"The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau" is a one-of-a-kind autobiography. Up until its publication in 1782, only two autobiographies had ever been written, and both were written by devout religious saints. Highly scandalous yet witty in nature, calling Rousseau's work an "autobiography" is a loose categorization of the text, as many of the stories and tales have been proven false, yet Rousseau told the truth about the spirit of his life through...

Una colección de historias cortas llenas de valores morales y valiosas lecciones de vida. Aunque se centra en las tradiciones y estilos de vida de la gente de una pequeña ciudad siciliana, este libro cubre una variedad de sensaciones basadas en creencias religiosas, mitos, leyendas tradicionales, devoción, fuerza y valor, todas las características que a menudo damos por sentadas o que son algo descuidado en las ciudades más modernas. Se trata...

This vintage book (first published in 1948) contains a short biography of Mark Twain, with a wonderful selection of humourous and often aphoristic quotations taken from his writings. This concise and easy-to-digest text is full of interesting and entertaining information concerning Mr. Twain, and is highly recommended for those with an interest in his life and mind. A profusely illustrated antiquarian volume, this book is not to be missed by the discerning...

Kevin Kling, best known for his popular commentaries on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and his storytelling stage shows like Tales from the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log, delivers hilarious, often tender stories to readers everywhere with his first book, he Dog Says How. Kling's autobiographical tales are as enchanting as they are true to life: hopping freight trains, getting hit by lightning, performing his banned play in Czechoslovakia,...

What kind of man creates a boy who never grows up? More than 100 years after Peter Pan first appeared on the London stage, author J. M. Barrie remains one of the most complex and enigmatic figures in modern literature. A few facts, of course, are widely known: Peter Pan made Barrie the richest author of his time, and he bequeathed the royalties to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. He was married, but later divorced, and he was devoted...

The first biography to be aimed at the general reader as much as at students and historians, No Ordinary Man is a fascinating study of the life and work of Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the writer known as the "Spanish Shakespeare" and author of the timeless classic Don Quixote. A renaissance man in all senses of the term, Cervantes was, in his time, an adventurer, spy, soldier, hostage, and creator of the first European novel. This biography...

¿Cómo cuentas la historia real de alguien olvidado -un auténtico icono, un ídolo- junto a la tuya? Mi autobiografía de Carson McCullers de Jenn Shapland es a la vez una exploración inmersiva y sorprendente en la vida y obra de una de las escritoras más queridas y respetadas de Estados Unidos y un análisis de la identidad más allá de las normas de género, la memoria y el amor. Siendo una estudiante de posgrado, Shapland descubre una serie...

Mientras se documentaba para su monumental biografía de Franz Kafka, Reiner Stach visitó numerosas bibliotecas y archivos de Praga e Israel, donde hizo incontables hallazgos fascinantes: manuscritos de una picardía o ternura extraordinarias, fotografías sorprendentes, fragmentos de cartas y testimonios de contemporáneos que vertían una inesperada luz sobre la personalidad y la obra del escritor praguense. En "¿Éste es Kafka?", Stach reúne...

The untold story behind Peter Pan: The shocking account of J. M. Barrie's abuse and exploitation of the du Maurier family. In his revelatory Neverland, Piers Dudgeon tells the tragic story of J. M. Barrie and the Du Maurier family. Driven by a need to fill the vacuum left by sexual impotence, Barrie sought out George du Maurier, Daphne du Maurier's grandfather (author of the famed Trilby), who specialized in hypnosis. Barrie's fascination and obsession...

Robert Burns' "Belle of Mauchline" is given a voice in this lyrical and intimate depiction of the life of Jean Armour, known simply as the wife of the infamous poet and mother of nine of his children. Melanie Murray's biographical Should Auld Acquaintance reveals the historical tale of the talented farmer, a forbidden affair, and the tumultuous life of an 18th-century Scottish woman. In Should Auld Acquaintance, Jean Armour comes to life and asserts...