A bracing novel of work, labor, and collective action, this vibrantly written debut is narrated by a man who runs a high-speed train in France—a story born out of the author’s experience as a real-life train driver.Driver is a book about a young man from the provinces who moves to Paris and studies to become a train driver. As he learns about trains and their intricate workings, he is transported into a world in constant motion, with its own laws and codes...

Made into a 1967 film by Louis Malle and never before available in English, this classic of anarchist literature follows a once well-to-do young man forced into an itinerant life of crime.The Thief is a picture of the sleezy underbelly of the Belle Époque, a broadside fired against the corruptions of power and privilege. Written by the anarchist activist Georges Darien (a pseudonym that can be translated as “Lord Nothing”), it found almost no readers when ...

Paul Scarron's masterpiece, The Comic Romance, recounts the adventures of a troupe of provincial itinerant actors, skilfully weaving comic anecdotes of their amorous exploits and the central love story between Leandre and his beloved Angelique into a rich and realistic tapestry depicting rural France.

**A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2025A twisty, slow-burn mystery set in Paris and the Netherlands that has become a Dutch sensation**In 1989, twenty-year-old Marie jumps at the chance to work as au pair in Paris—even though it means dropping out of her prestigious art program in the Netherlands. The city, the language, the complicated French family she works for all quickly overshadow the turmoil and pain she'd been reckoning with in school.But years late...

**A NYRB CLASSICS ORIGINALDiscover 9 classic short stories by the giant of French literature—whose work inspired Dostoyevsky, Henry James, and Marcel Proust—with this collection showcasing Balzac’s impressive range.**Characters from every corner of society and all walks of life—lords and ladies, businessmen and military men, poor clerks, unforgiving moneylenders, aspiring politicians, artists, actresses, swindlers, misers, parasites, sexual adventurers, crackpots, and more—...

"A heady, rushing account" of the 1974 high-wire act between the World Trade Center towers—now a Robert Zemeckis film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review)."Philippe Petit is an artist whose theater is the sky. In this absorbing book, he reveals himself to be equal parts Houdini, Nureyev, and da Vinci." —Robin WilliamsOne late-summer day, a feat of unimaginable audacity w...

Apr 1789 - Jul 1790At Fontainebleau all seems peaceful and serene, with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette secure on their thrones. Yet as Roger Brook arrives on a secret and vital mission for Prime Minister Pitt, the smell of blood, Revolution and Terror is already in the air.Intrigue, violence, suspicion – this is the maelstrom into which Roger is plunged at once. But with it: love. Isabella D'Arana is beautiful, Spanish – and married. Laws and conventions mus...

Winner of the Prix GoncourtA powerful autobiographical novel of loss, an unforgettable memoir of grief, and the small decisions that define the course of fate.Paced and structured with the inevitable suspense of a countdown, Brigitte Giraud’s tense and haunting work of literary fiction follows one woman’s relentless quest to comprehend the motorcycle accident that took the life of her partner Claude at age 41.The narrator of Live Fast recounts the chain of ...

First published in 1874 Les Diaboliques caused an uproar and all the copies were seized on the orders of the Ministry of Justice as the book was a danger to public morality. Scandal made the book an immediate success. One hundred and thirty years later it is now firmly established as a classic and studied in French schools. "The book is a celebration of the seven deadly vices and shows no counterbalancing interest in the seven cardinal virtues. Even more, it is a celebration of pride, the ...

**New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • A sharply observed memoir of motherhood and the self, and a love letter to Maine, by a writer Eula Biss calls “witty, sly, critical, inventive” and whose mind Leslie Jamison calls “electric.”“An absolute stunner: frank, funny, self-aware, constantly surprising.”—George Saunders**That night, in his bed, I spread my son’s palm wide and tried to read it. If the hand was a map that led to a future person, was there any...

1572: Returning from his studies in Montpellier, Pierre de Siorac is ambushed by a jealous Périgord nobleman. A duel ensues, and Pierre must subsequently travel to Paris, to seek his pardon from the King. The capital city and the royal court are a disorienting new environment for Pierre: a world of sweet words and fierce pride, where coquettish smiles hide behind fans, and murderous intents behind elegant bows; a world of genteel tennis matches and deadly swordplay, whose elaborate social ...

Fun things to do while traveling, waiting around, between jobs or have time on your hands -- on your own or with others, from using your imagination to mental exercises and light physical activities.