James Wood

In the years since his daughter Vanessa moved to America to become a professor of philosophy, Alan Querry has never been to visit. When Vanessa's boyfriend sends word that she has fallen into a severe depression and he's worried for her safety, Alan and daughter Helen fly to New York and take the train to Saratoga Springs. Over the course of six wintry days in upstate New York, the family begins to struggle with questions: Why do some people find...

Following the collection The Broken Estate-which established James Wood as the leading critic of his generation-The Irresponsible Self confirms Wood's preeminence, not only as a discerning judge but also as an appreciator of contemporary novels. In twenty-three passionate, sparkling dispatches, he effortlessly connects his encyclopedic, passionate understanding of the literary canon with an equally earnest and appreciative view of the most discussed...

"The hour of the wolf is the hour between night and day when death stalks the Earth and the wolf lurks outside the door." From Swedish folklore From the opening of the novel: It's a sunny day over Marina del Rey. Sailboats are in their slips and on the ocean. People are sunning themselves on the beach. Linda Collins is sunning herself on the beach. She is long, lean and tan and is wearing a white bikini swimsuit. Her blonde hair is long over her shoulders....

How a gay newspaper columnist dominated a city's nightlife from the 1930s to the 1960sWinsor French was a journalist with a singular voice. A self-described "effeminate young man," French occupied desks in city rooms drenched with masculinity, enduring his colleagues' homophobia and risking the loss of his job by defending unconventional behavior. He ignored newspaper taboos by publishing the price of bootlegged liquor during Prohibition and by writing...

This novel by the author of Sons and Lovers follows three generations of a family in rapidly changing England.
 
One of the Modern Library’s 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century
 
In a story ranging from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, The Rainbow explores the passions and relationships experienced by each generation of the Brangwen family as...

The visually arresting and often misunderstood octopus has long captured popular imagination. With an alien appearance and an uncanny intellect, this exceptional sea creature has inspired fear in famous lore and legends-from the giant octopus attack in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Ursula the sea witch in The Little Mermaid. Yet its true nature is more wondrous still. After decades of research, the authors reveal a sensitive, curious, and playful...

A biography of the eighteenth century New England essayist, poet, and lecturer whose philosophy of self-reliance and individualism has continually influenced many people.

As the Reverend John Ames approaches the hour of his own death, he writes a letter to his son chronicling three previous generations of his family, a story that stretches back to the Civil War and reveals uncomfortable family secrets.