Author:Roberto Calasso
'All the books published by a certain publisher could be seen as links in a single chain'
In this fascinating memoir and manifesto the author and publisher Roberto Calasso meditates on the art of book publishing. With his signature erudition and polemical flair, Calasso transcends Adelphi to look at the publishing industry as a whole, from the essential importance of graphics, jackets and cover flaps to the consequences of universal digitization. And he outlines what he describes as the 'most hazardous and ambitious' profile of what a publishing house can be: a book comprising many books, akin to that of other twentieth-century publishers, from Giulio Einaudi to Roger Straus, of whom the book offers brief portraits.
Beautifully written and very funny. . . as with Salinger and Carver, there is crystalline simplicity to Bank's prose
—— GuardianI read the first chapter and thought, 'Wait, I know this girl' . . . I realized she was my friend . . . she made me laugh, she made me weep, and when I closed the book at the end of the day, I knew I'd never forget her
—— Ruth OzekiCharming and funny
—— New York TimesA smart, ruefully funny chronicle of a modern young woman's search for love . . . a model of well-crafted narrative building to a thoughtful, hopeful conclusion. Bank has created a delightful heroine who deserves her happy ending-even though any reader who has really been paying attention to the sharp, unsentimental details knows that all happy endings are provisional
—— KirkusOne marvels at Bank's assured control of her material, her witty, distinctive voice and her ability to find comedy, pathos and drama in ordinary lives . . . phenomenally good
—— Publishers WeeklyThis chronicle of a New Yorker's relationships has a wit and perceptiveness that singles it out from the crowd
—— GuardianAs hilarious as Girls' Guide is, there's a wise, serious core here
—— Wall Street JournalA sexy, pour-your-heart-out, champagne tingle of a read-thoughtful, wise, and tell-all honest. Bank's is a voice that you'll remember
—— CosmopolitanBank writes like John Cheever, but funnier
—— Los Angeles TimesIn the genre of feminine madness, these stories are to be worshipped. They are fearless, hysterical, violent yet full of grace. Each sentence escalates toward devastating, poetic insight about our bodies, about cultural demands both treasured and feared, and about what makes being alive a terror and a joy.
—— VENITA BLACKBURN, author of How to Wrestle a GirlChang returns with a dazzling collection of stories within stories that draw on old myths to embody the heartache and memories of Asian American women. Chang's bold conceits and potent imagery evoke a raw, visceral power that captures feelings of deep longing and puts them into words. This stellar collection will leave readers hungry for more.
—— Publishers Weekly (starred review)This book traces a line from old worlds to new worlds by means of the bloody umbilical cords that stretch between them. . . . These stories unthread the tangled relationships between mothers and daughter, aunts and cousins, siblings and lovers . . . a lingering sense that language, as well as life, is infinitely adaptable, no matter the ground on which it is given to grow. Lurid, funny, strange, and deftly sorrowing-an important new voice.
—— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Dazzling . . . This stellar collection will leave readers hungry for more.
—— Publishers Weekly (starred review)[K-Ming Chang] rewrites the world as a place of radical transformation.
—— New York Times Book Review[Her] ability, to take a common, decidedly earthbound, experience and transform it through her lens into a fantastical, otherworldly encounter shines. . . . Chang's writing reflects her gift as a lifelong listener of oral storytelling . . . and her ability to synthesize new ideas with her own spin on language.
—— San Francisco ChronicleChang has a special talent for forging history into myth and myth into present-day fiction. . . . Gods of Want is in some ways a fantasy of queer freedom. Its main characters, all Taiwanese or Chinese by birth or descent, are allowed to be who they are, to love and make love to whomever they choose.
—— Los Angeles Times[K-Ming Chang] is back with her signature precise and enthralling prose in this short-story collection.
—— ShondalandK-Ming Chang's inspired mix of magic and realism returns in full fabulist force. . . . The stories are eclectic . . . and united by Chang's fascination with the queer and quotidian in her characters' worlds. . . . Piercing.
—— EsquireHer new short-story collection Gods of Want both widens and calcifies the expansiveness of her range. . . . Chang is singular amongst us all. . . . New work from Chang is a cause for celebration-a holiday in its own right-and it's also a reminder of the infinite possibilities on the page. . . . Nothing short of marvelous.
—— Bryan Washington , Electric LiteratureAtwood brings her trademark wit and invention to bear on subjects as diverse as a pandemic, cancel culture, female friendship, witchcraft - and cats
—— ObserverOld Babes in the Wood... [is] a clear demonstration of her prevailing skill as a writer
—— Arts DeskAs her short story collection Old Babes in the Wood debuts at the top of the fiction chart, Margaret Atwood can rest assured that she has reached literary legend status. It was one thing for The Handmaid's Tale to make it to No 1, but quite another for stories narrated by snails and aliens to do it
—— The Sunday TimesHer latest collection of short stories... proves once again she's also an impassioned observer of everyday people and their struggles, with a hilarious sense of humour
—— RTE *Book Of The Week*Each [story] is interesting in its own right...Atwood's imagination and mastery of storytelling is evident
—— UK Press Syndication[A] writer who is still so sparky and brilliant in the sudden ways she tips you into despair or delight. Whatever she's up to, I'll take more if it's going
—— Alys Key , SpectatorQuietly devastating
—— Suzi Feay , The TabletAny new publication by the estimable Atwood...is an event and this collection of 15 short stories is no exception
—— Evening StandardBracing, darkly funny and cheerfully unsentimental
—— Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2023*[A] masterclass in writing about the edges of everyday life. This collection of short stories that all link to the Sunshine State captures loneliness, alienation, abandonment and inner resourcefulness in the most creative of tales.
—— Victoria SadlerFantastical tales ... You'll be swept up in a wild hurricane of a ride with this lyrical stories of fury and love, loss and hope.
—— NewsweekEach story is perfectly formed, exquisite, often troubling but there is something so brilliantly humane about her work.
—— Kate Hamer, Wales Art Review