Theory in Literary Theory & Criticism & Fiction & Literature eBooks

The Woman in White

by Wilkie Collins ...

Series series Collins Classics
HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics.‘The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has remained unknown to us till she appeared.’One of the earliest works of ‘detective’ fiction with a narrative woven together from multiple characters, Wilkie Collins partly based his infamous ... Read more

$2.99 CAD

HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics.‘The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has remained unknown to us till she appeared.’One of the earliest works of ‘detective’ fiction with a narrative woven together from multiple characters, Wilkie Collins partly based his infamous
... Read more
Where I'm Reading From

The Changing World of Books

by Tim Parks ...

Why do we need fiction? Why do books need to be printed on paper, copyrighted, read to the finish? Do we read to challenge our vision of the world or to confirm it? Has novel writing turned into a job like any other? In Where I’m Reading From, the novelist and critic Tim Parks ranges over decades of critical reading—from Leopardi, Dickens, and Chekhov, to Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, and Thomas ... Read more

$15.99 CAD

Why do we need fiction? Why do books need to be printed on paper, copyrighted, read to the finish? Do we read to challenge our vision of the world or to confirm it? Has novel writing turned into a job like any other? In Where I’m Reading From, the novelist and critic Tim Parks ranges over decades of critical reading—from Leopardi, Dickens, and Chekhov, to Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, and Thomas
... Read more
The Shakespearean Forest

by Anne Barton ...

The Shakespearean Forest, Anne Barton's final book, uncovers the pervasive presence of woodland in early modern drama, revealing its persistent imaginative power. The collection is representative of the startling breadth of Barton's scholarship: ranging across plays by Shakespeare (including Titus Andronicus, As You Like It, Macbeth, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Timon of Athens) and his ... Read more

$30.99 CAD

The Shakespearean Forest, Anne Barton's final book, uncovers the pervasive presence of woodland in early modern drama, revealing its persistent imaginative power. The collection is representative of the startling breadth of Barton's scholarship: ranging across plays by Shakespeare (including Titus Andronicus, As You Like It, Macbeth, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Timon of Athens) and his
... Read more
About Writing

7 Essays, 4 Letters, 5 Interviews

by Samuel R. Delany ...

From the four-time Nebula Award–winning novelist and literary critic, essential reading for the creative writer.Award-winning novelist Samuel R. Delany has written a book for creative writers to place alongside E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Lajos Egri's Art of Dramatic Writing. Taking up specifics (When do flashbacks work, and when should you avoid them? How do you make characters both ... Read more

$17.59 CAD or Free with Kobo Plus

From the four-time Nebula Award–winning novelist and literary critic, essential reading for the creative writer.Award-winning novelist Samuel R. Delany has written a book for creative writers to place alongside E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Lajos Egri's Art of Dramatic Writing. Taking up specifics (When do flashbacks work, and when should you avoid them? How do you make characters both
... Read more
Simple Forms

Legend, Saga, Myth, Riddle, Saying, Case, Memorabile, Fairytale, Joke

by André Jolles ...

Translated by Peter J. Schwartz ...

A seminal text in literary theory available in English for the first timeLegend, saga, myth, riddle, saying, case, memorabile, fairy tale, joke: André Jolles understands each of these nine “simple forms” as the reflection in language of a distinct mode of human engagement with the world and thus as a basic structuring principle of literary narrative. Published in German in 1929 and long recognized ... Read more

$11.99 CAD

A seminal text in literary theory available in English for the first timeLegend, saga, myth, riddle, saying, case, memorabile, fairy tale, joke: André Jolles understands each of these nine “simple forms” as the reflection in language of a distinct mode of human engagement with the world and thus as a basic structuring principle of literary narrative. Published in German in 1929 and long recognized
... Read more
Meander, Spiral, Explode

Design and Pattern in Narrative

by Jane Alison ...

"How lovely to discover a book on the craft of writing that is also fun to read . . . Alison asserts that the best stories follow patterns in nature, and by defining these new styles she offers writers the freedom to explore but with enough guidance to thrive." ―VultureAs Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: “For centuries there’s ... Read more

$17.59 CAD

"How lovely to discover a book on the craft of writing that is also fun to read . . . Alison asserts that the best stories follow patterns in nature, and by defining these new styles she offers writers the freedom to explore but with enough guidance to thrive." ―VultureAs Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: “For centuries there’s
... Read more
Literary Theory and Criticism: An Introduction - Second Edition

by Anne H. Stevens ...

Literary Theory and Criticism: An Introduction provides an accessible overview of major figures and movements in literary theory and criticism from antiquity to the twenty-first century. It is designed for students at the undergraduate level or for others needing a broad synthesis of the long history of literary theory. An introductory chapter provides an overview of some of the major issues ... Read more

$28.99 CAD

Literary Theory and Criticism: An Introduction provides an accessible overview of major figures and movements in literary theory and criticism from antiquity to the twenty-first century. It is designed for students at the undergraduate level or for others needing a broad synthesis of the long history of literary theory. An introductory chapter provides an overview of some of the major issues
... Read more
The Word

How We Translate the Bible—and Why It Matters

by John Barton ...

From a distinguished Oxford scholar and the author of A History of the Bible, an examination of how biblical translation works and why it mattersThroughout history, most Jewish and Christian believers have understood scripture not in the languages in which it was first written but rather in their own—in translation. In The Word, acclaimed Bible scholar John Barton explores how saints and scholars ... Read more

$25.99 CAD

From a distinguished Oxford scholar and the author of A History of the Bible, an examination of how biblical translation works and why it mattersThroughout history, most Jewish and Christian believers have understood scripture not in the languages in which it was first written but rather in their own—in translation. In The Word, acclaimed Bible scholar John Barton explores how saints and scholars
... Read more
Eye Chart

by Professor William Germano ...

Series series Object Lessons
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Desert nomads tested their vision by distinguishing a pair of stars. But we have since created more disquieting ways to test the strength of the eyes.Reading the eye chart is an exercise in failure, since it only gets interesting when you cannot read any further. It is the opposite of ... Read more

$15.99 CAD

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Desert nomads tested their vision by distinguishing a pair of stars. But we have since created more disquieting ways to test the strength of the eyes.Reading the eye chart is an exercise in failure, since it only gets interesting when you cannot read any further. It is the opposite of
... Read more
Criticism and Politics

A Polemical Introduction

by Bruce Robbins ...

An accessible introduction to cultural theory and an original polemic about the purpose of criticism.What is criticism for? Over the past few decades, impassioned disagreements over that question in the academy have burst into the news media. These conflicts have renewed the culture wars over the legacy of the 1960s, becoming entangled in national politics and leading to a new set of questions ... Read more

$26.99 CAD

An accessible introduction to cultural theory and an original polemic about the purpose of criticism.What is criticism for? Over the past few decades, impassioned disagreements over that question in the academy have burst into the news media. These conflicts have renewed the culture wars over the legacy of the 1960s, becoming entangled in national politics and leading to a new set of questions
... Read more
Refusing Heaven

Poems

by Jack Gilbert ...

More than a decade after Jack Gilbert’s The Great Fires, this highly anticipated new collection shows the continued development of a poet who has remained fierce in his avoidance of the beaten path. In Refusing Heaven, Gilbert writes compellingly about the commingled passion, loneliness, and sometimes surprising happiness of a life spent in luminous understanding of his own blessings and ... Read more

$14.99 CAD

More than a decade after Jack Gilbert’s The Great Fires, this highly anticipated new collection shows the continued development of a poet who has remained fierce in his avoidance of the beaten path. In Refusing Heaven, Gilbert writes compellingly about the commingled passion, loneliness, and sometimes surprising happiness of a life spent in luminous understanding of his own blessings and
... Read more
The Interpretation of Cultures

by Clifford Geertz ...

A classic work of anthropology that offers a groundbreaking exploration of what culture isNamed one of the 100 most important books published since World War II by the Times Literary Supplement“As an anthropologist, philosopher, political scientist, literary critic, and all-around, all-star intellectual, Clifford Geertz helped a vast public make sense of the human condition.” —Robert Darnton, New ... Read more

Was $20.99 CAD Now $2.99 CAD

A classic work of anthropology that offers a groundbreaking exploration of what culture isNamed one of the 100 most important books published since World War II by the Times Literary Supplement“As an anthropologist, philosopher, political scientist, literary critic, and all-around, all-star intellectual, Clifford Geertz helped a vast public make sense of the human condition.” —Robert Darnton, New
... Read more
The Art Instinct

Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution

by Denis Dutton ...

The Art Instinct combines two of the most fascinating and contentious disciplines, art and evolutionary science, in a provocative new work that will revolutionize the way art itself is perceived. Aesthetic taste, argues Denis Dutton, is an evolutionary trait, and is shaped by natural selection. It's not, as almost all contemporary art criticism and academic theory would have it, "socially ... Read more

$11.99 CAD

The Art Instinct combines two of the most fascinating and contentious disciplines, art and evolutionary science, in a provocative new work that will revolutionize the way art itself is perceived. Aesthetic taste, argues Denis Dutton, is an evolutionary trait, and is shaped by natural selection. It's not, as almost all contemporary art criticism and academic theory would have it, "socially
... Read more
The Historical Novel

by Jerome de Groot ...

Series series The New Critical Idiom
The historical novel is an enduringly popular genre that raises crucial questions about key literary concepts, fact and fiction, identity, history, reading, and writing. In this comprehensive, focused guide, Jerome de Groot offers an accessible introduction to the genre and critical debates that surround it, including:the development of the historical novel from early eighteenth-century works ... Read more

$46.99 CAD

The historical novel is an enduringly popular genre that raises crucial questions about key literary concepts, fact and fiction, identity, history, reading, and writing. In this comprehensive, focused guide, Jerome de Groot offers an accessible introduction to the genre and critical debates that surround it, including:the development of the historical novel from early eighteenth-century works
... Read more
Craft in the Real World

Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping

by Matthew Salesses ...

**A NATIONAL BESTSELLER"A significant contribution to discussions of the art of fiction and a necessary challenge to received views about whose stories are told, how they are told and for whom they are intended" (The New York Times Book Review)**The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold ... Read more

$17.59 CAD

**A NATIONAL BESTSELLER"A significant contribution to discussions of the art of fiction and a necessary challenge to received views about whose stories are told, how they are told and for whom they are intended" (The New York Times Book Review)**The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold
... Read more
Resolutely Black

Conversations with Francoise Verges

by Aimé Césaire, Françoise Vergès ...

Translated by Matthew Smith ...

Series series Critical South
Aimé Césaire’s work is foundational for decolonial and postcolonial thought. His Discourse on Colonialism, first published in 1955, influenced generations of scholars and activists at the forefront of liberation struggles in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean and it remains a classic of anticolonial thought.This unique volume takes the form of a series of interviews with Césaire that were ... Read more

$19.99 CAD

Aimé Césaire’s work is foundational for decolonial and postcolonial thought. His Discourse on Colonialism, first published in 1955, influenced generations of scholars and activists at the forefront of liberation struggles in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean and it remains a classic of anticolonial thought.This unique volume takes the form of a series of interviews with Césaire that were
... Read more
Literary Theory

A Beginner's Guide

by Clare Connors ...

Series series Beginner's Guides
Rescuing the subject from deadly dry theorists and -isms, Clare Connors focuses on the real questions that emerge when we read and study literature - such as how we find meaning and how literature relates to its historical context - before exploring the response of theorists. Using selections from works including poetry by Christina Rossetti and Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, Connors unites ... Read more

$7.99 CAD

Rescuing the subject from deadly dry theorists and -isms, Clare Connors focuses on the real questions that emerge when we read and study literature - such as how we find meaning and how literature relates to its historical context - before exploring the response of theorists. Using selections from works including poetry by Christina Rossetti and Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, Connors unites
... Read more
The Frenchmen

Or, My Life in Theory

by Emily Eakin ...

**“A marvelous book. It’s gossipy and personal and completely fascinating...cafe gossip with the footnotes left in.”— New York Times“A superbly engrossing adventure of ideas...this will surely be my philosophy book of the year.” —Sarah Bakewell, New York Times bestselling author of Humanly PossibleFrom leading critic and essayist Emily Eakin, a stylish personal history of French theory and its ... Read more

$18.99 CAD

**“A marvelous book. It’s gossipy and personal and completely fascinating...cafe gossip with the footnotes left in.”— New York Times“A superbly engrossing adventure of ideas...this will surely be my philosophy book of the year.” —Sarah Bakewell, New York Times bestselling author of Humanly PossibleFrom leading critic and essayist Emily Eakin, a stylish personal history of French theory and its
... Read more
The Hero

by Lee Child ...

WHAT MAKES A HERO? WHO BETTER TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION THAN LEE CHILD…‘It’s Lee Child. Why would you not read it?’ Karin Slaughter‘I don't know another author so skilled at making me turn the page’ The TimesIn his first work of nonfiction, the creator of the multimillion-selling Jack Reacher series explores the endurance of heroes from Achilles to Bond, showing us how this age-old myth is a ... Read more

$14.99 CAD

WHAT MAKES A HERO? WHO BETTER TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION THAN LEE CHILD…‘It’s Lee Child. Why would you not read it?’ Karin Slaughter‘I don't know another author so skilled at making me turn the page’ The TimesIn his first work of nonfiction, the creator of the multimillion-selling Jack Reacher series explores the endurance of heroes from Achilles to Bond, showing us how this age-old myth is a
... Read more
Frank Herbert's "Dune"

A Critical Companion

by Kara Kennedy ...

Series series Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
This book offers a critical study of Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965), the world’s bestselling science fiction novel. Kara Kennedy discusses the novel’s exploration of politics and religion, its influential ecological messages, the focus on the human mind and consciousness, the complex nature of the archetypal hero, and the depiction of women’s influence and control. In Dune, Herbert demonstrated that ... Read more

$70.99 CAD

This book offers a critical study of Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965), the world’s bestselling science fiction novel. Kara Kennedy discusses the novel’s exploration of politics and religion, its influential ecological messages, the focus on the human mind and consciousness, the complex nature of the archetypal hero, and the depiction of women’s influence and control. In Dune, Herbert demonstrated that
... Read more
Forms

Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network

by Caroline Levine ...

A radically new way of thinking about form and context in literature, politics, and beyondForms offers a powerful new answer to one of the most pressing problems facing literary, critical, and cultural studies today—how to connect form to political, social, and historical context. Caroline Levine argues that forms organize not only works of art but also political life—and our attempts to know both ... Read more

$26.39 CAD

A radically new way of thinking about form and context in literature, politics, and beyondForms offers a powerful new answer to one of the most pressing problems facing literary, critical, and cultural studies today—how to connect form to political, social, and historical context. Caroline Levine argues that forms organize not only works of art but also political life—and our attempts to know both
... Read more
The Mystery of Human Relationship

Alchemy and the Transformation of the Self

by Nathan Schwartz-Salant ...

All human relationships are containers of emotional life, but what are the structures underlying them? Nathan Schwartz-Salant looks at all kinds of relationships through an analyst's eye. By analogy with the ancient system of alchemy he shows how states of mind that can undermine our relationships - in marriage, in creative work, in the workplace - can become transformative when brought to ... Read more

$83.99 CAD

All human relationships are containers of emotional life, but what are the structures underlying them? Nathan Schwartz-Salant looks at all kinds of relationships through an analyst's eye. By analogy with the ancient system of alchemy he shows how states of mind that can undermine our relationships - in marriage, in creative work, in the workplace - can become transformative when brought to
... Read more
Stroller

by Amanda Parrish Morgan ...

Series series Object Lessons
The Best Books of 2022, The New YorkerObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Among the many things expectant parents are told to buy, none is a more visible symbol of status and parenting philosophy than a stroller. Although its association with wealth dates back to the invention of the first pram in the 1700s, in recent decades, ... Read more

$15.99 CAD

The Best Books of 2022, The New YorkerObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Among the many things expectant parents are told to buy, none is a more visible symbol of status and parenting philosophy than a stroller. Although its association with wealth dates back to the invention of the first pram in the 1700s, in recent decades,
... Read more
Bergson

Thinking Beyond the Human Condition

by Professor Keith Ansell Pearson ...

A 2018 Choice Outstanding Academic TitleA thought-provoking contribution to the renaissance of interest in Bergson, this study brings him to a new generation of readers. Ansell-Pearson contends that there is a Bergsonian revolution, an upheaval in philosophy comparable in significance to those that we are more familiar with, from Kant to Nietzsche and Heidegger, that make up our intellectual ... Read more

$39.99 CAD

A 2018 Choice Outstanding Academic TitleA thought-provoking contribution to the renaissance of interest in Bergson, this study brings him to a new generation of readers. Ansell-Pearson contends that there is a Bergsonian revolution, an upheaval in philosophy comparable in significance to those that we are more familiar with, from Kant to Nietzsche and Heidegger, that make up our intellectual
... Read more

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