Showing titles in Literary History & Criticism

Rajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls, playing the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, when a cameraman insisted he read Yann Martel's Life of Pi. So begins his "lovely and human" (Jenny Lawson, author of Furiously Happy) tale of obsessively pursuing a dream, overcoming failure, and finding meaning in life.

From modern literature to menopause, from utopian thought to rodeos - in this classic collection of essays, Ursula K. Le Guin roves with her customary audacity over the intersecting arenas of literature, feminism, and social responsibility, exploding any received notions she comes across and revealing visionary possibilities in their stead.

Join three friends as we read and discuss Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. One is reading them for the first time, one is returning to the books after a long hiatus, and the other has read the series through multiple times. We invite you all to join us as we make our way through this truly epic fantasy series each week!

This second volume of the biography of Lord Cochrane deals with his fall from grace, imprisonment for debt, loss of honours, and attempts to clear his name. It has had a marked influence on naval fiction, most obviously on some of the novels by Patrick O'Brian. - Summary by Timothy Ferguson

Monsters, in all their terrifying glory, have preoccupied humans since we began telling stories. But where did these stories come from? In Monsterland, award-winning author Nicholas Jubber goes on a journey to discover more about the monsters we’ve invented, lurking in the dark and the wild places of the earth—giants, dragons, ogres, zombies, ghosts, demons—all with one thing in common: their ability to terrify.

Shakespeare's seven great tragedies contain unmistakable elements that set them apart from any other plays ever written. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare embodied in the character of Juliet the world's most impressive representation ever of a woman in love. With Julius Caesar, the great playwright produced a drama of astonishing and perpetual relevance.

Homer's Iliad is the famous epic poem set among the tales of Troy. Its subject is the anger of the hero Achilles and its consequences for the warring Greeks and Trojans. Unlike other books on the Iliad, this one combines the detailed expertise of a historian with the sensitivity of a teacher of it as poetry. Lane Fox goes on to consider hallmarks of the poem, its values, implicit and explicit, its characters, its women, its gods and even its horses. He argues repeatedly for its beautiful observation and addresses its parallel use of what is, to us, the natural world.

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. His writings cover many subjects including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics and government.

All About Agatha is a podcast all about, well, Agatha. Agatha Christie, of course. The Queen of Crime, a real-life Dame of the British Empire and author of sixty-six mystery novels that spanned the Twentieth Century, defining a genre. The podcast's specific project is to rank these novels--because imposing objectivity on a subjective experience like reading is the sort of fruitless exercise that leads to all sorts of fruitful observations, even revelations. More broadly, the idea is to approach Christie by way of a rigorous literary analysis she so rarely gets, but so richly deserves. The same...

Written by Daniel Nettle - author of the popular book Happiness - this brief volume takes the listener on an exhilarating tour of what modern science can tell us about human personality. Revealing that our personalities stem from our biological makeup, Nettle looks at the latest findings from genetics and brain science, and considers the evolutionary origins and consequences of different personalities. The heart of the book sheds light on the "big five": Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientious, Agreeableness, and Openness.

You're never too old to make a bad decision. After twenty winters on the road, Tanyth Fairport makes one last pilgrimage in her quest to learn all she can about the herbs and medicinal plants of Korlay before settling down to write her magnum opus. Her journey is interrupted when she decides to help a small village and learns that much of what she knows of the world may not be quite as it seems. Nathan Lowell blends wiccan tradition and shamanistic lore into a fantasy quest for a new - if unlikely - heroine. She learns that the familiar sometimes hides the fantastic and that, even when you ...

Join our hosts Tom & Lily as they dive deep into each chapter of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, the timeless collection of insights from one of the greatest thinkers of our time, Charlie Munger. In each episode, we break down Munger’s wisdom, exploring the mental models, life lessons, and practical advice that have shaped the mind of this legendary investor, business partner of Warren Buffett, and philosopher of decision-making.

Have you ever read a smutty book and NEEDED to dish to your friend about it? That's exactly what Charlotte, Shelby and Jena will be doing! Riley is a total smut virgin and the rest of us are absolute aficionados. Come hang out with us while we divulge the most sordid details of the most bonkers books we could find! ITS TIME TO SMUT UP AND LISTEN!!!

HEA on the go! Original, never-before-heard romance audiobooks from your favorite authors, narrated by professionals and presented for your listening pleasure every, single week! We’ll begin a new, original audiobook every Monday, releasing one section per day, until wrapping it up with a big, swoony happily ever after on Friday! Hosted by New York Times Bestselling Author Alexa Riley. For more information, check out readmeromance.com. If you like what you hear, don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe so we can continue to bring you high quality audio content!