David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello's exuberant exploration of rap music and culture.Living together in Cambridge in 1989, David Foster Wallace and longtime friend Mark Costello discovered that they shared "an uncomfortable, somewhat furtive, and distinctively white enthusiasm for a certain music called rap/hip-hop."The book they wrote together, set against the legendary Boston music scene, mapped the bipolarities of rap and pop, rebellion and acceptance...

David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello's exuberant exploration of rap music and culture.Living together in Cambridge in 1989, David Foster Wallace and longtime friend Mark Costello discovered that they shared "an uncomfortable, somewhat furtive, and distinctively white enthusiasm for a certain music called rap/hip-hop."The book they wrote together, set against the legendary Boston music scene, mapped the bipolarities of rap and pop, rebellion and acceptance...

Fifteen brilliant, dazzling, never-before-collected nonfiction seminal essays and nonfiction pieces by bestselling author David Foster Wallace that explores tennis, literature, philosophy, and popular culture with his signature blend of intellectual depth, humor, and relentless curiosity.**"one of America's most daring and talented writers." —**Los Angeles Times Book ReviewNever has Wallace's seemingly endless curiosity been more e...

In the stories that make up Oblivion**, David Foster Wallace joins the rawest, most naked humanity with the infinite involutions of self-consciousness — a combination that is dazzlingly, uniquely his.**These are worlds undreamt of by any other mind. Only David Foster Wallace could convey a father’s desperate loneliness by way of his son’s daydreaming through a teacher’s homicidal breakdown (“The Soul Is Not a Smithy”). Or could explore the...

Fifteen never-before-collected essays by "one of America's most daring and talented writers" all published in book form for the first time ( Los Angeles Times Book Review).Never has Wallace's seemingly endless curiosity been more evident than in this compilation of work spanning nearly 20 years of writing. Here, Wallace turns his critical eye with equal enthusiasm toward Roger Federer and Jorge Luis Borges; Terminator 2 and The Best of the Pros...

"The ultimate literary bucket list. . . . 948 pages later, you still want more!" —The Washington PostCelebrate the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that's as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising, and enlightening as the one,zero-plus titles it recommends.Covering fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children's books, history, and more, one,zero Books to Read Bef...

**Get a science-based introduction to cultural and human evolution—and discover a blueprint for a better future—in this fascinating book for fans of Sapiens and Guns, Germs, and Steel.Who are we, and what makes us different from other species?**Playing on the phrase “a theory of everything” from physics, Michael Muthukrishna’s ambitious, original, and deeply hopeful book A Theory of Everyone draws on the most recent research from across t...

**Learn how to fight against the disinformation campaigns imperiling American democracy in this empowering, pocket-sized guide from the author of How to Talk to a Science Denier.INSIDE THE WAR ON TRUTH: Explore the history of how disinformation has been weaponized to manipulate society.**The effort to destroy facts and make America ungovernable didn’t come out of nowhere. It is the culmination of 70 years of strategic denialism. In On Disinformation, Lee M...

In this rare peak into the personal life of the author of numerous bestselling novels, gain an understanding of David Foster Wallace and how he became the man that he was.Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in This is Water. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult lif...

Experience a sci-fi master at his finest in this collection of 12 science fiction short stories from 1956 to 1993—many now presented in English for the very first time!“A brilliant introduction to Lem’s science fiction.” —Wall Street JournalDiscover the full range of Stanislaw Lem’s intense curiosity about scientific ideas—and his sardonic approach to human nature—in this unforgettable collection of 12 short stories.In “The...

"In her wide-ranging cultural history of the term ['character'], Garber has unearthed fascinating material and is a convivial, stimulating critic." —Michael Saler, The Times Literary SupplementSince at least Aristotle's time, philosophers, theologians, artists, and scientists have pondered the enigma of human character. Whether defined as a moral idea, a literary persona, or a scientifically observable type, character has become omnipresent in discussions ...

This selection of essays on writing and reading showcases the acclaimed author's "wise and brilliant . . . precise and playful" command of language ( The New York Times).Lydia Davis is a writer whose originality, influence, and wit are beyond compare. Jonathan Franzen has called her "a magician of self-consciousness," while Rick Moody hails her as "the best prose stylist in America." And for Claire Messud, "Davis's signal gift is to make us feel alive."