Unemployed, lonesome, abandoned by his lover, an obscure artist on the verge of despair begins to question the worth of his craft-until, without warning, he lands the opportunity of a lifetime. Courted by a wealthy patron with enigmatic motives, he yields his talents to corporate interests. In theory, his brief is to sell his soul-to mastermind a publicity campaign for a line of products designed to enhance human perception. In practice, though, he exerts sway over the souls of others. Giv...

There are epic novels and then there is The Logos. Mark de Silva returns to fiction writing, following his debut, Square Wave (Two Dollar Radio), with a novel so full of ambition, lyricism and philosophical underpinnings that it is Proustian in its ambition and scope, exploring what it means to be a working artist in the 21st century with clever poignancy. With a career in academia and writing for the Opinionator (NyTimes), de Silva shows his intellectual scope is boundless. He’s woven a t...

In this collage of critical reflections, written in the tradition of the short essay running through Francis Bacon and Roland Barthes, the novelist, philosopher, and former New York Times Opinion staffer Mark de Silva looks into matters of both common curiosity and special concern in America today: technological evolution, virtuality, terrorism, the future of the self, the individual's place in a globalized society, the species' place in the natural world, the state of the arts, and the an...

American democracy is on its knees. The upcoming election could well be the last and the nation is braced for internal conflict.Meanwhile, on urban patrol, a nightwatchman discovers the latest in a series of prostitutes beaten and left for dead by a mysterious assailant.Meanwhile, his research into his family's past leads him to Sri Lanka under colonialism, with all its echoes of factional divisions and authoritarian rule.Meanwhile, his colleague is implicated in a ...

These widely acclaimed essays from the bestselling author of Infinite Jest -- on television, tennis, cruise ships, and more -- established David Foster Wallace as one of the preeminent essayists of his generation.In this exuberantly praised book -- a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary theory to the supp...

The bestselling history of and investigation into human error by beloved New Yorker writer Kathryn Schulz"Both wise and clever, full of fun and surprise about a topic so central to our lives that we almost never even think about it." —Bill McKibben, author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New PlanetTo err is human. Yet most of us go through life assuming (and sometimes insisting) that we are right about nearly everything, from the origin...

"Absolutely splendid . . . essential for understanding why there is so much bad thinking in political life right now." **—David Brooks, New York TimesHow to Think is a contrarian treatise on why we’re not as good at thinking as we assume—but how recovering this lost art can rescue our inner lives from the chaos of modern life.**As a celebrated cultural critic and a writer for national publications like The Atlantic and Harper’s, Alan Jaco...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Here is the Nobel Prize winner in her own words: a rich gathering of her most important essays and speeches, spanning four decades that "speaks to today’s social and political moment as directly as this morning’s headlines” (NPR).These pages give us her searing prayer for the dead of 9/11, her Nobel lecture on the power of language, her searching meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., her heart-wrenching eulogy for James Baldwin. She looks deep...

The Woman in the Dunes, by celebrated writer and thinker Kobo Abe, combines the essence of myth, suspense and the existential novel.After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers that the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Enlightening, thought-provoking and illuminating. Derren Brown asks questions about the world, and his intelligent curiosity benefits us all.'ELIZABETH DAYIn A Book of Secrets, the star of 'Showman', and internationally bestselling author, Derren Brown shows us that it is in those moments when we are faced with adversity that we can find life's most lasting rewards.

The key to personal choice, and even happiness, is to gain control of our attention—our mental lives.Matthew Crawford is the author of Shop Class as Soulcraft, which challenged our notions about what we do and how it affects our sense of self (and our happiness). This new book addresses the crisis of attention: where we focus -- or cannot focus--equally affects our sense of self. As our mental lives become more fragmented, what is at stake often seems to be nothing less than the qu...

A vivid memoir that captures the energy, ambition and romance of New York in the 1980s from the beloved New Yorker Canadian writer, to stand alongside his bestselling Paris to the Moon and Through the Children's Gate.When Adam Gopnik and his soon-to-be-wife, Martha Parker, left the comforts of home in Montreal for New York, the city then, much like today, was a pilgrimage site for the young and the arty and ambitious. But it was also beco...