About the Book “I love this book. The tale of Rigby John is rich with knowing—the prose is deft, funny, heartbreaking, and the story stays with you long after the last page is turned.” —A. M. Homes, author of This Book Will Save Your Life and The Mistress’s Daughter The year is 1967, and [...]
Archive of posts tagged award winners
The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
Downloadable Guide for Group Discussion and Classroom use “A masterpiece. How does she do it?” — A. S. Byatt Friedrich Leopold, Baron von Hardenberg (1772—1801), was born in Oberwiederstadt, Germany, studied law, philosophy, and history, worked as a government auditor at Weissenfels, and—under the pseudonym Novalis became known as the “prophet of Romanticism.” Best [...]
Red Poppies by Alai
About Red Poppies “Panoramic and intimate at the same time.” — Michiko Kakutani, New York Times “Lavish . . . A magnificent journey to another time and place [and] a scathing observation of power, brutality, and corruption.” — Helen Mitsios, Philadelphia Inquirer “Shrewdly satiric and wonderfully entertaining . . . A lusty tale of federal [...]
Blindness by José Saramago
Blindness José Saramago ISBN:9780156007757 About the book: A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among [...]
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
A Three Dog Life Abigail Thomas ISBN:9780156033060 About the book: When Abigail Thomas’s husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. [...]
The Double by José Saramago
The Double José Saramago ISBN:9780156032582 About the book: Tertuliano Máximo Afonso is a divorced, depressed history teacher. To lift his spirits, a colleague suggests he rent a certain video. Tertuliano watches the film, unimpressed. But during the night, when he is awakened by noises in his apartment, he goes into the living room to find [...]
Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve
Strange Fits of Passion Anita Shreve ISBN:9780156031394 About the book: A turbulent, tragic story of domestic abuse from the bestselling author of The Pilot’s Wife. Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage. It’s the early ’70s and no one discusses or even suspects domestic [...]
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Life of Pi Yann Martel ISBN:9780156027328 About the book: The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. [...]
Be Near Me by Andrew O"Hagan
Be Near Me Andrew O’Hagan ISBN:9780156033961 About the book: “Always trust a stranger,” said David’s mother when he returned from Rome. “It’s the people you know who let you down.” Half a life later, David is Father Anderton, a Catholic priest with a small parish in Scotland. He befriends Mark and Lisa, two school-kids who live [...]
Crabwalk by Günter Grass
Crabwalk Günter Grass ISBN:9780156029704 About the book: Hailed by critics and readers alike as Günter Grass’s best book since The Tin Drum, Crabwalk is an engrossing account of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff and a critical meditation on Germany’s struggle with its wartime memories. The Gustloff, a German cruise ship turned refugee carrier, was [...]
