In this remarkable blend of memoir and criticism, James Wood, the noted contributor to the New Yorker, has written a master class on the connections between fiction and life. He argues that of all the arts, fiction has a unique ability to describe the shape of our lives and to rescue the texture of those lives from death and historical oblivion. The act of reading is understood here as the most sacred and personal of activities, and there are brilliant discussions of individual works--among others, Chekhov's story "The Kiss," The Emigrants, by W. G. Sebald, and The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fit... View More...
Published to coincide with The New Yorker's 75th anniversary, this major work of cultural history draws on never-before-seen archives and offers a comprehensive look at this revered magazine's fascinating evolution. 40 cartoons. 40 photos. View More...
A beautiful celebratory tribute to the powers of one of our most undervalued skills. 'What you are doing right now is, cosmically speaking, against the odds.' As young children, we are taught to read, but soon go on to forget just how miraculous a process it is, this turning of scratches and dots into understanding, unease and inspiration. Perhaps we need to stop and remember, stop and learn again how to read better. Damon Young shows us how to do exactly this, walking alongside some of the greatest readers who light a path for us -- Borges, Plato, Woolf. Young reads passionately, selectively... View More...
