"I prefer not to," he respectfully and slowly said, and mildly disappeared. Academics hail it as the beginning of modernism, but to readers around the world--even those daunted by Moby-Dick -- Bartleby the Scrivener is simply one of the most absorbing and moving novellas ever. Set in the mid-19th century on New York Citys Wall Street, it was also, perhaps, Herman Melville's most prescient story: what if a young man caught up in the rat race of commerce finally just said, "I would prefer not to"? The tale is one of the final works of fiction published by Melville before, slipping into despair over the continuing critical dismissal of his work after Moby-Dick , he abandoned publishing fiction. The work is presented here exactly as it was originally published in Putnam's magazine--to, sadly, critical disdain. The Art of The Novella Series Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
ONE OF THE MOST BELOVED WORKS OF SCIENCE FICTION H.G. Wells' classic The Invisible Man is an artful combination of a psychological thriller and science fiction novel. A young scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility feels initial joy at his newfound freedoms and abilities, but quickly turns to despair when he realizes the many things he has sacrificed in the pursuit of science. While he struggles to create the formula that will restore his visibility and his connection to other people, murder and mayhem ensue. THE ART OF THE NOVELLA Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers but beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. The Art of the Novella Series celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners. The series has been recognized for its "excellence in design" by AIGA.
"I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else''s whim or to someone else''s ignorance."
--bell hooks
bell hooks was a prolific, trailblazing author, feminist, social activist, cultural critic, and professor. Born Gloria Jean Watkins, bell used her pen name to center attention on her ideas and to honor her courageous great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks.
hookss unflinching dedication to her work forged deep grooves for the feminist and anti-racist movements. In this collection of interviews, stretching from early in her career until her last interview, she discusses feminism, the complexity of rap music and masculinity, her relationship to Buddhism, the politic of domination, sexuality, and love and the importance of communication across cultural borders. Whether she was sparking controversy on campuses or facing criticism from contemporaries, hooks relentlessly challenged herself and those around her, inserted herself into the tensions of the cultural moment, and anchored herself with love.
B>br>/b> “Nobody does troubled figures in a stunning landscape like Ben Myers. He’s a major force in the English novel and he gets better with every book.”b> Max Porter, author of Grief is The Thing With Feathers and Lannybr>/b> br>b>br>/b> b>From a British literary sensation, the story of two rural outcasts and the crop circles they create over the course of a long, hot and very strange summer./b> br>br> br>Summer 1989, rural England, the tail end of long decade of mass unemployment, class war and rebellion, and the continued destruction of the English countryside. br> Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men - traumatized ex-soldier Calvert, and affable and chaotic Redbone - set out nightly in a decrepit camper van to undertake an extraordinary project. Under cover of darkness, the two men traverse the fields of rural England in secret, forming crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns, designs so intricate that they inspire the kind of awe that the ancient Gothic cathedral in nearby Salisbury once inspired. br> br> As the summer wears on, and their designs grow ever more ambitious, the two men find that their work has become a cult international sensation - and that an unlikely and beautiful friendship has taken root as the wheat ripens from green to gold. br> br> But as harvest-time beckons — and as media and the authorities begin to take too much interest in their work— Calvert and Redbone have to race against time to finish the most stunning and original crop circle ever conceived: the Honeycomb Double Helix.br> br> Moving and exhilarating, and recalling the apocalyptic visions of William Blake, Alan Moore and Cormac MacCarthy, The Perfect Golden Circle is a captivating, tender and slyly witty novel about the power of beauty to heal trauma and fight power.
Now in paperback, the updated and expanded edition : David Graebers fresh ... fascinating ... thought-provoking ... and exceedingly timely ( Financial Times ) history of debt Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: he shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods--that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors. Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like guilt, sin, and redemption) derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today without knowing it.
b>b>The iconic writer whose prose was as influential and as it is unmistakably hers is joined in conversation with Sheila Heti, Hilton Als, Dave Eggers, Hari Kunzru and many more./b>/b>br>br>Some writers define a generation. Some a genre. Joan Didion did both, and much more. Didion rose to prominence with her nonfiction collection, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and she quickly became the writer who captured the zeitgeist of the washed-out, acid hangover of the 60s. But as a bicoastal writer of fiction and nonfiction whose writing ranged from personal essays and raw, intimate memoirs to reportage on international affairs and social justice, Didion is much harder to pin down than her reputation might suggest. br>;br>This collection encompasses it all, in conversations that delve into her underappreciated mid-career works, her influences, the loss of her husband and daughter, and her most infamous essays. Far from the evasive, terse minimalist that has come to dominate the image of Joan Didion, what this collection reveals is a warm, thoughtful woman whose well earned legacy promises to live on for readers and writers for many generations to come.
** A New York Times Bestseller ** "A complex, smart and ambitious book that at first reads like a self-help manual, then blossoms into a wide-ranging political manifesto."--Jonah Engel Bromwich, The New York Times Book Review One of President Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of 2019" NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: Time The New Yorker NPR GQ Elle Vulture Fortune Boing Boing The Irish Times The New York Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library Porchlight's Personal Development & Human Behavior Book of the Year Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance. So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most precious--and overdrawn--resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankinds role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress. Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book is a four-course meal in the age of Soylent.
"...it was not because I thought her book was interesting that I had reached out to Liming. It was because I passionately believed that her book was right...Hanging Out is rich with illuminating stories..."
B>b>A wildly inventive, savagely funny and topical novel about love, mortality and the afterlife, by the Booker-shortlisted author of A Fraction of the Whole./b>/b>br>br>Angus is a reformed ne''er-do-well looking forward to the birth of his first child when he''s murdered by a man who is in love with his pregnant wife Gracie. Having never believed in God, heaven or hell, Angus finds himself in the afterlife - a place that provides more questions than answers. As a worldwide pandemic finally reaches the shores of Australia, the afterlife starts to get very crowded and Angus finds a way to reconnect with his wife Gracie and maybe even seek revenge on his murderer...br>;br>Here Goes Nothing is a novel of exhilarating originality and scope about birth, death and everything in between and after by a writer of prodigious talent (Peter Carey) that contains a vision of the afterlife that rivals Dantes Divine Comedy and George Saunders'' Lincoln in the Bardo, and the emmy-nominated The Good Place.
Journalists Shane Burley and Ben Lorber present a sorely-needed progressive and intersectional approach to the vital question: What can we do about antisemitism?
From online trolling of Jews by the alt-right to synagogue shootings by white nationalists to the spread of QAnon and George Soros conspiracy theories, antisemitism is a fixture of U.S. politics today. Its rise is part and parcel of growing exclusionary nationalist movements putting multiracial democracy itself at risk.
At the same time, conversations about antisemitism are more polarized than ever.
Using personal stories, historical deep-dives, front-line reporting, and interviews with leading change-makers, Lorber and Burley help the reader understand how antisemitism works, whats at stake in contemporary debates, and how we can build true safety in solidarity.
The definitive story of QAnon from an expert on cult and fringe culture:; how it started, what it is, and how it is so effective at destabilizing society and promoting conspiracy.;
On October 5th, 2017, President Trump made a cryptic remark in the State Dining Room at a gathering of military officials. He said it felt like the calm before the storm--then refused to elaborate as puzzled journalists asked him to explain. ;But on the infamous message boards of 4chan, a mysterious poster going by Q Clearance Patriot, who claimed to be in military intelligence, began the elaboration on their own.
In the days that followed, Qs wild yarn explaining Trump''s remarks began to rival the sinister intricacies of a Tom Clancy novel, while satisfying the deepest desires of MAGA-America.; Did any of what Q predicted come to pass? No. Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading, expanding its mythology, and promoting it wider and wider? No.;
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In late 17th Century London rich young women are being kidnapped, then murdered. Harry Hunt, formerly of the Royal Society but now a rich gentleman, is falsely accused. To clear his name, he must rely on his abandoned scientific expertise and battle the full force of the British aristocracy.
1681. London cooks in summer heat. Bonfires are lit in protest against the Kings brother, James, heir to the throne but openly Catholic. Rumours abound of a Black Box, said to conceal proof the Kings illegitimate son is really the rightful heir.
When a wealthy merchants daughter is kidnapped and murdered--even though a ransom was paid--the King orders Harry Hunt of the Royal Society to help investigate.
A second woman goes missing: Elizabeth Thynne, Englands richest heiress. Her husband has a ransom letter from the same kidnappers.
Pressured by powerful men to find the killers and rescue Elizabeth, Harry uncovers a disturbing link to Bethlehem Hospital, better known as Bedlam.
But he is falsely accused of the crimes.
To prove his innocence, he must find the real culprits. Harrys search takes him from Rotherhithe to Whitehall Palace, and to the house of Sir Peter Lely, the famous portrait-painter, in Covent Garden.
With impassioned appeals for forgotten writers and overlooked books, razor-sharp essays, and personal accounts of extraordinary literary encounters, Jonathan Lethem's More Alive and Less Lonely is an essential celebration of literature, from one of America's finest and most acclaimed working writers. It will inspire readers to dive back into old favorites, and point them towards what to read next.
Can we prevent another financial crisis? We can! Break Up the Banks! is a sensible, actionable, and totally accessible call to arms from an acclaimed financial journalist Its been eight years since the financial crisis, but has anyone taken real action to prevent the next one? Former Economist reporter David Shirreff thinks not, and in Break Up the Banks! , he gives us a short but essential guide to what exactly we can do. With great clarity and a keen sense of humor, Shirreff argues that banks have gotten far too big and far too powerful--and shows how they can be reined in.
The most extensive review of U.S. intelligence-gathering tactics in generations. --Los Angeles Times Meticulously formatted, this is a highly readable edition of the Senate Intelligence Committees investigation of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation and detention programs launched in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Based on over six million internal CIA documents, the report details secret prisons -- like the one in Thailand run by Gina Haspel, currently nominated to be Donald Trump's Deputy Secretary of State -- prisoner deaths, interrogation practices, and cooperation with other foreign and domestic agencies. It also examines charges that the CIA deceived elected officials and governmental overseers about the extent and legality of its operations. Over five years in the making, and withheld from public view since its declassification in April, 2014, this is the full summary report as finally released by the United States government on December 9th, 2014.
From the author of the international bestseller Debt: The First 5,000 Years comes a revelatory account of the way bureaucracy rules our lives Where does the desire for endless rules, regulations, and bureaucracy come from? How did we come to spend so much of our time filling out forms? And is it really a cipher for state violence? To answer these questions, the anthropologist David Graeber--one of our most important and provocative thinkers--traces the peculiar and unexpected ways we relate to bureaucracy today, and reveals how it shapes our lives in ways we may not even noticethough he also suggests that there may be something perversely appealing--even romantic--about bureaucracy. Leaping from the ascendance of right-wing economics to the hidden meanings behind Sherlock Holmes and Batman, The Utopia of Rules is at once a powerful work of social theory in the tradition of Foucault and Marx, and an entertaining reckoning with popular culture that calls to mind Slavoj Zizek at his most accessible. An essential book for our times, The Utopia of Rules is sure to start a million conversations about the institutions that rule over us--and the better, freer world we should, perhaps, begin to imagine for ourselves.
This exceptional collection of the best interviews given by the late award-winning novelist, short-story writer and essayist features conversations with some of the most iconic writers and thinkers of our time. Original.
An autobiographical novella reflects the creative influences and personal challenges of an existentially minded writer who struggles with his relationships, vices, and failures while interacting with famous authors in a variety of cultural arenas. Original.
"What Would Jane Do? What's a strong, independent-minded woman supposed to do in a world of insipid dating guides? Sinead Murphy responds by asking: Who has more time-tested secrets than Jane Austen, whose novels continue to captivate us almost two hundred years later? Whether you can recite paragraphs from Pride and Prejudice or just admired Colin Firth in his wet t-shirt, the romance of Jane Austen's world is one you'll never forget. Does love like that even exist today? Yes, it does. If you look closely at the women of Jane Austen's books, as the witty scholar Sinead Murphy has, you'll discover Austen's countless tips for finding the right leading man, navigating the ups and downs of courtship, and building a happy, independent life for yourself"--
A huge bestseller in Europe, Frederic Lenoir's Happiness is an exciting journey that examines how history's greatest philosophers and religious figures have answered life's most fundamental question: What is happiness and how do I achieve it?
Our woe is upon us. This chilling tale of one mans descent into madness was published shortly before the author was institutionalized for insanity, and so The Horla has inevitably been seen as informed by Guy de Maupassants mental illness. While such speculation is murky, it is clear that de Maupassant--hailed alongside Chekhov as father of the short story--was at the peak of his powers in this innovative precursor of first-person psychological fiction. Indeed, he worked for years on The Horla s themes and form, first drafting it as Letter from a Madman, then telling it from a doctors point of view, before finally releasing the terrified protagonist to speak for himself in its devastating final version. In a brilliant new translation, all three versions appear here as a single volume for the first time. The Art of The Novella Series Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
