The first of his peerless novels of Cold War espionage and international intrigue, Call for the Dead is also the debut of John le Carré's masterful creation George Smiley.After a routine security chec
A monumental literary event: the newly discovered final novel by seminal Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay, a rich and multilayered portrayal of life in 1930s Harlem and a historical protest for
Bold, moving, entertaining and controversial, this is the great novel of 1960s Lagos life - with one of the most unforgettable heroines in literature. Jagua Nana, no longer young but still irresistib
'I knew he was imagining a really lovely girl - all curves, curls, heart and hidden claws'In stories that span the course of a lifetime - from childhood in the Caribbean to adolescent modelling in Par
'He felt a sudden deep pity for the finger joint that lay there on the dresser, a few drops of blood gathering around the white bone.'A deliberately severed finger, a junky's Christmas miracle and a T
'What use to a being that lives beneath a sun are jewels of gas and silver stars of ice?'From a giant of twentieth-century science fiction, these four miniature space epics feature crazy inventors, su
Back, away from here, drowned people, go. I haven't stolen anyone's place' A selection of poetry from the author of If this is a Man and The Periodic Table. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating
'She was bored and fought against her boredom, which only bored her still more.' Five sparkling, irreverent brief portraits of famous literary figures (including libertines, eccentrics and rogues) fro
The alphabet ofthe trees is fading in thesong of the leaves' Filled with bright, unforgettable images, the deceptively simple work of William Carlos Williams revolutionized American verse, and made hi
"Forget all your fears now. Have a fling this night"'Untrustworthy, charming Fussy Joe spins stories and breaks hearts in this rollicking story set in the 'sensational city' of 1960s Lagos. Penguin Mo
My heartbrims with billowsand minnowsof shadows and silver Beautiful, brutal, strange and lovely: this is Lorca reborn, in a selection of previously unpublished pieces and masterful new translations.
'She felt a cozy solidarity with the big company of the voluntary dead.' Wise-cracking and heartbreaking, these tales of women on the edge by the legendary wit Dorothy Parker show the darkness beneath
'She only wished to prove to herself she was once more on a train going somewhere'A passionate, unfulfilled woman considers her life and her marriage in this moving novella by one of America's finest
'If he only knew what it was, he would fix it; he would kill this mean thing that made Mama feel so bad.'Belonging and estrangement intertwine in these four lyrical short stories from the the author o
'It was what we call in the trade a potato...' Tales of low-lifes and grifters trying to make ends meet in pre-War Germany. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the ico
' "Of course, no one would want to say anything about a girl like this that's missing..." ' Malice, paranoia and creeping dread lie beneath the surface of ordinary American life in these chilling mini
'Like rotting stakes in a forest clearing' The great journalist of conflict in the Third World finds an even stranger and more exotic society in his own home of post-War PolandPenguin Modern: fifty ne
Though their house was new, the wall had been there a long time.' In these two stories, which have never before been translated into English, Tsushima shows how memories, dreams and fleeting images de
A superb new translation of one of the greatest nineteenth century poems: the libretto to Wagner’s Ring Cycle, in a Penguin Classics hardcover designed by Coralie Bickford-SmithThe scale and grandeur
One summer afternoon A.J.A. Symons is handed a peculiar novel called Hadrian the Seventh and, captivated by this forgotten masterpiece, determines to learn everything he can about its mysterious autho
The titlular character of Hadrian the Seventh is inextricably intertwined with his creator, Frederick Rolfe, the self-titled Baron Corvo. Both were Catholic converts and unsuccessful candidates for pr
'Oh the cruelty of time, that destroys all things!'Beguiling, strange and hair-raising tales from early 20th century Japan: Nagai's Behind the Prison, Uno's Closet LLB and Akutagawa's deeply macabre G
'Do I wish to keep up with the times? No. My wish simply is to live my life as fully as I can'The great American poet, novelist and environmental activist argues for a life lived slowly. Penguin Moder
'The morning became a long, drawn-out afternoon that became depthless night dawning innocently through the house' Tales of desire and madness from this giant of Brazilian literature. Penguin Modern: f
Summer was drawing to a close, and I realized that the book was monstrous.' Fantastical tales of mazes, puzzles, lost labyrinths and bookish mysteries, from the unique imagination of a literary magici
'Time is a catastrophe, perpetual and irreversible.' Science and fiction interweave delightfully in these playful Cosmicomic short stories. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering s
'To create today is to create dangerously'Camus argues passionately that the artist has a responsibility to challenge, provoke and speak up for those who cannot in this powerful speech, accompanied he
'Ring for your maid, and when she comes in we'll pounce upon her and tear off her face. I'll wear her face tonight instead of mine.' These dreamlike, carnivalesque fables by one of the leading lights
'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'This landmark missive from one of the greatest activists in history calls for direct, non-violent resistance in the fight against racism, and ref
'The illegible signature of teetering disaster' Three great stories--The Aurelian, Signs and Symbols and Lance--the last both a derisive attack on science-fiction and an attempt to imagine the real pa
'The ultimate Camp statement: it's good because it's awful.'These two classic essays were the first works of criticism to break down the boundaries between 'high' and 'low' culture, and made Susan Son
'What did she expect of him? What was her quest? Did she have an unfulfilled desire?' Transgressive desires and sexual encounters are recounted in these four pieces from one of the greatest writers of
'The general uncertainty as to what is really happening makes it easier to cling to lunatic beliefs'Biting and timeless reflections on patriotism, prejudice and power, from the man who wrote about his
'But no, she's abstract, is a birdOf sound in the air of air soaring,And her soul sings unencumberedBecause the song's what makes her sing.'Dramatic, lyrical and ranging over four distinct personae, t
Sadder than salad. From apples to artichokes, these glittering, fragmented, painterly portraits of food by the avant-garde pioneer Gertrude Stein are redolent of sex, laughter and the joy of everyday
'If I think about it, and I have the time and inclination and capacity to do so, we dogs are an odd lot.'How does a dog see the world? How do any of us? In this playful and enigmatic story of a canine
'Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!-and you, García Lorca, what were you doing by the watermelons?' Profane and prophetic verses about sex, death, revolution and America by the great icon
INTENSE SEXUAL DESIRE IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD' A tale of art, sex, blood, junkies and whores in New York's underground, from cult literary icon Kathy Acker Penguin Modern: fifty new books c
'It's an improbable city, Bologna - like one you might walk through after you have died.'A dreamlike meditation on memory, food, paintings, a fond uncle and the improbable beauty of Bologna, from the
The landmark comic satire that asks, “What would happen if all black people in America turned white?” It’s New Year’s Day 1933 in New York City, and Max Disher, a young black m
