Classics / Criticism

Joan Didion

First published in 1979, Joan Didion's The White Album records indelibly the upheavals and aftermath…

Apuleius

The story of The Golden Ass is that of Lucius Apuleius, a young man of good birth who encountered ma…

Joan Didion

Celebrated, iconic, and indispensable, Joan Didion's first work of nonfiction, Slouching Towards Bet…

Flannery O'Connor

A brilliant, innovative novel, acutely alert to where the sacred lives--and where it does not First …

Flannery O'Connor

The American short story master Flannery O'Connor's haunting first novel of faith, false prophets, a…

Joan Didion

A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, Joan Didion's Play It as It Lays captures …

Vivian Gornick

A guide to the art of personal writing, by the author of Fierce Attachments and The End of the Novel…

Colette

The stories that inspired the film Colette, directed by Wash Westmoreland and starring Keira Knightl…

Anne Fadiman

Perfectly balanced between humor and erudition, Ex Libris establishes Anne Fadiman as one of our fin…

John McPhee

Coming into the Country is an unforgettable account of Alaska and Alaskans. It is a rich tapestry of…

Roland Barthes

What is it that we do when we enjoy a text? What is the pleasure of reading? The French critic and t…

Roland Barthes

These essays, as selected and translated by Stephen Heath, are among the finest writings Barthes eve…