Biography & Autobiography : Literary

Katherine Mansfield's letters are as finely written as her stories and prized by ordinary readers as much as by literary critics and feminists. The fifth and final volume of this celebrated edition reveals Mansfield's courage, wit, independence, and honesty in the final year of her life. - ;The fifth and final volume of the Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield covers the almost thirteen months during which her attention at first was firmly set on a last chance medical cure, then finally on something very different - if death came to seem inevitable, how should one behave in the time that remained, so one could truly say one lived?. Mansfield's biographers, like her friends, have wondered at the seemingly extraordinary decision to ditch conventional medicine, for the bizarre choice of Gurdjieff's Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man at Fontainebleau. These letters show the clarity of mind and will that led to that decision, the courage and distress in making it, and the gaiety even once it was made. She went against what her education, her husband, and most of her friends would regard as reasonable, as she opted. to spend her last months with Russian --eacute--;migr--eacute--;s and a strange assortment of Gurdjieff disciples (which she was not). But Fontainebleau give her the space and the incentive to shake free from the intellectualism that she thought the malaise of her time, as she worked at kitchen chores, took in the. details of farm life, tried to learn Russian, and attempted to reach total honesty with herself. 'If I were allowed one simple cry to God,' she wrote in one of her last letters, that cry would be I want to be REAL.' - ;This fifth volume of the Collected Letters brings a satisfying completeness - Stephen Barkway, Virginia Woolf Bulletin;Its completion is a triumphant achievement... The editors' labours throughout have been meticulous yet unobtrusive - Trev Broughton, Times Literary Supplement;Top of my more...

Price: $120.00

The book narrates the ups and downs of Rousseau and follows his life from streets to stardom. It provides a deep insight into the personality of the philosopher and the vision that got him exiled and persecuted. It relates his pride in his individual existence. The assortment of events and emotions presented here is timeless. more...

Price: $4.99

In 1901, Philadelphia's celebrity female journalist stepped off a train in Blackfoot, Montana, and into a world of living legends. The miners and frontiersmen, Indians and trappers that Caroline Lockhart met there inspired this beautiful, single, strong-willed woman to live a life she had only dreamed about in what remained of the Wild West. more...

Price: $21.95

The Critical Lives series takes a biographical look at pivotal, fascinating people and a critical look at the work and accomplishments that, rightly or wrongly, made them unique, influential, and enduring. Discover the events that shaped their lives and how they came to shape our world. Muhammad was a religious visionary and political leader. Raised in the harsh Arabian Peninsula and orphaned while still a child, this unlikely leader and military genius received a calling to transform his society from a collection of raiding tribes into one of the world's most progressive societies. His message of monotheism and righteousness motivated an entire people to abandon idolatry and spread the word of God to surrounding nations. Although he was a military genius, his greatest accomplishments came from the religion he preached: Islam, which called its adherents to lead a life of prayer, charity, and contemplation. The second largest religion in the world, both Islam's prophet and its values are today often misunderstood by adherents and outsiders alike. This concise, informative biography explores:. *. Muhammad's background and boyhood, as well as the culture and society in which he lived. *. A look at Muhammad as a family man, and how his personal life was a testament to his high regard for women. *. Muhammad's mission as a prophet and his new religion's philosophy on topics ranging from monotheism to interfaith relations. *. The Qur'an and how it was revealed, how Muslims view it in their religious life, and the concept of Jihad from Muhammad's perspective. more...

Price: $14.95

RENOWNED ARTIST R. O. BLECHMAN'S illustrations are instantly recognizable. For more than fifty years, his work has appeared on the covers of The New Yorker , run alongside op-eds in The New York Times , graced the pages of Harper's Bazaar , and, more recently, been featured on The Huffington Post , providing unspoken commentary on the world at large. more...

Price: $21.00