Literary Criticism & Essays & Journalism

The inspiring story of a son and his dying mother, who form a 'book club' that brings them together as her life comes to a close. For fans of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Last Lecture.
Mary Anne Schwalbe is waiting for her chemotherapy treatments when Will casually asks her what she's reading. The conversation they have... read more

Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read or forgotten she owned or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her ... read more

Susan Hill wrote Howard’s End is on the Landing some time ago to chronicle a year spent reading only books from her own bookshelves. I read this recently, and found myself looking back at my own shelves. It is easy to miss books in the constant wave of new releases, so I’m happily starting Ann Patchett&r... read more

An entertaining biography of Charles Dickens by one of our finest actors Acclaimed actor and writer Simon Callow captures the essence of Charles Dickens in a sparkling biography that explores the central importance of the theatre to the life of the greatest storyteller in the English language. From his early years as a child ... read more

The new book of essays from Jonathan Franzen, author of Freedom. Jonathan Franzen's 'Freedom' was the runaway most-discussed novel of 2010, an ambitious and searching engagement with life in America in the 21st century. Now, a new collection of Franzen's non-fiction brings fresh demonstrations of his vivid, moral intelligence... read more

Unusually for me I've read non-fiction this month, not fiction. I borrowed the reading copy of Farther Away by Jonathan Franzen (author of the novel Freedom) when it came into the shop. Farther Away is a collection of essays and speeches and I've really enjoyed the ones I've read so far, in particular the essay on t... read more

A fresh and delightful examination of the character of Oscar Wilde by looking at him through the prism of the books he read. An entirely new kind of biography, Oscar's Books explores the personality of Oscar Wilde through his reading. It argues that reading exercised a formative influence on Wilde's character and was the ins... read more

When Alice was nine years old, she and her father - a beloved school librarian - made a promise to read aloud together for 100 consecutive nights. Upon reaching their goal, they celebrated over pancakes, but it was clear that neither wanted to let go of what had become their reading ritual. They decided to continue what becam... read more

The Swallows and Amazons author's lost study of the author of Treasure Island, finally available with a substantial introduction detailing its rediscovery and Ransome's extraordinary early career.

Late in 1939 a chance meeting between Penguin founder, Allen Lane, and natural history publisher, Noel Carrington, changed the future of children's publishing with the formation of a series called 'Puffin Picture Books'. The first four titles appeared in 1940 and the series quickly established a reputation for presenting chil... read more

Did Shakespeare's doctors addle his brain with mercury, leading to his early retirement? Was Jane Eyre inspired by the plagued school that claimed the Bronte clan? Did writing 1984 kill George Orwell?
Many of our most beloved scribes struggled to conquer not just writer's block but a bevy of medical maladies. John Ross ... read more

People usually think of books in terms of their contents, their texts, with less thought for books as artefacts. In fact books may possess all kinds of potentially interesting qualities beyond their texts. This text explores books from the Middle Ages to the present day to show why books may be interesting beyond their texts.

From stalking and eventually meeting her Young Talent Time idol when she was twelve, to dalliances with streetwalkers, to a mildly perverse obsession with Bob Ellis, there is nothing Marieke Hardy won't write about. Voyeuristic, painful, hilarious and heartfelt, You'll Be Sorry When I'm Dead reveals the acerbic wit, unflinchi... read more

The BBC Radio 4 series, "A Point of View", has been on the air since 2007. This is the book of the radio series.
Over the years, it's had a variety of presenters - including the national treasure that is Clive James - talking for ten minutes about anything and everything that has captured their imagination, piqued their... read more

One of America's leading humorists and author of the bestseller "Closing Time" examines his own obsession with books Joe Queenan became a voracious reader as a means of escape from a joyless childhood in a Philadelphia housing project. In the years since then he has dedicated himself to an assortment of idiosyncratic reading ... read more

For more than 40 years, Karl Stead has been New Zealand's leading literary and cultural critic. Whether writing about Christianity or a trip to Croatia, he always brings a clear personal point of view, a strong analytical bent, and a witty pen to his work. In this latest collection of critical writing, a sequel to his success... read more

In the summer of 1858, in a garden behind Christ Church in Oxford, Charles Dodgson - better known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll - dressed the six-year-old Alice Liddell in ragamuffin's clothes, draped the folds of cloth low enough to expose her bare chest, asked her to look deep into his eyes - and then snapped the camer... read more

J.R.R. Tolkien's admirers form an international community of writers, scholars, and artists. This richly illustrated anthology gathers together three decades of work dedicated to the master of fantasy. With poems, stories, songs, and dozens of illustrations, " A Tolkien Treasury is a unique celebration of the author and his c... read more

A star-studded line-up of writers, artists, designers, musicians, and chefs discuss their favorite books, with irresistible paintings by artist Jane Mount.
The books that we choose to keep--let alone read - can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In My Ideal Bookshelf, dozens of leading cultural figures... read more

From Polynesian Mythology to the Yates' Garden Guide, from Allen Curnow to Alice Tawhai, from Wiremu Te Rangikaheke's letters to Katherine Mansfield's notebooks, Maori and Pakeha New Zealanders have struggled for two and a half centuries to work the English language into some sort of truth about this place. The Auckland Unive... read more

Forthcoming, Mid-November, 2012

In the beginning was the word HOBBIT. It was to be the single most important word to ever inspire Professor Tolkien to write a story. And what a story it was! Most authors create characters and then find names for them, but for Tolkien it was words themselves that suggested characters, creatures, plots, places, and even entir... read more

Diana Athill has corresponded with the American poet Edward Field for over thirty years, freely sharing jokes, pleasures and pains with her old friend, and writing with an intimacy and spontaneity even more revealing than the candour of her celebrated memoirs. Edited, selected and introduced by Athill, and annotated with her... read more