This critical anthology assembles an international selection of influential avant-garde plays from the second half of the twentieth century. Supplemented by essays by major theater practitioners, the book approaches the recent avant-garde as a non-linear, pluralistic phenomenon, includes collaborative constructed scripts, and highlights the complex dynamic between avant-garde text and performance....

In this timely book, Claude Hagège, a renowned linguist and leading French public intellectual, ranges over all continents and language families to uncover not only how languages die, but also how they can be revitalized.

One hundred years after his death, Tolstoy still inspires controversy with his notoriously complex narrative strategies. This original book explores how and why Tolstoy has mystified interpreters and offers a new look at his most famous works of fiction.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum brings together a unique collection of Gulag survivors’ memoirs.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum brings together a unique collection of Gulag survivors’ memoirs.

A leading theologian explores the way William Blake approaches the Bible and uses it as a central theme in his work and thought.

The selected poems of one of the most important nineteenth-century French writers, masterfully translated.

The selected poems of one of the most important nineteenth-century French writers, masterfully translated.

This seminal American work from the Yiddish literary canon, in a restored English edition, offers the luminous narrative of the author’s journey home to his Polish birthplace.

An intimate, penetrating study of Joseph Brodsky’s life and work, written by his lifelong friend, the eminent Russian literary scholar Lev Loseff.

An intimate, penetrating study of Joseph Brodsky’s life and work, written by his lifelong friend, the eminent Russian literary scholar Lev Loseff.

This important study is the first to offer a sustained look at a variety of early modern Yiddish masterworks—and their writers and readers—paying particular attention to their treatment of supernatural themes and beings.

In his semiautobiographical novel, Cyclops, Croatian writer Ranko Marinkovic recounts the adventures of young theater critic Melkior Tresic, an archetypal antihero who decides to starve himself to avoid fighting in the front lines of World War II. A seminal work of postwar Eastern European literature, Cyclops reveals a little-known perspective on World War II from within the former Y...

In his semiautobiographical novel, Cyclops, Croatian writer Ranko Marinkovic recounts the adventures of young theater critic Melkior Tresic, an archetypal antihero who decides to starve himself to avoid fighting in the front lines of World War II. A seminal work of postwar Eastern European literature, Cyclops reveals a little-known perspective on World War II from within the former Y...

A luminous history of Cuba’s most dynamic and defining rituals and the ever-improvisational character of Cuban culture.

A luminous history of Cuba’s most dynamic and defining rituals and the ever-improvisational character of Cuban culture.

This is the first definitive account of Fruitlands, one of history’s most unsuccessful—but most significant—utopian experiments. It was established in Massachusetts in 1843 by Bronson Alcott (whose ten-year-old daughter Louisa May, future author of Little Women, was among the members) and an Englishman called Charles Lane, under the watchful gaze of Emerson, Thoreau, and o...

This is the first definitive account of Fruitlands, one of history’s most unsuccessful—but most significant—utopian experiments. It was established in Massachusetts in 1843 by Bronson Alcott (whose ten-year-old daughter Louisa May, future author of Little Women, was among the members) and an Englishman called Charles Lane, under the watchful gaze of Emerson, Thoreau, and o...

An extraordinary collection of lyrics showcasing rap’s poetic depth and diversity.

An extraordinary collection of lyrics showcasing rap’s poetic depth and diversity.

Born in Syria in 1930, Adonis is one of the most celebrated poets of the Arabic-speaking world. This volume serves as the first comprehensive survey of Adonis's work, allowing English readers to admire the arc of a remarkable literary career through the labors of the poet's own handpicked translator, Khaled Mattawa.

Born in Syria in 1930, Adonis is one of the most celebrated poets of the Arabic-speaking world. This volume serves as the first comprehensive survey of Adonis's work, allowing English readers to admire the arc of a remarkable literary career through the labors of the poet's own handpicked translator, Khaled Mattawa.

A personal, penetrating, and polemical account of what Modernism is, this book explores the literature, fine art, and music that it has inspired—and how contemporary literary writing has failed it.

A personal, penetrating, and polemical account of what Modernism is, this book explores the literature, fine art, and music that it has inspired—and how contemporary literary writing has failed it.

In this controversial book, social anthropologist Mary Douglas argues that many famous antique texts are misunderstood and others have been dismissed because they employ ring composition, a literary style unfamiliar today. She explores ring composition across cultures and examines its function in the Iliad, the Bible’s Book of Numbers, and Tristram Shandy.

The iPad. The Kindle. Twitter. When the Best Technology Writing series was inaugurated in 2005, these technologies did not exist. Now they define our 21st-century lives. As Julian Dibbell writes in his introduction to The Best Technology Writing 2010, “The digital is us. Yet for that reason, it is also something more, a lightning rod for our feelings about technology in general.”...

The third winner of the Yale Drama Series competition for emerging playwrights—a haunting and provocative imagining of the reunion, years later, of a Guantánamo detainee and the female interrogator who tortured him.

Lope de Vega’s masterpiece, a classic play of the Spanish Golden Age, in a vibrant new translation.

Lope de Vega’s masterpiece, a classic play of the Spanish Golden Age, in a vibrant new translation.

This deeply moving and original portrait of William Faulkner explores his three crucial relationships—with his black and white mothers, Caroline Barr and Maud Falkner, and with his wife, Estelle Oldham. These Southern women gave life to Faulkner’s imagination, profoundly shaping his emotional and psychological world.

From the acclaimed author of Lying, a brilliant exploration of happiness set in the context of the world’s great philosophers, leaders, writers, and artists.

From the acclaimed author of Lying, a brilliant exploration of happiness set in the context of the world’s great philosophers, leaders, writers, and artists.

Critic Marc Robinson brings his unique perspective to the history of American drama and theater, closely examining plays both celebrated and obscure and offering an array of new insights. Always thought-provoking, he proves a peerless guide to the unfolding of more than two centuries of theater history.

A major reassessment of the literary legacy of one of the twentieth century’s most revered writers that explores the mysteries surrounding his unfinished second novel.

One of our best contemporary writers explores the tension between science and religion and reveals how our concept of mind determines how we understand and value human nature and human civilization.

The internationally celebrated author Alberto Manguel leads an intimate and exhilarating journey through the world of books, arguing that the activity of reading, in its broadest sense, defines our species.

In this thought-provoking book, John Felstiner explores the rich legacy of poems that take nature as their subject, and he demonstrates their force and beauty. In our own time of environmental crises, he contends, poetry has a unique capacity to restore our attention to our environment in its imperiled state. And this, in turn, may just make us better stewards of the earth.

Why Translation Matters argues for the cultural importance of translation and for a more encompassing and nuanced appreciation of the translator’s role. Acclaimed translator Edith Grossman inspires and provokes the reader to engage with translation in an entirely new way.

True Friendship looks closely at three outstanding poets of the past half-century—Geoffrey Hill, Anthony Hecht, and Robert Lowell—through the lens of their relation to their two predecessors in genius, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.

Lively and learned, this up-to-date guide to literary words and concepts is an essential volume for every student and reader of literature. David Mikics sketches the derivations and history of each term, offers useful bibliographic suggestions for most entries, and clarifies the often confusing terrain of literary theory today.

With a language disappearing every two weeks and neologisms springing up almost daily, an understanding of the origins and currency of language has never seemed more relevant. In this charming narrative history, expert linguist David Crystal proves why the story of language deserves retelling.

From “the man on whom nothing was lost,” a uniquely engaging guide to the elements of statecraft, fusing literature and international relations through spirited interpretations of classic literary works.

Translator Marian Schwartz breathes new life into Ivan Goncharov’s masterful novel, replete with wry wit and ingenious critique of nineteenth-century Russian aristocracy.

In this highly enjoyable reminder of why we should care about eloquence in literature and speech, Denis Donoghue insists that eloquence is not just a rhetorical tool, but an intrinsically valuable “upsurge of vitality for its own sake.” He offers many instances of eloquence in words and suggests the forms our appreciation of them should take.

An eminent scholar offers new ways to understand the relation between science and religion by examining current efforts by scientists to explain religious belief naturalistically and current efforts by theologians to reconcile scientific and religious accounts of nature.

This book is the first to collect the best columns and essays of Henry Fairlie, the colorful political and cultural commentator renowned for his brilliant style, original ideas, and fearless criticism of those in power on both sides of the Atlantic.

This masterly biography uncovers Dickens the man through the profession in which he excelled. Michael Slater explores the personal and emotional life, the high-profile public activities, the relentless travel, the charitable works, the amateur theatricals and the astonishing productivity. But his core focus is Dickens’ career as a writer and professional author—not only his big novels but also ...

In this lively exploration of Gone with the Wind, feminist film critic Molly Haskell traces the complexities of both the book and movie, and shows why Rhett and Scarlett’s saga is still riveting, more than seventy years after Margaret Mitchell created it.

This revealing biography of Gypsy Rose Lee—an American icon who brought striptease from the margins of American life to Broadway, Hollywood, and Main Street—uncovers the long-obscured facts of her life and sets her accomplishments in the context of mid-20th-century American culture.

One of the twentieth century’s most ingenious literary works, imaginatively translated from the French by Man Booker Prizewinner David Bellos.

One of the twentieth century’s most ingenious literary works, imaginatively translated from the French by Man Booker Prizewinner David Bellos.

In this unique book, one of the most original voices in biblical studies today focuses on the themes of marriage, sexuality, fertility, impurity, creation, and love in the Bible to illuminate the remarkable subtlety and sophistication of biblical views about sex and religion.

The Lives of the Poets was the crowning achievement of Samuel Johnson’s rich and varied literary life. This carefully researched three-volume edition presents a definitive text reflecting Johnson’s final wishes for its wording, accompanied by notes of value both to general readers and specialists.

In this debut, Heather Webb studies medieval notions of the heart to explore the “lost circulations” of an era when individual lives and bodies were defined by their extensions into the world rather than as self-perpetuating, self-limited entities.

In this daring new book, Thomas Kavanagh overturns the prevailing scholarly tradition that views eighteenth century France as primarily the incubator of the Revolution.  Instead, Kavanagh demonstrates how the art and literature of the era put the experience of pleasure at the center of the cultural agenda, leading to advances in both ethics and esthetics.

This beautifully written biography of the internationally renowned Palestinian poet Taha offers a compelling portrait of the man as well as a nuanced, deeply human view of the tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Taha’s story, like his poetry, is at once profoundly local and utterly universal.

A renowned critic demolishes the insistent claims of atheists and others who assert that science has rendered God and faith obsolete. Seasoning his serious book with humor, Terry Eagleton reexamines God, Jesus, free will, scientific thought, and liberalism to arrive at the conclusion that reason and faith are by no means mutually exclusive.

In this witty, accessible study, the prominent Marxist thinker Terry Eagleton launches a surprising defense of the reality of evil, drawing on literary, theological, and psychoanalytic sources to suggest that evil is a real phenomenon with palpable force in our contemporary world.

The publication of an astonishing debut more than fifty years ago brought poet Geoffrey Hill immediate attention and acclaim. Selected Poems represents a major publishing event, the publication of the first representative selection of Hill’s poetry, gathering work from early volumes to such recent books as The Orchards of Syon and Without Title.

Hédi Kaddour’s poetry arises from observation, from situations both ordinary and emblematic—of contemporary life, of human stubbornness, human invention, or human cruelty. With Treason, the award-winning poet and translator Marilyn Hacker presents an English-speaking audience with the first selected volume of his work.

Hédi Kaddour’s poetry arises from observation, from situations both ordinary and emblematic—of contemporary life, of human stubbornness, human invention, or human cruelty. With Treason, the award-winning poet and translator Marilyn Hacker presents an English-speaking audience with the first selected volume of his work.

Wry, emotionally piercing, and exhilaratingly modern, Ken Chen’s Juvenilia, the 2009 winner of the annual Yale Younger Poets competition, creates a new category in American poetry through its chronicling of adolescence, the immigrant family, and heartbreak.

In this bold and compelling book, leading Spanish literature scholar Noël Valis re-examines Catholicism’s role in the modern Spanish novel from the late eighteenth to mid-twentieth century.

This entertaining journey through five centuries of acquiring, reading, and enjoying books looks at a wide range of collectors, including Samuel Pepys and Thomas Jefferson, and those who marketed and sold them their books.

Tadeusz Borowski, a young Polish writer imprisoned at Auschwitz in 1943, emerged from the Nazi camps to become a highly influential non-Jewish writer-witness of the Holocaust. This volume presents the most complete collection of his prose fiction ever available in English, including the haunting “Farewell to Maria” and twenty mini-stories entitled “The Stony World.”

If modernism began in the magazines, as Robert Scholes and Clifford Wulfman argue, then the study of modern culture should begin with these publications. Scholes and Wulfman also insist that scholars must investigate their contents as a whole to appreciate their full significance.

A groundbreaking study of the fascinating world of books in the first great age of print, from 1450 to 1600.

A groundbreaking study of the fascinating world of books in the first great age of print, from 1450 to 1600.

Drawing on exhaustive archival research, the voluminous corpus of Andrew Marvell's previously little-known writing, and recent scholarship across several disciplines, Smith's portrait becomes the definitive account of the British poet's elusive life.

Long before 9/11, visions of the destruction of New York City were a part of America’s collective imagination. This book investigates images of the city’s end in literature and art to understand why the destruction genre has been popular for two centuries and what it tells us about Americans, New Yorkers, and the city itself.

This exploration of poetry and national life in Poland and Russia from 1917 to the present also offers a comparative study of the poetry of the Eastern and Western sides of the “iron curtain,” and an examination of these topics in light of Western postmodernist philosophical theories.

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