The divine book of penguin verse. The verse book of the divine penguin. Or something. From 2300 BC Sumerian utterances to Rumi, Black, Dickinson, Tagore, etc. Wonderful.
Ruthlessly funny memoir of working front of house: the great deception of ease, of luxe, calme et volupte , of lamplight and conversation, while, behind the swing doors, rages a very differe... read more
Not just bar-room belles and pioneers wearing thin the soles of their boots on their immense journeys to the west, but Chinese laundresses and displaced native Americans too. Real stories, w... read more
An important book about historical accountability, which was sparked by the author's discovery that a convicted Nazi who had been dead for 50 years was about to have his crimes pardoned in a... read more
A cerebral and determined young woman at Harvard vigorously explores the gaps between life and art: an entertaining and lively sequel to Batuman's wonderful The Idiot.
A second novel from the author of Preparation for the Next Life, in which a young man confronts his estranged father and protects his ailing mother. Lish's writing is spare but precise, wit... read more
A midnight phone call precipitates an aging, embittered agent into a dash to Iran to find his son and do battle with competing international interests.
An old-fashioned story about a lonely miller who sets off to find friendship, overlooking that which is closest to home. Charming illustrations. For ages 4-7.
There are 50,000 different edible plants in the world yet only 15 of them make up 90% of our staples... Informative and full of excellent vegetarian recipes contributed by many well known na... read more
Follows up his Young Eliot (2015, pbk £14.99). Draws on all correspondence including the archive with his lover Emily Hale, which remained sealed until 2020.
A memorable and delightful old woman - who could have been a fifth columnist in Montypython's Hell's Grannies - takes on the education of an edgy granddaughter.
A new novel by the author of The Heavens which recalls Usula le Guin's flawed Utopia in which one person's constant suffering pays for the perpetual bliss of all others.
This marvellous memoir of her youth in Tottenham ends when her theatrical career takes off: forthright, transparent, dry, funny - there is nothing remotely precious about Dame Eileen's accou... read more
A beguiling work of auto-fiction - a juggling act that Carrère refined in Limonov, The Kingdom etc. He begins a ten-day retreat, lit by the sun of literary success, but desperate matters in... read more