English Writing

Hot Cold Heavy Light collects 100 writings - some long, some short - that taken together form a group portrait of many of the world’s most significant and interesting artists. From Pablo Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Old Masters to contemporary masters, paintings to comix, and saints to charlatans, Schjeldahl ranges widely through the diverse and confusing art world, an expert guide to a dazzling scene.

An army of monsters walks among us. A war wages between petty gods. The end of the world draws ever closer. And worst of all—Jack can't find anybody to help cover the night shift.

The “mountain men” were the hunters and trappers who fiercely strode the Rocky Mountains in the early to mid-1800s. They braved the elements in search of the skins of beavers and other wild animals, to sell or barter for goods. The lifestyle of the mountain men could be harsh, existing as they did among animals, and spending most of their days and nights living and camping out in the great unexplored wilds of the Rockies.

As China reclaims its position as a world power, Imperial Twilight looks back to tell the story of the country’s last age of ascendance and how it came to an end in the nineteenth-century Opium War. As one of the most potent turning points in the country’s modern history, the Opium War...

Run the Song is also the story of how a professional critic, frustrated with conventional modes of criticism, finds his way back to a deeper relationship with music. When stumped or preoccupied by a piece of music, Ratliff starts to think that perhaps running can tell him more about what he’s listening to—let’s run it, he’ll say. And with that, the listener in turn is invited to listen alongside one of the great listeners of our day in this wildly inventive and consistently thought-provoking chronicle of a profoundly unsettling time.

AI Ink: Writing, Publishing, and Misinformation at the Dawn of the AI Age is a groundbreaking exploration of the profound impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries. Jason Van Tatenhove, a journalist and expert on political extremism, takes listeners on a journey through the rapidly evolving landscape where AI tools are reshaping writing and publishing. From AI-generated content to the ethical dilemmas of misinformation, this book addresses the opportunities and challenges that come with the integration of AI into creative processes.

Stephen Mitchell brings to life his acclaimed translation of these most famous and revered Hindu scriptures - the timeless story of the paths of knowledge, devotion, action, and meditation.

All academics need to write, but many struggle to finish their dissertations, articles, books, or grant proposals. Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule. How can we write it all while still having a life? In this second edition of his popular guidebook, Paul Silvia offers fresh advice to help you overcome barriers to writing and use your time more productively.

Dolly Faulkner has many heart-stopping moments of terror and anxiety, living much of the time truly alone in the Alaskan wilderness. But she is not lonely, as the awesome space and beauty of the mountains fill her with appreciation of all things of nature. Dolly Faulkner came to Alaska as a young woman with the dream of living in the wilderness. Forty Years in the Wilderness is a true reality of carving out a homestead in the Kilbuck Mountains near a minor hotsprings that the regional Native corporation is now trying to claim.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Multi-award-winning Hannah Gadsby broke comedy with their show Nanette. In this “enthralling” (The Washington Post) memoir, they take us through the defining moments in their life and their powerful decision to tell the truth—no matter the cost. Don’t miss...

Peter Heller’s masterful coming-of-age tale, the story of a mother and daughter living on a Vermont apple orchard, escaping ghosts of the past. Hayley and her seven-year-old daughter, Frith, live in a rustic cabin with no electricity in the foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains. A renowned...

These essays—moving, engaging, and deeply personal—explore the themes of family responsibility, growing up, and growing older. As the author, a divorced single mother beginning a new life and career in her forties, delves into the details of her own situation, she illuminates universal truths about what matters most: love, fulfillment, and the pain and necessity of huge change. These pieces about a woman in midlife struggling to come into her own in a complicated world are rich in insight and written with warmth, humour, and clear-eyed, sometimes devastating, honesty.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A delicious insider account of the gritty, glamorous world of food culture.”—Vanity Fair In this “poignant and hilarious” (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth Reichl chronicles her...

How to Write Lyrics That Stand Out is a comprehensive beginner's guide to songwriting that focuses on the art of writing memorable and impactful lyrics. Written for aspiring songwriters who are just starting out, this book covers the fundamentals of lyric writing, including how to generate ideas, craft effective rhymes and imagery, and create compelling storylines.

Failure is a topic discussed in every creative writing department in the world, but this is the book every beginning writer should have on their shelf to prepare them. Less a guide to writing and more a guide to what you need to continue existing as a writer, On Writing and Failure: Or, On the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer describes the defining role played by rejection in literary endeavors and contemplates failure as the essence of the writer’s life.

Penniless and downtrodden at the loss of his wife and one of his daughters, Samuel Clemens turned to writing. The short stories and essays in Letters from the Earth find Clemens—under the pseudonym of Mark Twain—at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever. Written as diary entries, Twain penned a series of letters from the point of view of a dejected angel on Earth who observes the many curious natures of man. These pieces, gathered by Twain's literary executor, feature sharp takes on the inconsistencies of Christianity and farcical criticisms of American life.

“Rich descriptions of creativity and magic are paired with a practical roadmap for making a life in devotion to both.” —Jessica Dore, author of Tarot for Change A magical guide to enhancing your creative process, from “the Terry Gross of witches” (Vulture) Creativity and magic are one...

Paul Theroux's first collection of essays and articles devoted entirely to travel writing, FRESH AIR FIEND touches down on five continents and floats through most seas in between to deliver a literary adventure of the first order, with the incomparable Paul Theroux as a guide. From the crisp...

When Vera decides to travel to an old house in the New England countryside for a month-long escape from some devastating news about her daughter, Cassie, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. It begins innocently enough—peeling the old wallpaper from the walls as a favor to the house’s owner. What she discovers underneath—written in India ink on the very walls of the house by a woman named Beth, in 1919—is the beginning of the reader’s unsettling crossing into the unknown world underneath the paper.

From the highly acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts comes a collection of alternately playful and exquisite essays—including seven collected here for the first time—borne of a lifetime spent fishing.