In this companion volume to The Tree of Meaning, Robert Bringhurst collects twenty essays under the subversive principle that “everything is related to everything else.” His studies build
When Laura Flynn was a little girl, her beautiful, dynamic mother, Sally, was the center of her imagination. It wasn’t long, however, before Sally’s fun-loving side slowly and methodicall
Norma Fontaine lives in a world of handy tips and sensible advice. Whether it’s choosing the right girdle or honing her feminine allure, she measures life by the standards set in women’s
In print, FW, the unnamed freelance Food Writer of Nancy Spiller’s sardonic debut novel, Entertaining Disasters, lives high on the food chain in the heady realm of L.A.’s culinary journal
In this acerbic, eminently quotable book, humorist Roy Blount Jr. focuses on his own dueling loyalties across the great American divide. Scholarly, raunchy, biting, and affable, Blount takes on topic
In a novel rich in historical detail, acclaimed author Eliot Pattison reconsiders the founding of America and explores how disenfranchised people of any age and place struggle to find justice, how co
Upending Christianity’s popular notion of Jesus the comforter, the good shepherd, the Lord, and the Savior, this completely new exploration of Mark’s Life of Jesus reexamines the image pr
A man wanders the streets of Paris haunted by the memory of a young woman's bloodied corpse and tormented by the possibility that he was her murderer.He rushes home, but his wife recoils from him, th
From the shadows of the correspondences and the contradictions of biography, the elusive Salomé emerges in this boldly revealing fiction to tell her own story through the three major relationshi
Wallace Stegner, winner of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize, was the author of 13 novels and five collections of short stories, as well as the founder of Stanford University's creative writing program. This c
The Platform Sutra occupies a central place in Zen (Ch’an) Buddhist instruction for students and spiritual seekers worldwide. It is often linked with The Heart Sutra and The Diamond Sutra to fo
John Hanson Mitchell recounts his time in the isolated backcountry of Corsica in 1962. While working (illegally) at the Rose Café in Ile Rouse, Mitchell spent his days observing the lives of the
Cuba's number three official today — Commander Juan Almeida — was secretly working with JFK in November 1963 to overthrow Fidel. The U.S. government recently revealed Almeida's work for J
One of the central relationships in the Beat scene was the long-lasting friendship of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. When Allen Ginsberg ventured west in 1956, he met Snyder, a graduate student in t
An intense stream of consciousness - with loops, flashbacks, and multiple digressions - takes us into the mind of Akaki, a middle-aged Japanese man. Wearing a business suit and overcoat, Akaki stands
For a boy, an obsession with fish can be a handy way to escape the trials of growing up. That's especially true for Greg Keeler, whose failings and foibles persist in marking the difference between h
In the safe haven of her London office - a room her husband jokingly calls "The Delivery Room" - Mira Braverman listens to the stories of her troubled patients. Her clients include an aristocratic wo
For more than four decades, Robert Aitken Roshi has taught thousands of people the Buddhist practice of Zen meditation, and has led hundreds through their practice of the study of traditional koans.
In this classic collection of 29 pieces that span half a century, Gary Snyder explores humans’ complex, ever-evolving attitudes toward the environment. He argues that nature is not separate fro
In the sense that all stories have been written before, a truly startling piece of fiction may be the greatest literary feat possible. Enter Stacey Richter, a virtuoso contender for that very prize,
Wendell Berry's continued fascination with the power of memory continues in this treasured novel set in 1976. Andy Catlett, a farmer whose hand was lost in an accident only eight months prior, wande
Set against the turmoil of the World War II, A World Lost is just one of the classic chapters in Berry's Port William series. The summer of 1944 finds nine-year-old Andy Catlett in that very town in
This, the first title in the Port William series, introduces the rural section of Kentucky with which novelist Wendell Berry has had a lifelong fascination. When young Nathan loses his grandfather, B
A new collection of fiction by Evan S. Connell should be the occasion for wide celebration. His restraint, concision, and perfect pitch lend themselves to the short-story form. He senses when to expl
Although best known today for his singular, stunning “anti-novels” dazzlingly conjured from anecdotes, quotes, and small thoughts, in his early days David Markson paid the rent by writing
The narrator of Morality Tale, Sylvia Brownrigg's comic new novel, has been finding domestic life something of a strain. She's tired of her husband's ongoing negotiations with his angry ex-wife and f
This meticulously researched and compassionately rendered portrait of Leonard Woolf, the “dark star” of Bloomsbury, is the first to capture his troubled relationship with his wife, his ow
Is Tintin literature? asks Tom McCarthy in this study of one of the greatest comics of the 20th century. He embarks on an adventure in deconstruction and discovery - bringing on board the readers the
In simple, striking verse, legendary poet Gary Snyder weaves an epic discourse on the topics of geology, prehistory, and mythology. First published in 1996, this landmark work encompasses Asian artis
At 41, single professor Sara Leader decides to create a family by adopting a child. After the adoption agency asks for details about her background, Sara reluctantly begins to probe her father’
As the dreadful reality of the coalition's defeat in Iraq begins to sink in, one question dominates Washington and London: Why? In this controversial new book, Jonathan Steele provides a stark and ar
As a middle child raised middle class and stuck out in the middle of Louisiana, hilarious writer and actress Sarah Thyre often found her in-between existence far less than desirable. Even from a youn
Norma Fontaine lives in a world of handy tips and sensible advice. Whether it's choosing the right girdle or honing her feminine allure, she measures life by the standards set in women’s magazi
Andy Catlett is the latest installment in Wendell Berry’s Port William series, a distinct set of stories that Berry has been telling now for50 years. Set during the Christmas of 1943, nin
A debut collection of short fiction exploring the surreal banalities and weird outrages of everyday American life includes the title story, "The Littlest Hitler," in which a nine-year-old boy devises
Meet Arthur Blume: a charming guy, small-town English professor, struggling writer, and occasional murderer. In this debut novel, R. M. Kinder channels Arthur's voice to reveal the aberrant thought p
It's 1948: postwar Rome is giddy and chaotic. Dante Omero Sabat, a successful writer and intellectual, is attending yet another film industry soiree at Tullio Merlini's apartment off the Via del Cors
Features the author's reminiscences of growing up on and escaping from a family farm in North Dakota, headed for a peripatetic career as a rock musician, poet, and English teacher.
For Elias, the brutality of life at the front is soon eased in the form of a morale-boosting letter blindly sent by young Nora Bloom, a proud devotee to the Cause, at her rabbi's behest. Although the
When Sarah Thyre was barely out of diapers, her father started referring to her as the "family liar," though no particular incident had provoked this designation. Undaunted by her label, Sarah starte
