The first one was previously published in McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales (Penguin, 2004), the second one was written specially for this volume.

    Ali Smith's Supersonic 70s collects together some of Ali Smith's best writing of the last ten years and also includes a brand new story.

    All his fiction is available in Penguin editions and the two stories in this collection illustrate Self's gift for finding the extraordinary, the surreal and the downright absurd amidst the mundanities of modern life.- Design Faults in the Volvo 760 Turbo- A Story for Europe

    Lust, obsession, fantasy and desire emerge as part of the human condition, as pure or as complex as any other of its aspects. Previously published in The Delta of Venus (1978) and Little birds (1979) respectively.- Artists and Models- A Model

    Penguin have published each of Phinn's four books and in The School Inspector Calls, he reveals how even a jaded school inspector can be left speechless by straight-talking children.

    In this piece, Jane tells us about her relationship with a man who will never use her name.

    Thompson was renowned for his counterculture masterpiece Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which described his chemical-addled adventures in 1970s America. Taken from Thompson's brilliantly entertaining autobiography, Kingdom of Fear - the last book published before his death earlier this year - these pieces provide a hilarious but now also painful insight into the life and the mind of a true literary outlaw.

    Written as Claudius' autobiography, they follow his progress from a stammering figure of fun to the ruler of the Roman Empire. Here, in extracts from both books, he describes the glory and decadence of the mad Emperor Caligula's reign - an age of wild debauchery and whimsical cruelty.

    Penguin Modern Classics publish the full range of Capote's novels and short stories, and the four tales in this collection show to the full the blend of cynicism, humour and love that characterized his finest work.

    First published in the New Yorker magazine, 2002. And extracts from: Extremely loud and incredibly close (first published: Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2005).

    Taken from one of his most important works, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, published in a new translation by Penguin Modern Classics, this volume explores why we forget, how we remember and why our memories can sometimes prove deceptive.

    She kept it from 12 June 1942 to 1 August 1944. In this diary, which she addressed to an imaginary friend called Kitty, Anne wrote about her life - first in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam and then, when the Nazi persecution of Jews forced her family into hiding, in the sealed-off back rooms of an Amsterdam office building, which they referred to as 'the Secret Annexe'. Anne had always dreamed of being a writer and hoped one day to publish her diary.

    Dave Eggers has been partly responsible for a rejuvenation of short fiction in the USA, and these short stories are as original and witty as any of his longer works.Contents"You Know How to Spell Elijah""This Certain Song""What the Water Feels Like to the Fishes""The Weird Wife""This Flight Attendant (Gary, Is It?) Is On Fire!""True Story -- 1986 --Midwest -- USA -- Tuesday""It is Finally Time to Tell the Story""A Circle Like Some Circles""On Making Someone a Good Man By Calling Him a Good Man""The Definition of Reg""How Long It Took""She Needed More Nuance""The Heat and Eduardo, Part I""Of Gretchen and de Gaulle""The Heat and Eduardo, Part II""Sleep to Dreamier Sleep Be Wed""On Seeing Bob Balaban in Person Twice in One Week""When He Started Saying 'I Appreciate It' After 'Thank You'""You'll Have to Save That For Another Time""Woman, Foghorn""How Do Koreans Feel About the Germans?""Georgia is Lost""They Decide To Have No More Death""Roderick Hopes"

    Garnering both critical acclaim as well as a huge readership, White Teeth exemplified the kind of popular and intelligent books that Penguin founder Allen Lane sought to publish. Martha and Hanwell brings together two of Smith's recent stories - never before published in book form - offering a treat for fans of her witty, powerful and often electrifying prose.

    Stupid White Men was published by Penguin in the UK in 2002 and has since sold well over 1.5 million copies. These hilarious and scorching extracts show exactly why Moore is the man that everyone has an opinion on.