Literary History & Criticism

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to 12 Books to Read Before You Die, Volume 1 and learn about these classic books: Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, and more....

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a modern American classic....

In this brilliant conclusion to his best-selling Mythos trilogy, legendary author and actor Stephen Fry retells the tale of the Trojan War....

Hendrik Groen may be old, but he is far from dead and isn't planning to be buried any time soon....

From pop culture podcaster and a voice of a generation, Kate Kennedy, a celebration of the millennial zeitgeist: One In a Millennial is an exploration of pop culture, nostalgia, the millennial zeitgeist, and the life lessons learned....

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works....

One of William Faulkner’s finest novels, As I Lay Dying, originally published in 1930, remains a captivating and stylistically innovative work. The story revolves around a grim yet darkly humorous pilgrimage, as Addie Bundren’s family sets out to fulfill her last wish....

From breakout stand-up comedian Iliza Shlesinger comes a subversively funny collection of essays and observations on a confident woman's approach to friendship, singlehood, and relationships....

For the last 20 years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us....

In How to Read the Constitution - and Why, legal expert and educator Kimberly Wehle spells out in clear, simple, and common-sense terms what is in the Constitution and most importantly, what it means....

Jia Tolentino is a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts, contradictions, and sea changes that define us and our time....

William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition....

Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the 20th century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic....

For generations, the book of Genesis has been treated by scholars as a collection of documents by various hands, expressing different factional interests, with borrowings from other ancient literatures that mark the text as derivative....

Mythology succeeds like no other audiobook in bringing to life for the modern listener the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths and legends that are the keystone of Western culture....

Twenty-three of today's living literary legends reveal the books that made them think, brought them joy, and changed their lives in this intimate, moving, and insightful collection from "American's Librarian" Nancy Pearl and noted playwright Jeff Schwager....

Savannah Cade’s dreams are coming true. The Claire Donovan, editor-in-chief of the most successful romance publishing company in the country, has requested to see the manuscript Savannah’s been secretly writing....

Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures....

Maya Angelou, one of the best-loved authors of our time, shares the wisdom of a remarkable life in this best-selling spiritual classic....

The Heroine’s Journey describes contemporary woman’s search for wholeness in a society where she has been defined according to masculine values....

With passion and wit, Mary Oliver skillfully imparts expertise from her long, celebrated career as a disguised poet....

A brilliant investigation into the motivations and methods, Dumbledore dives between the lines of the Harry Potter books to create a portrait of the controversial Headmaster....

At long last, millions of Dune fans can now hear the unpublished chapters and scenes from Dune and Dune Messiah....

Few writers today have reshaped our view of the ancient Greek myths more than revered bestselling author Natalie Haynes. Divine Might is a female-centered look at Olympus and the Furies, focusing on the goddesses whose prowess, passions, jealousies, and desires rival those of their male kin....

The tellers of Greek myths—historically men—have routinely sidelined the female characters....

The Chronicles of Bannock County by Bo Carson is a captivating non-fiction book set in Bannock County, Idaho during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you’ve ever been enthralled by tales of pioneers and the wild west but struggled to find captivating historical accounts, then keep reading... Are you fascinated by gritty true stories from America's frontier past? Have you scoured countless books but couldn't find one that brings Idaho's past to life? Do you finally want to understand the real history behind Bannock County's pioneers and Native American tribes? If so, then this ...

The Story of Philosophy is a captivating intellectual journey that explores the evolution of human thought and the enduring legacy of great thinkers throughout history. Written by the renowned author Will Durant, this monumental work provides listeners with a comprehensive overview of the world's philosophical traditions, from ancient Greece to the modern era.

What made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to fear-a world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?

Innumerable stories, from the Homeric epics to the New Testament, and from Oedipus Rex to Hamlet, explore the realization or failure of second chances—outcomes that depend on accident, acts of will, or fate. Such stories let us repeatedly rehearse the experience of loss and recovery: to know the joy that comes with a renewal of love and pleasure and to face the pain that comes with realizing that some damage can never be undone. Through a series of illuminating readings, the authors show how Shakespeare was the supreme virtuoso of the second chance and Freud was its supreme interpreter.

Sharing her more than 15 years of compelling research—including analysis of Sylvia Plath’s unpublished calendars, notebooks, scrapbooks, book annotations, and underlinings, as well as published memoirs, biographies, letters, journals, and interviews with Plath and her husband, friends, and family—Plath scholar Julia Gordon-Bramer reveals Sylvia Plath’s enduring interest and active practice in mysticism and the occult from childhood until her tragic death in 1963.

Are you ready to embark on a rollercoaster ride filled with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat? Get ready to experience a gripping story that will leave you yearning for more. Join Clarence Lester as he faces unimaginable challenges, including a high-stakes deal with the influential Burnett family and the daunting task of securing a multi-million-dollar partnership. Will he be able to meet their demands and prove himself worthy? Explore the complex dynamics of love and family loyalty, as well as the darkness that lies beneath the surface of privilege and wealth. ...

In "The Ultimate Dad's Playbook," author and proud Ultimate Dad, A.T. Green, invites fathers into the enchanting world of raising children with courage and confidence. This indispensable guide combines three guides into one––The Girl Dad's Playbook, The Boy Dad's Playbook, and The Super Dad's Playbook––each with 101 tips and tricks to empower every father to become the Ultimate Dad. Discover the secrets of building an unbreakable bond with your child through the art of communication and shared experiences. From navigating the delicate terrain of the teen years to celebrating their ...

In terms of literature, music, and film, it would be hard to outdo the sheer genius and creativity of Russia. These things constitute the soul of the nation, and it is this that Morris Berman explores in his latest work, The Soul of Russia.

Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time when the science of studying the natural world was known as natural philosophy, a pastime for poets, priests, and schoolgirls. The world began to change in the 1830s, while Darwin was exploring the Pacific aboard the Beagle and Dickinson was a student in Amherst, Massachusetts. Poetry and science started to grow apart, and modern thinkers challenged the old orthodoxies, offering thrilling new perspectives that suddenly felt radical—and too dangerous for women.

Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) was a brilliant master of Japanese haiku. This instructional book offers six lessons on how to write haiku based on examples from Issa and from twenty-first century poets who are following his creative path.

In 'Disturbing Remains,' Derek, Kaili's husband, finds himself thrust into a chilling investigation when only a torso is discovered by the police. Racing against time as more gruesome body parts surface, Derek and his team delve deeper into a twisted maze of murders begging to be solved. Meanwhile, Kaili seeks solace during a sabbatical but is drawn into an unexpected adventure. Assisting her friend Dr. Doris Wolf's discovery of the Canadian Ice Maiden, Kaili utilizes her remarkable ability to communicate with mummies through a spirit box. Together, they venture to unlock the secrets of the...

Part lyric essay, part prose poetry, Where Things Touch grapples with the manifold meanings and possibilities of beauty. Drawing on her experiences as a physician-in-training, Orang considers clinical encounters and how they relate to the concept and very idea of beauty. Such considerations lead her to questions about intimacy, queerness, home, memory, love, and other aspects of human existence. Throughout, beauty is ultimately imagined as something inextricably tied to care: the care of lovers, of patients, of art and literature, and the various non-human worlds that surround us.

Bla_K is a collection of previously out-of-print essays and new works by one of Canada's most important writers and thinkers. Through an engagement with her earlier work, M. NourbeSe Philip comes to realize the existence of a repetition in the world: the return of something that, while still present, has become unembedded from the world, disappeared. Her imperative becomes to make us see what has gone unseen by writing memory upon the margin of history, in the shadow of empire and at the frontier of silence.

On her first book tour at the age of 26, Lee Maracle was asked a question from the audience, one she couldn't possibly answer at that moment. But she has been thinking about it ever since. As time has passed, she has been asked countless similar questions, all of them too big to answer, but not too large to contemplate. These questions, which touch upon subjects such as citizenship, segregation, labor, law, prejudice and reconciliation, to name a few, are the heart of My Conversations with Canadians.

Leland Ryken provides a clear pathway to understanding the "Great Works" through this engaging series of short guidebooks. Beginning with "why the classics matter" and "the nature and function of literature," listeners will find a helpful path to understanding and analyzing influential works in the Western canon. This volume leads listeners through John Bunyan’s classic Christian allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, offering insights into the nature of faith, the reality of temptation, and the glory of salvation.