Now, in a thrilling twist on the conventional solution, Pierre Bayard's Who Killed Roger Arkroyd? reopens the Ackroyd file with unexpected results: Is the killer still at large? Bayard's in-depth investigation of this well-loved classic will change forever the way mysteries are read. This book is not a spoof. it is a humorous entirely new analysis of the famous 1926 mystery. It challenges the reader to challenge the author in the apparent possible, plausible solution of the mystery.

    For Fadiman, as for many passionate readers, the books she loves have become chapters in her own life story. Writing with remarkable grace, she revives the tradition of the well-crafted personal essay, moving easily from anecdotes about Coleridge and Orwell to tales of her own pathologically literary family. As someone who played at blocks with her father's 22-volume set of Trollope ("My Ancestral Castles") and who only really considered herself married when she and her husband had merged collections ("Marrying Libraries"), she is exquisitely well equipped to expand upon the art of inscriptions, the perverse pleasures of compulsive proof-reading, the allure of long words, and the satisfactions of reading out loud. There is even a foray into pure literary gluttony: Charles Lamb liked buttered muffin crumbs between the leaves, and Fadiman knows of more than one reader who literally consumes page corners. Perfectly balanced between humor and erudition, Ex Libris establishes Fadiman as one of our finest contemporary essayists.

    Ursula Nordstrom, director of Harper's Department of Books for Boys and Girls from 1940 to 1973, was arguably the single most creative force for innovation in children's book publishing in the United States during the twentieth century. Considered an editor of maverick temperament and taste, her unorthodox vision helped create such classics as Goodnight Moon, Charlotte's Web, Where the Wild Things Are, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and The Giving Tree.Leonard S. Marcus has culled an exceptional collection of letters from the HarperCollins archives. The letters included here are representative of the brilliant correspondence that was instrumental in the creation of some of the most beloved books in the world today. Full of wit and humor, they are immensely entertaining, thought-provoking, and moving in their revelation of the devotion and high-voltage intellect of an incomparably gifted editor, mentor, and publishing visionary.

    Now, in this elegantly written and passionate book, Vigen Guroian provides the perfect complement to books such as Bennett's, offering parents and teachers a much-needed roadmap to some of our finest children's stories. Guroian illuminates the complex ways in which fairy tales and fantasies educate the moral imagination from earliest childhood. Examining a wide range of stories--from Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid to Charlotte's Web, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Wind in the Willows, and the Chronicles of Narnia--he argues that these tales capture the meaning of morality through vivid depictions of the struggle between good and evil, in which characters must make difficult choices between right and wrong, or heroes and villains contest the very fate of imaginary worlds. Character and the virtues are depicted compellingly in these stories; the virtues glimmer as if in a looking glass, and wickedness and deception are unmasked of their pretensions to goodness and truth. We are made to face the unvarnished truth about ourselves, and what kind of people we want to be. Throughout, Guroian highlights the classical moral virtues such as courage, goodness, and honesty, especially as they are understood in traditional Christianity. At the same time, he so persuasively evokes the enduring charm of these familiar works that many readers will be inspired to reread their favorites and explore those they may have missed.

    Full color and engaging, this book is a gateway to the fulfilling pursuit of understanding our culture by exploring its most enduring writings. "These sparkling essays remind us of the deep pleasures of literature and its power to instruct and delight."--Publishers Weekly "A magnificent resource, an urgently needed publication in an era when politically correct higher education is trying to deconstruct Western civilization. Wonderful!"--Charles Colson "This important publication should be in every library and out on the table in every Christian home."--Dallas Willard "Immerses us in the wisdom of the ages, those noble thoughts that enrich society's values and guide our youth along positive paths toward fruitful lives."--President Jimmy Carter

    This collection, taken from the work of more that twenty years, explores an enviable range of scholarly interests: archaeology, myth, language, education, philosophy, the spiritual quest, mental health, literature, music and film.The book also serves as a poetic autobiography of one of England's best-loved but least public writers. He hears himself declared dead at the age of six; he draws on the deep vein of a rural working-class childhood in a family of craftsmen who instilled the passion for excellence and for innovation and humour. The disciplines he learnt as a Classicist give a shape and clarity to that passion in this richly various book that would have fascinated his forebears, whose work and lives are also celebrated here.This most unusual, most candid, most vivid picture of an English family and its home, its country's history, is also a devastating revelation of a writer's own life. Alan Garner's account of his mental illness will become a classic, and each strand of the book will be a source of fascination to anyone who has ever fallen under the spell of an Alan Garner story, as also to all who concern themselves with the craft of writing.

    Essays explore the connections of Gothic fictions to political and industrial revolutions, the realistic novel, the theater, Romantic and post-Romantic poetry, nationalism and racism from Europe to America, colonized and post-colonial populations, the rise of film, the struggles between high and popular culture, and changing attitudes towards human identity, life and death, sanity and madness. The volume also includes a chronology and guides to further reading.

    With its marvelous text and brilliant design, The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys uncovers why the fearless young crime fighters remain beloved icons.From The Secret of the Old Clock to Rock 'n Roll Renegades, the popular teen sleuths have deduced and detected their way through hundreds of adventures. Although the plots have changed with the times, the books have always starred the same clean teens with justice and generosity in their hearts. Hip and nostalgic at the same time, this richly illustrated study tracks teen culture and values and provides surprising insights into the lives of kids over the past 70 years.

    Lewis and Walter M. Mayes have selected more than 2,000 wonderful books for children from birth to age 12. Here is the most useful, candid, and convenient guide to children's literature ever published, featuring in-depth reviews, concise ratings, tips for finding the perfect book for your child, and mountains of essential hints and sound advice to help you pass along the gift of reading to the next generation. This fully revised and updated edition includes: Reviews of the best new books for childrenMore of Valerie and Walter's patented back-and-forth dialogueHandy cross-references by theme and interestAnd much, much moreFrom stories that babies can literally chew on, to the very best choices for bridging the gap between listening and reading, to the right books to tempt an adamant nonreader, this truly is the last word on children's reading and the first book a parent should buy.

    Mr. Brown has a bookstore full of spooky ghost books. But even though he has a cat, he also has mice in his store. No customers will come in, and Mr. Brown gives his cat an order: Get rid of the miceor else. Mr. Brown's ingenious and kindhearted cat comes up with a spectacular plan that just might work--with a little help from some ghost-mice. The text in this funny mystery is lively, and the big, full-color pictures by popular illustrator Nadine Bernard Westcott are sweetly amusing and sly. For Halloween or any time, this is a great beginning reader for kids who love ghost stories. Barbara Maitland is the author of The Bear Who Didn't Like Honey. Nadine Bernard Westcott is the creator of over thirty picture books; she also designs a popular line of greeting cards.

    Each has a 24K gold-plated or silver-plated charm to keep on the ribbon bookmark or to wear on a bracelet or necklace. A blow-out bestseller. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas for cat lovers.

    "Just as Edwin Denby, Clement Greenburg, and Pauline Kael transformed the nature of criticism in the fields of dance, art, and film, respectively, Hardwick has redefined the possibilities of the literary essay."--The New YorkerA brilliant tour of a century American writers, from the novels of Melville, Wharton and James to the fictions of Margaret Fuller, Sylvia Plath and Norman Mailer.  Twenty-five years ago, Elizabeth Hardwick's now classic essay "Seduction and Betrayal" helped  pioneer the study of women in fiction, both as writers and as characters.  American Fictions gathers for the first time Hardwick's portraits of America's greatest writers.  Many of these pieces double as individual reminiscences about close friends, including Mary McCarthy, Katherine Anne Porter and Edmund Wilson.  Hardwick has achieved a permanent place in American letters for her sharp and elegant style.  Her essays are themselves a work of literature.

    16 pp. of photos. Author tour. Print ads. 20,000 print.

    Green’s personal insightful commentary on the words of the Sefat Emet create a remarkable work of Jewish scholarship, bringing the teaching of this insightful master to a wide audience.

    In this elegant and thought-provoking collection of original essays, Kate Bernheimer brings together twenty-eight leading women writers to discuss how these stories helped shape their imaginations, their craft, and our culture. In poetic narratives, personal histories, and penetrating commentary, the assembled authors bare their soul and challenge received wisdom. Eclectic and wide-ranging, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall is essential reading for anyone who has ever been bewitched by the strange and fanciful realm of fairy tales.Contributors include: Alice Adams, Julia Alvarez, Margaret Atwood, Ann Beattie, Rosellen Brown, A. S. Byatt, Kathryn Davis, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Deborah Eisenberg, Maria Flook, Patricia Foster, Vivian Gornick, Lucy Grealy, bell hooks, Fanny Howe, Fern Kupfer, Ursula K. Le Guin, Carole Maso, Jane Miller, Lydia Millet, Joyce Carol Oates, Connie Porter, Francine Prose, Linda Gray Sexton, Midori Snyder, Fay Weldon, Joy Williams, Terri Windling.

    . . . The richness of Mr. Johns's book lies in the splendid detail he has collected to describe the world of books in the first two centuries after the printing press arrived in England."—Alberto Manguel, Washington Times"[A] mammoth and stimulating account of the place of print in the history of knowledge. . . . Johns has written a tremendously learned primer."—D. Graham Burnett, New Republic"A detailed, engrossing, and genuinely eye-opening account of the formative stages of the print culture. . . . This is scholarship at its best."—Merle Rubin, Christian Science Monitor"The most lucid and persuasive account of the new kind of knowledge produced by print. . . . A work to rank alongside McLuhan."—John Sutherland, The Independent"Entertainingly written. . . . The most comprehensive account available . . . well documented and engaging."—Ian Maclean, Times Literary Supplement

    Over 200 entries explore the fascinating lives of authors (such as William S. Burroughs, Anais Nin, Kurt Vonnegut, the Marquis de Sade, and Sylvia Plath) and their influential -- if unconventional -- works.

    A collection of Bogarde's writings from the last eight years, with pieces on fellow actors and directors, reminiscences of the French Riviera, a satirical piece on London dinner parties, reviews of books about the Holocaust and more.

    The book includes an introduction to Shakespeare and his times, a note on the sources, cast lists, synopses, main character descriptions, an essay on each play and a selection of well-known quotations.

    This original and engaging book makes the case that extensive reading provides essential practice in learning to read. Extensive reading also develops a positive attitude toward reading so often missed in second language reading classrooms. The authors examine the cognitive and affective nature of reading. They also offer a wealth of practical suggestions for implementing extensive reading, including integrating it into the curriculum, establishing a library, selecting reading material, and record-keeping evaluation. It contains a wide variety of classroom activities to supplement individualized silent reading, and a valuable bibliography of the best books written for English language learners.

    Describes over four hundred books, organized by age group, apt to nurture girls' confidence and self-esteem.

    What the most notorious of English kings read and what his reading reveals about Richard III's society.

    This pocket guide checklist written by women includes: over 200 new authors since the last edition; more than 800 series detectives created by living women authors; over 3,700 mystery titles in correct series order; more than 650 titles from 1997-98.

    No other literary study features teen choices and opinions so prominently, actually quoting young people's evaluations of hundreds of books and authors.Opening with a fascinating array of definitions by writers, critics, and teenagers, MacRae organizes this elusive genre into manageable categories. Each chapter traces the development of one subgenre, featuring a detailed biographical critique of a contemporary American fantasist within that category.Librarians, educators, and other professionals who work with young adults and reading will find an inside track and a valuable reference guide to one of teens' most beloved genres. Both adult and teenaged fans of the literature, from the novice to the expert, will find Presenting Young Adult Fantasy Fiction a unique road map to their favorite imaginative territory. -Book Jacket

    Austen died at the age of 41 and left behind only six completed novels. Yet her works have never been out of print, and in this century, within the last three decades in particular, never a year passes without some fresh adaptation of her stories for stage, screen, or television. In this skillfully crafted biography, Deirdre Le Faye brings Austen's tantalizingly elusive image into a distinct and refreshing light.

    This accessible book will sharpen literary sensibilities and enhance our teaching.

    Each book has been handpicked because it is a joy to read, because it inspires mother-daughter dialogue, and because it encourages creativity beyond the book experience.Included are brief plot summaries for each book, as well as thought-provoking discussion questions, inspired field trip ideas, fun crafts and activities, and biographies of the authors.Let books become a springboard for encouraging your daughter's imagination. Ideas inside include:Design and draw colorful dresses like Wanda Petronski, heroine of Eleanore Estes' The Hundred Dresses.Take your cue from Harriet the Spy and create your own stories from overheard snippets of conversation.While reading Caddie Woodlawn, pull out a map and trace Caddie's mother's journey from Boston to the Wisconsin frontier.You don't need to form a book club to use and enjoy 100 Books for Girls to Grow On. Shireen Dodson offers stimulating ideas that will spark your daughter's creativity and nurture a love for books.

    Now he has assembled a personal collection of his own essays that will enchant anyone interested in reading, writing, or the world. Through personal stories and literary reflections, in a style rich in humor and gentle scholarship, Manguel leads his readers to reflect on the links that bind the physical world to our language that describes it. The span of his attention in these twenty-three essays is enthralling: from "Who Am I?," in which he recounts the first adventures of childhood reading, to "Borges in Love," a memoir of the great blind writer's passions; from his first encounters with the evils of prejudice to a meditation on the death of Che Guevara; from a tour of his library to evocations of such of his favorite writers as Cortázar and Chesterton. A voyage deep into the subversive heart of words, Into the Looking-Glass Wood is fired by the author's humanity, insatiable curiosity, and steadfast belief in the essential power, mystery, and delight of the written word.

    Noir is big, so The Big Book of Noir jam-packs its pages with articles, interviews, excerpts, opinion, and gossip that chronicle its history and explore noir in all its forms: movies, detective stories, television and radio shows, comic books, and graphic novels.

    In the tradition of the first collection, it's a potpourri of philosophical meanderings, passionate observations, and practical advice for the armchair gardener.

    I have saved up enough to make an astonishment there.On health and fitness: Part of the secret success in life is to eat what you like and let the food it out inside.

    Sayer's work is a powerful one. She was a gifted artist who worked in many genres and addressed many issues, but her achievement goes beyond creative skill and variety of range. What she consistently communicates about Sin--the basic problem of human existence--provides a core of content which evokes, as she believed artistic work should, a spiritual "response in the lively soul" (The Zeal of Thy House).Janice Brown examines Sayer's major works, beginning with her early poetry and moving through her works of fiction to the dramas, essays, and lectures written in the last years of her life. She illustrates how Sayers used popular genres to teach about sin and redemption, how she redefined the Seven Deadly Sins for the twentieth century, why she stopped writing mysteries, and her application of the concepts of sin and redemption to society as a whole.

    Who needs this book? Long-time mystery fans New mystery readers Reference librarians Book dealers and collectors Mystery reading groups Students and teachers of crime fiction Book columnists and reviewers Published authors and aspiring writers You will find: Cops, private eyes, assassins, avengers and spies Historical mysteries from 56 BC to 22nd century Sports mysteries from auto racing to yachting Correct series order for more than 4,500 titles Over 800detectives from more thatn 600 authors Mysteries indexed by type, background and setting Alphabetical and chronological lists of all titles Winners and nominees for annual mystery awards