National Network for Equitable Library Service

Peter Handke offers three intimate, eloquent meditations that map a self-reflexive journey from Alaska to the Austria of his childhood, while illuminating the act of writing itself. In his "Essay on Tiredness," Handke transforms an everyday experience--often precipitated by boredom--into a fascinating exploration of the world of slow motion, differentiating degrees of fatigue, the types of weariness, its rejuvenating effects, as well as its erotic, cultural, and political implications.

With an introduction by Robert Macfarlane. During the Second World War, John Stewart Collis volunteered to leave his comfortable life as an academic to work on the land for the war effort. His account of this time perfectly captures the soft-handed, city-dweller's naivety and wonder both at the workings of nature and the toughness of life on a farm.

Essays on the urgency of our global refugee crisis and our capacity as artists and citizens to confront it. Tom Sleigh describes himself donning a flak jacket and helmet, working as a journalist inside militarized war zones and refugee camps, as "a sort of Rambo Jr." With self-deprecation and empathetic humor, these essays recount his experiences during several tours in Africa and in the Middle Eastern region once called Mesopotamia, "the land between two rivers." Sleigh asks three central questions: What did I see? How could I write about it? Why did I write about it?

Abe Kobo (1924–1993) was one of Japan's greatest postwar writers, widely recognized for his imaginative science fiction and plays of the absurd. However, he also wrote theoretical criticism for which he is lesser known, merging literary, historical, and philosophical perspectives into keen reflections on the nature of creativity, the evolution of the human species, and an impressive range of other subjects. Abe Kobo tackled contemporary social issues and literary theory with the depth and facility of a visionary thinker.

Dans ma vie, on trouve l'argent, beaucoup, les femmes, belles et célèbres, la fortune, la gloire, les paillettes, puis, d'un seul coup, tout bascule. La vie, c'est ça, mais on ne l'apprend qu'un peu plus tard." Qui est le "vrai" Sulitzer ? Ce phénomène reste un mystère pour le public. Sa vie est un roman, une épopée. Pour la première fois, l'homme aux 60 millions de livres se raconte sans tabou. Jalousé, caricaturé, controversé, il crée la polémique. On le dit provocateur, il se proclame visionnaire.

An anthology of Asian diasporic writers musing on the notion of “home.” “Bold and devastating . . . the very definition of reclamation.” —The International Examiner Asian diasporic writers imagine “home” in the twenty-first century through an array of fiction, memoir, and poetry. Both urgent and meditative, this anthology moves beyond the model-minority myth and showcases the singular intimacies of individuals figuring out what it means to belong. “The notion of home has always been elusive.

"Julia Alvarez has suitcases full of history (public and private), trunks full of insights into what it means to be a Latina in the United States, bags full of literary wisdom." -Los Angeles Times. From the internationally acclaimed author of the bestselling novels In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents comes a rich and revealing work of nonfiction capturing the life and mind of an artist as she knits together the dual themes of coming to America and becoming a writer.

A career-spanning collection of essays by Nobel laureate Peter Handke, featuring two new works never before published in English. Quiet Places brings together Peter Handke’s forays into the border regions of life and story, upending the distinction between literature and the literary essay.

Twelve essays by a Japanese-American writer about being caught between past and present, old country and new. In this powerful, exquisitely crafted book, Kyoko Mori delves into her dual heritage with a rare honesty that is both graceful and stirring.

In the tradition of *Cod* and *Olives*, a fascinating journey into the hidden history, culture, and commerce of caviar. Once merely a substitute for meat during religious fasts, today caviar is an icon of luxury and wealth. In *Caviar*, Inga Saffron tells, for the first time, the story of how the virgin eggs of the prehistoric-looking, bottom-feeding sturgeon were transformed from a humble peasant food into a czar’s delicacy—and ultimately a coveted status symbol for a rising middle class.