ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’ 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY “A master novelist's haunting parable about our troubled modern moment." —The Wall Street Journal “By turns unnerving, hilarious, and sad. . . . It is a book that shows how the public zeitgeist can shape, even destroy, an individual's life." —The New York Times “The best novel he has written.” —The Times Literary Supplement It is 1998, the year in which America is whipped into a frenzy of prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small New England town, an aging classics professor, Coleman Silk, is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. The charge is a lie, but the real truth about Silk would have astonished even his most virulent accuser. Coleman Silk has a secret, one which has been kept for fifty years from his wife, his four children, his colleagues, and his friends, including the writer Nathan Zuckerman. It is Zuckerman who stumbles upon Silk’s secret and sets out to reconstruct the unknown biography of this eminent, upright man, esteemed as an educator for nearly all his life, and to understand how this ingeniously contrived life came unraveled.

Written during Kafka's final years as he battled tuberculosis, A Hunger Artist was the last work he personally prepared for publication before his death in 1924. The story appeared first in Die Neue Rundschau before being published as part of a collection by Verlag Die Schmiede. Max Brod recounted that Kafka revised the text extensively while staying at the Kierling sanatorium near Vienna, perhaps seeing parallels between the artist's physical withering and his own condition. The story chronicles the decline of a professional faster whose art form - public starvation displays - falls out of fashion with changing times. Set against the backdrop of Europe's post-war transformation, the text captures the death of old cultural forms and the public's shifting appetites for entertainment. The hunger artist's insistence on fasting beyond forty days - the maximum his impresario allows - points to the gap between artistic purity and commercial demands. His body becomes a battlefield where artistic integrity clashes with market forces, while his cage in the circus suggests how art gets relegated to sideshows in an age of mass entertainment. The hunger artist's final confession - that he fasted simply because he could never find food he liked - strips away the spiritual and artistic pretensions surrounding his performance. This revelation transforms the story from allegory about artistic sacrifice into something more ambiguous and personally haunting. The text resonates with Kafka's own complicated relationship to food, his sense of alienation from Prague's literary culture, and his struggles with tuberculosis that made eating difficult in his final years. When circus workers clear away the hunger artist's body like so much straw, replacing him with a young panther full of vital energy, the story delivers its sharpest bite - showing how quickly culture discards what it once celebrated, how thoroughly new forms devour the old. This modern translation from the original German is a fresh, accessible and beautifully rendered text that brings to life Kafka's great literary work. This edition contains extra amplifying material including an illuminating afterword, a timeline of Kafka's life and works alongside of the historical events which shaped his art, and a short biography, to place this work in its socio-historical context.

Gordon Lish's first novel tells the story of a serial killer who wants Truman Capote to write his biography. In the letter the killer writes to Capote, the details of his life and his modus operandi are revealed.

In the early decades of this century, the wave of immigration that brought nearly two million Jews from the Pale of Settlement to the United States included an extraordinary group of gifted Yiddish poets and writers, who came to be called Di Yunge (The Young). A Little Love in Big Manhattan tells the story of two of the Young’s most prominent figures―Mani Leib, a lyric poet intent on refining the hard facts of his life into works of enduring beauty, and Moishe Leib Halpern, for whom poetry had to be the expression of coarse and shattering reality. Through a dual biography of these opposing personalities, Ruth Wisse describes the rich and vital cultural movement that embraced them both. She tells of the burst of creative energy exhibited by the young poets and intellectuals who, after a long day of manual labor, would congregate in the cafes of the Lower East Side for badinage, debate, and literary talk. They started literary journals and compiled anthologies of their writings, which found their way overseas and had a rejuvenating influence on Yiddish poetry abroad. Ironically, their achievement coincided with the decline of the language in which they wrote, so that Yiddish poetry came into its own in America at a time when the next generation could scarcely read it; there were no literary heirs. Ruth Wisse presents modern Jews with a part of their lost inheritance, and also claims for the Yiddish poets a place in the American canon. The first book to present these poets as part of the history of immigrant Jews in America, A Little Love in Big Manhattan (the title is from a poem of Halpern’s) will appeal to readers of poetry and to people interested in facets of the intellectual and artistic atmosphere of the interwar period.

The Life of Benito Mussolini is a comprehensive biography of the Italian fascist dictator written by Margherita G. Sarfatti. The book covers Mussolini's early life, his rise to power, and his eventual downfall. Sarfatti, who was a close friend and advisor to Mussolini, offers unique insights into his personality and political philosophy. The biography explores Mussolini's role in World War II, his alliance with Nazi Germany, and his ultimate defeat and execution. Sarfatti also delves into Mussolini's personal life, including his relationships with women and his family. The Life of Benito Mussolini is a detailed and informative account of one of the most controversial figures in modern history.1925. Translated by Frederic Whyte. A pro-Fascist biography of the life and, pre-WWII, pre-Hitler alliance, political career of Mussolini. Towards the end of the Preface, Mussolini writes: my life is to be found recorded-at least, such part of it as can be made known, ...it is no great affair-my life. There is nothing extraordinary in it to capture the imagination. No victorious wars, no out-of-the-way adventures. No creations of new systems of thought. It is a life full of movement, certainly, but it is a less interesting life, ...It is possible that the future may modify these proportions-it may reduce or increase them. But with this my biographers of tomorrow will have to do.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original wor

Critical Companion to Philip Roth is a comprehensive reference to this talented writer's life and works. Coverage includes: A concise but thorough biography of Roth Entries on all of Roth's works, including American Pastoral, The Ghost Writer, Sabbath's Theater, The Human Stain, Zuckerman Unbound, the stories collected in Goodbye, Columbus, The Plot Against America, his nonfiction works, and more. Each entry on a fictional work contains subentries on the work's main characters (including Nathan Zuckerman, Alexander Portnoy, "Swede" Levov, and more) Entries on related people, places, and topics, such as anti-Semitism, Claire Bloom, Newark, satire, and many more Appendixes, including a chronology, a bibliography of Roth's works, and a secondary-source bibliography.

In this book gender is the lens through which autobiography and biography are scrutinized. The authors show what is revealed when they magnify the gendered aspects of both men’s and women’s writing. The eternal questions of identity, choice, responsibility, happiness, tragedy, and even death are interpreted in terms of gender analysis. The book presents a sequence of studies from the early nineteenth to the late twentieth century that includes individuals such as American poet Anne Sexton and German writers Christa Wolf and Paul Celan, and groups such as nineteenth-century Mexican women and members of the British working class. It extends the paradigm of “self-reflexive” literature to include and highlight the overlap between autobiography and biography, especially in the case of women who often wrote their lives obliquely through the biographies of their famous male relatives, e. g., Adèle Hugo and Anne Thackeray Ritchie. The authors refuse to accept a monolithic conception of gender. The studies of Charles and Mary Lamb, Nadezhda Durova, and John Stuart Mill demonstrate that even in the nineteenth century, a binary gender system is inadequate as a mode of approach to actual life stories.

Paperback. One or two minor marks on exterior; the lightest of wear to spine ends. A very good copy. TS

An epic biography set in ducal Italy and postrevolutionary France focuses on the Manzoni family, beginning with the matriarchal Giulia and ending in 1901

Herod: A Biography is a book written by Jacob S. Minkin that explores the life and legacy of one of the most notorious figures in biblical history, Herod the Great. The book provides a detailed and comprehensive account of Herod's life, from his rise to power in Judea to his death and the aftermath of his reign. Minkin draws on a wide range of historical sources, including ancient texts, archaeological evidence, and modern scholarship, to paint a vivid portrait of this complex and often controversial figure. The book covers Herod's many accomplishments, including his impressive building projects and his efforts to modernize Judea, as well as his many personal flaws and failures. Minkin also explores the political and religious context of Herod's reign, including the tensions between the Jewish people and their Roman rulers, and the various factions and power struggles that shaped the region during this time. Overall, Herod: A Biography is a fascinating and insightful look at one of the most intriguing figures in ancient history, and a must-read for anyone interested in biblical history, ancient politics, or the complexities of human nature.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Interweaving history, criticism, and biography, this book is the first to present the relations among six great founders of modern literature.

Muriel Rukeyser's previously unpublished play presents the captivating life of Harry Houdini, one of our country's most intriguing celebrities. The play is magical, sexy, and provocative-presenting Houdini's life from his Brooklyn childhood and tricks (picking up pins with his eyelids) and his young romance with wife Bess, to his relationship with his mother; from picking the lock of a jail and releasing his circus companions to Houdini's Congressional Hearing and his famous escape acts. Part biography, part fantasy, Rukeyser explores issues that tap into desire, race, family, and politics. "Houdini" was performed once in Lenox, Massachusetts in the early 70's, with Christopher Walken playing the lead. This lost drama will appeal to theater people, Houdini fans, poets, magicians, and anyone interested in the interplay between reality and the imagination. How much of our lives do we conjure? Rooted in the early 70's, but timeless in its underlying theme, "Houdini" joins the Rukeyser resurgence that is well underway.Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980) is one of our country's most influential, yet neglected writers. She published fifteen collections of poetry, translations, childrens books, and several works of nonfiction. Her "toys of fame" include the Yale Younger Poets Award, the Copernicus Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Shelley Memorial Award. She served as president of P.E.N. American Center from 1975 to 1976.

The second book of an extravagant work in progressWhat's JoelGot to do but let the jewelHatchThe light and hookIt to the fleshIt will outlastAnd point the staring womanAt a mirror? --from "The Master Jeweler Joel Rosenthal"Dante's Divine Comedy begins with a journey through Hell and ends in Heaven. Frederick Seidel's Cosmos Poems trilogy begins in the heavens, with The Cosmos Poems, and descends.Life on Earth is the second book in this trilogy. It includes natural and human history, which are the history of the self, and biography, which is the history of everything else, told in vignettes of beauty, sublimity, horror, and regret.

The Mind And Death Of A Genius is a non-fiction book written by David Abrahamsen. It is a biography of the famous American mathematician, John Forbes Nash Jr. The book explores the life of Nash, from his childhood to his rise to fame as a brilliant mathematician, and his eventual descent into mental illness.Abrahamsen delves into Nash's personal life, including his relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. He also discusses Nash's groundbreaking work in game theory and his struggles with schizophrenia.The book provides a detailed account of Nash's mental breakdown and his eventual recovery, which was aided by the support of his wife and the use of antipsychotic medication. Abrahamsen also examines the impact of Nash's illness on his career and his legacy.Overall, The Mind And Death Of A Genius is a compelling and informative biography that provides insight into the life and work of one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

"Josephus" by Norman Bentwich is a biography that provides a comprehensive and insightful account of the life and works of Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian and scholar from the first century AD. Bentwich delves into Josephus' early years, his experiences during the Jewish-Roman War, and his subsequent collaboration with the Roman Empire. The book explores Josephus' significant contributions to Jewish historiography, particularly his works "The Jewish War" and "Jewish Antiquities," which document the events and culture of ancient Judea. Bentwich analyzes Josephus' writings in the context of his political circumstances, shedding light on his motivations and the challenges he faced as a Jewish leader collaborating with the Romans. Through meticulous research and engaging storytelling, Bentwich paints a vivid picture of Josephus' life, offering readers valuable insights into the political, social, and religious dynamics of ancient Judea. The biography also explores Josephus' controversial reputation among Jews and Christians, his impact on historiography, and his enduring influence on the understanding of Jewish history.

This book is a biography that profiles some of the key figures of the sixteenth century who played an important role in shaping England's history. The book provides a detailed insight into their character and the role they played in the events of their times. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

As the sinister shadow of McCarthyism spreads across America, a woman fights to save everything she holds dear Lola Gregg grew up the daughter of a respected physician in a tiny factory town. She married and had children, perfectly content in her quiet suburban existence. But Lola has a At a time when progressivism is considered a national threat, Lola and her husband are on the wrong side of the political spectrum. When the FBI begins to tail her husband due to his leftist affiliations, Lola is forced to choose between her deeply held beliefs and the very safety of her family. Intense and thought-provoking, Lola Gregg is a potent thriller about one woman's struggle to preserve ideological freedom against the reactionary forces of her day. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author's estate.

Explore the life and legacy of one of France's most celebrated women writers with "Famous Women: George Sand," a biography by Bertha Thomas. This meticulously prepared edition offers a window into the 19th century and the extraordinary life of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, known to the world as George Sand. Delve into the story of a woman who defied societal expectations and carved her own path as a novelist, challenging conventions and captivating readers with her passionate prose. This biography examines Sand's literary contributions and her significant role in French literature. Discover the key moments and influences that shaped Sand's life and work, solidifying her place as a prominent figure and enduring symbol of female authorship. "Famous Women: George Sand" is a valuable resource for those interested in biography, women's studies, and the rich tapestry of 19th-century literary history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.