From Mary Rowlandson's story of her capture by Indians in the mid-seventeenth century to Mary Paik Lee's story of being a pioneer Korean woman in America at the beginning of the twentieth century, the autobiographical form has provided our most vivid, intimate glimpses of daily American life and sel[...]
Poetry doesn't matter to most people, observes Jay Parini at the opening of this book. But, undeterred, he commences a deeply felt meditation on poetry, its language and meaning, and its power to open minds and transform lives. By the end of the book, Parini has recovered a truth often obscured by o[...]
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
A "New York Times "Notable Book
As Leo Tolstoy's life draws to a tumultuous close, his tempestuous wife and most cunning disciple are locked in a whirlwind battle for the great man's soul. Torn between his professed doctrine of poverty and chastity and the r[...]
Jude Fawley is a bright but impoverished stonemason who aspires to attend university and become a scholar. H is failure to fulfill the expectations of the two women he loves points to his final tragedy. Concerned with the destructive conventions of marriage and the English class system, Jude the Obs[...]
Jay Parini brings a life's worth of contemplation on Jesus to the first volume in ICONS, a series of brief, thought-provoking biographies edited by James Atlas. In "Jesus, " Parini turns the powerful narrative skill he's wielded over the course of a four-decade career to a figure who's dominated our[...]
By 1910, Leo Tolstoy had become an almost religious figure, surrounded on his lavish estate by family and followers alike. Too ill to continue beyond the tiny station of Astapovo, he believes he is dying alone. This book centres on the battle for his soul waged by his wife and his leading disciple.[...]
“En av de bästa historiska romanerna under de senaste tjugo åren.”
Gore Vidal
Det är det sista tumultartade året i Lev Tolstojs liv och hustrun Sofia Endrejevna och hans närmaste vän och lärjunge Vladimir Chertkov strider om hans penga[...]