All headnotes are new or updated, and many footnotes have been added, replaced, or revised. Criticism reflects the recent renaissance in Shelley studies, the greatest renaissance since 1870-92. All twenty-three essays are new to the Second Edition; among them are the work of Harold Bloom, Stuart Curran, Annette Wheeler Cafarelli, Michael Ferber, James Chandler, and Susan J. Wolfson. A Chronology, an updated Selected Bibliography, and an Index of Titles and First Lines are included.

    Lovingly, poignantly, satirically and with much humor, Pym conducts us through their small lives and the facade they erect to defend themselves against the outside world. There is nevertheless an obstinate optimism in her characters, allowing them in their different ways to win through to a kind of hope. Barbara Pym’s sensitive wit and artistry are at their most sparkling in Quartet in Autumn.

    Such an amazing ability could allow Henry to cheat at cards! Henry undertakes years of training to achieve this remarkable feat and promptly uses his new power to win, and win big, but he soon discovers that more than his eyes have been changed by his studies...1 computer optical disc (2 h, 18 min.)

    Much of Greene's outlook is there. A keen and often mocking eye, versatility and humor, a deep and sometimes lacerated concern for the bodies and souls of mankind combine to make Greene one of the most admired and influential contemporary writers. A consummate craftsman and dedicated enemy of bores and boredom, Greene draws the reader of these seven novels into that instant world apart created by convincing characters and total readability.Contents: The Heart of the Matter Orient Express (aka Stamboul Train) A Burnt-out Case The Third Man The Quiet American Loser Takes All The Power and the Glory

    The ruling classes engage in such pursuits as patronizing the arts or hunting with the Royal Pack of Werewolves, while the lower orders take pleasure in conducting brutal raiding parties into the world to torment mortals.The Kingdoms of Elfin are more diverse and widely scattered than is often thought; from the Welsh Elfins who, though constitutionally incapable of faith, remove mountains, and the elegant and witty French Court of Brocéliande where castration almost becomes a vogue, to the Kingdom of Zuy in the Low Countries, trafficking suppositories and religious pictures.Sylvia Townsend Warner's richly exuberant imagination combined with the calm precision of her language conjures up a sublunary realm that is entirely convincing.

    

    Most of them first appeared in The New Yorker, and all of them appear here in book form for the first time. They are crowded with irrepressible, living characters and even more animated objects and incidents. There are stories of romantic love and the mysteries of marriage; of artists who speak the truth even as they distort reality; of gardens and houses and very fine things and of those who fancy themselves their owners. The centerpiece of the collection is a series of five linked stories about an eccentric establishment, the Abbey Antiques Gallery, and its singular proprietor, the urbane Mr. Edom -- not to mention its uncontrollable inventory, staff, and clientele.

    The New York Review of Books called it "a masterpiece," and the Guardian labeled it "our best life of Shakespeare."Making the resources of the world's greatest Shakespeare collections more accessible to all readers, this updated "Compact Life" contains a refined and amplified version of the original text and fifty of the original documents reproduced in smaller format. Schoenbaum has incorporated new material into his narrative, including an eyewitness account, in harrowing detail, of a murder believed to have occurred in New Place, the house that Shakespeare bought in Stratford in 1597. He also provides a new postscript which includes newly-compiled information from recent research on Shakespeare.

    The classical story of Cupid and Psyche, as presented in Walter Pater's novel, Marius the Epicurean.

    Yes, I want to write about my own country till I simply exhaust my store. Not only because it is a "sacred debt" that I pay to my country because my brother and I were born there, but also because in my thoughts I range with him over all the remembered places. I am never far away from them. I long to renew them in writing.' In numerous letters and journals, Katherine Mansfield recorded her feelings, thoughts and observations about writing, about the New Zealand of her childhood, the Europe of her later years, the people she encountered, the every day and the extraordinary. This classic selection - the only one available that combines material from both her letters and journals - brings together the pieces that most illuminate her character, her life and her stories. Chosen by renowned scholar and acclaimed writer C.K. Stead, they are a lively and informative entree to one of our most gifted writers.ABOUT THE EDITOR: Well-known New Zealand novelist, poet, critic, Karl Stead was for 20 years Professor of English at the University of Auckland until he took early retirement in 1986 to write full time.He has won a number of awards, including the New Zealand Book Award for both poetry and fiction and the Mansfield/Menton Fellowship. He was awarded a CBE in 1985 for services to NZ Literature, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1995 and Honorary Visiting Fellow at St John's College Oxford in 1996. He spends about nine months of the year at home in New Zealand writing, and travels to the UK and Europe, and sometimes to the US, during the northern hemisphere summer. His recent novel, Mansfield, is his tenth work of fiction.

    As a boy, Toby Davies joins them, and is taught some harsh lessons about life. He also learns the love of two women, Bron and Nanwen O'Hara.

    Detailed analyses of the modern English writer's nine novels shed light on their themes, concerns, and stylistic techniques.