argument that humanists have the tools—and the responsibility—to mobilize political power to tackle climate change
How Arabic influenced the evolution of vernacular literatures and anticolonial thought in Egypt, Indonesia, and Senegal
An entrancing new telling of ancient Greek myths
“This book is a triumph! . . . [A] magnificent retelling of the Greek myths.”—Alexander McCall Smith, author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series
Fascinating profiles of modern writers and artists who tapped the political potential of fairy tales
How the concept of “deep time” began as a metaphor used by philosophers, poets, and naturalists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
An inviting and highly readable new translation of Aristotle’s complete Poetics—the first and best introduction to the art of writing and understanding stories
A look at how ideas of translation, migration, and displacement are embedded in the works of prominent artists, from Ovid to Tacita Dean
A groundbreaking account of translation and identity in the Chinese literary tradition before 1850—with important ramifications for today
A new, beautifully illustrated translation of Felix Salten’s celebrated novel Bambi—the original source of the beloved story
Why we must learn to tell new stories about our relationship with the earth if we are to avoid climate catastrophe
The definitive English translation of the classic Sanskrit epic poem—now available in a one-volume paperback
A rich history of underwater filmmaking and how it has profoundly influenced the aesthetics of movies and public perception of the oceans
Luminous essays on translation and self-translation by an award-winning writer and literary translator
A splendid new translation of an extraordinary work of modern literature—featuring facing-page commentary by Kafka’s acclaimed biographer
A passionate, wry, and personal book about how the greatest works of literature illuminate our lives
Back in print for the first time in decades, Auden’s National Book Award–winning poetry collection, in a critical edition that introduces it to a new generation of readers
The first of two volumes of the eagerly anticipated first complete edition of Auden’s poems—including some that have never been published before
The second of two volumes of the eagerly anticipated first complete edition of Auden’s poems—including some that have never been published before
From the UK Poet Laureate and bestselling translator of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a complete verse translation of a spirited and humorous medieval English poem
A bilingual volume that reveals an intriguing world of courtly love and satire in medieval Portugal and Spain
Contemporary translations and adaptations of ancient Greek poet Callimachus by noted writer and critic Stephanie Burt
From an award-winning poet, an exciting new collection that explores exile and return, from North Africa to North America
Compelling poems that celebrate language as it encounters the nameless variety of the natural world, from Australia to Italy
A practical guide to effective grant writing for researchers at all stages of their academic careers
From the bestselling author of What the Best College Teachers Do, the story of a new breed of amazingly innovative courses that inspire students and improve learning
How redesigning your syllabus can transform your teaching, your classroom, and the way your students learn
Named one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time by the Modern Library
Anne Carson’s remarkable first book about the paradoxical nature of romantic love
A historical and theoretical investigation of the unexpected ways screen-based media protect and excite viewers’ fears and anxieties of the world
A deep history of storytelling as a civic agency, recalibrating literature’s political role for the twenty-first century
A richly illustrated account of the life and work of the twentieth-century Mexican artist and writer who reimagined what the book could look like, mean, and do
A richly diverse collection of classical Indian terms for expressing the many moods and subtleties of emotional experience
How an acceptance of our limitations can lead to a more fulfilling life and a more harmonious society
From a devoted reader and lifelong bookseller, an eloquent and charming reflection on the singular importance of bookstores
From twenty-seven of today’s leading writers, an anthology of original pieces on the author of Walden
Features essays by Jennifer Finney Boylan • Kristen Case • George Howe Colt • Gerald Early • Paul Elie • Will Eno • Adam Gopnik • Lauren Groff • Celeste...
A reexamination of Austen’s unpublished writings that uncovers their continuity with her celebrated novels—and that challenges distinctions between her “early” and “late” work
On the 100th anniversary of T. S. Eliot’s modernist masterpiece, a rich cultural history of The Waste Land’s creation, explosive impact, and enduring influence
A fascinating portrait of a radical age through the writers associated with a London publisher and bookseller—from William Wordsworth and Mary Wollstonecraft to Benjamin Franklin