Literary History & Criticism

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a modern American classic....

In this brilliant conclusion to his best-selling Mythos trilogy, legendary author and actor Stephen Fry retells the tale of the Trojan War....

Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read....

From pop culture podcaster and a voice of a generation, Kate Kennedy, a celebration of the millennial zeitgeist: One In a Millennial is an exploration of pop culture, nostalgia, the millennial zeitgeist, and the life lessons learned....

From James Gleick, a mind-bending exploration of time travel: its subversive origins, its evolution in literature and science, and its influence on our understanding of time itself....

For the last 20 years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us....

Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the 20th century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic....

A brilliant investigation into the motivations and methods, Dumbledore dives between the lines of the Harry Potter books to create a portrait of the controversial Headmaster....

Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art....

For generations, the book of Genesis has been treated by scholars as a collection of documents by various hands, expressing different factional interests, with borrowings from other ancient literatures that mark the text as derivative....

The tellers of Greek myths—historically men—have routinely sidelined the female characters....

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works....

In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town....

Mythology succeeds like no other audiobook in bringing to life for the modern listener the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths and legends that are the keystone of Western culture....

From breakout stand-up comedian Iliza Shlesinger comes a subversively funny collection of essays and observations on a confident woman's approach to friendship, singlehood, and relationships....

William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition....

Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant....

Volume 2 of the Nobel Prize-winner’s towering masterpiece: the story of Solzhenitsyn's entrance into the Soviet prison camps, where he would remain for nearly a decade. Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum....

Five years after Return of the Jedi, the last of the Emperor's warlords have taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet - and could destroy the fragile new Republic....

The Willie Lynch Letter and the Making of a Slave is a study of slave making....

Jia Tolentino is a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts, contradictions, and sea changes that define us and our time....

Don’t be intimidated by Shakespeare! These popular guides make the Bard’s plays accessible and enjoyable....

Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative....

First published in 1986 and updated several times since, Don’t Panic is in an in-depth exploration of Douglas Adams’s cultural phenomenon The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy....

A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour....

In terms of literature, music, and film, it would be hard to outdo the sheer genius and creativity of Russia. These things constitute the soul of the nation, and it is this that Morris Berman explores in his latest work, The Soul of Russia.

Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time when the science of studying the natural world was known as natural philosophy, a pastime for poets, priests, and schoolgirls. The world began to change in the 1830s, while Darwin was exploring the Pacific aboard the Beagle and Dickinson was a student in Amherst, Massachusetts. Poetry and science started to grow apart, and modern thinkers challenged the old orthodoxies, offering thrilling new perspectives that suddenly felt radical—and too dangerous for women.

Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) was a brilliant master of Japanese haiku. This instructional book offers six lessons on how to write haiku based on examples from Issa and from twenty-first century poets who are following his creative path.

Sweet, supportive, dependable, selfless. Long before she had children of her own, journalist Carrie Mullins knew how mothers should behave. But how? Where did these expectations come from—and, more importantly, are they serving the mothers whose lives they shape? Carrie's suspicion, later crystallized while raising two small children, was that our culture’s idealization of motherhood was not only painfully limiting but harmful, leaving women to cope with impossible standards—standards rarely created by mothers themselves.

In 'Disturbing Remains,' Derek, Kaili's husband, finds himself thrust into a chilling investigation when only a torso is discovered by the police. Racing against time as more gruesome body parts surface, Derek and his team delve deeper into a twisted maze of murders begging to be solved. Meanwhile, Kaili seeks solace during a sabbatical but is drawn into an unexpected adventure. Assisting her friend Dr. Doris Wolf's discovery of the Canadian Ice Maiden, Kaili utilizes her remarkable ability to communicate with mummies through a spirit box. Together, they venture to unlock the secrets of the...

Bla_K is a collection of previously out-of-print essays and new works by one of Canada's most important writers and thinkers. Through an engagement with her earlier work, M. NourbeSe Philip comes to realize the existence of a repetition in the world: the return of something that, while still present, has become unembedded from the world, disappeared. Her imperative becomes to make us see what has gone unseen by writing memory upon the margin of history, in the shadow of empire and at the frontier of silence.

On her first book tour at the age of 26, Lee Maracle was asked a question from the audience, one she couldn't possibly answer at that moment. But she has been thinking about it ever since. As time has passed, she has been asked countless similar questions, all of them too big to answer, but not too large to contemplate. These questions, which touch upon subjects such as citizenship, segregation, labor, law, prejudice and reconciliation, to name a few, are the heart of My Conversations with Canadians.

Leland Ryken provides a clear pathway to understanding the "Great Works" through this engaging series of short guidebooks. Beginning with "why the classics matter" and "the nature and function of literature," listeners will find a helpful path to understanding and analyzing influential works in the Western canon. This volume leads listeners through John Bunyan’s classic Christian allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, offering insights into the nature of faith, the reality of temptation, and the glory of salvation.

An excellent companion to the classic work The Secret Garden, this guide would be the perfect literature enrichment for homeschool, co-op, book club, or just for fans of this work and genre! Rachel Dodge, author and narrator, eloquently points out the imagery, historic context, and themes in this beautiful piece and ties them into Biblical motifs, analyzing each chapter and character through a Christian lens

Welcome to The Book of Japanese Folklore: a fascinating journey through Japan’s folklore through profiles of the legendary creatures and beings who continue to live on in pop culture today. From the sly kitsune to the orgrish oni and mischievous shape-shifting tanuki, learn all about the origins of these fantastical and mythical creatures. With information on their cultural significance, and how it’s been spun into today’s popular culture, this tome teaches you about the stories and histories of the beings that inspired characters in your favorite movies, animes, manga, and games.

This iconic play is brought to life in modern English, allowing listeners to fully immerse themselves in the passion, conflict, and heartbreak of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece. Experience the power of love and the consequences of feuding families without the barrier of archaic language. Whether you're encountering the story for the first time or revisiting it with fresh eyes, this adaptation promises to evoke all the emotions of the original while making it accessible to a modern audience.

"Flat Earth Reimagined: An AI-Curated Odyssey" is an innovative exploration of the Flat Earth theory, uniquely combined with Artificial Intelligence and the author's expert analysis. This book delves into the intriguing world of Flat Earth beliefs from ancient to modern times, presenting a balanced view of historical, scientific, and sociological perspectives. It critically examines the theory's evolution, key arguments, and the psychological appeal behind such contrarian beliefs. Enhanced by AI-driven research, this narrative offers a multifaceted look at the Flat Earth community, its ...

Are you ready to dive into the captivating world of Asian Indic Literary Criticism? Look no further! Introducing "The Complexities of Asian Indic Literary Criticism" - a must-read for anyone intrigued by the literary heritage of Asia. This all-encompassing eBook explores the richness and diversity of Asian Indic Literature, offering readers an unparalleled voyage through time and the timeless beauty of its literary traditions. Embark on a fascinating journey that begins with the ancient foundations of the world-renowned Natyashastra, the bedrock of Sanskrit Poetics, and traces the evolution...

Dive into the enchanting world of Celtic literature with the mesmerizing eBook, "Exploring the Celtic Tapestry"! This captivating journey will take you through time and across the European landscape, unveiling the interwoven richness of Celtic storytelling and its profound impact on the global literary scene. Embark on an adventure that begins with an introduction to Celtic literature and its European contexts, then traverses through early Irish literature, the Welsh bardic tradition, Scottish poetry, and the evolution of English literary heritage in the Celtic context. Along the way, ...

Dive into an intellectually stimulating journey with "Intriguing Insights" - the ultimate guide to literary criticism and interpretation! This compendium of knowledge is designed to bridge the gap between those who appreciate literature and those who want to analyze it at a deeper level. Prepare to embark on an expedition that will inject a fresh perspective into your love for the written word. In this comprehensive volume, you'll journey through various approaches to literary theory, delving into the captivating world of Structuralism, Post-Structuralism, Hermeneutics, Reader-Response ...