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Classics

Golden Ass

Apuleius
$15.00

Conceived at the zenith of the Roman Empire, Apuleius's The Golden Ass--a bawdy, comic romp centered on a man-turned-animal--is the only ancient work of fiction in Latin that survives in its entirety. In playful, evocative prose, the novel recounts the travails of Lucius, a young man whose insatiable fascination with the occult results in his accidental transformation into an ass.

So entrapped, Lucius embarks on a hair-raising and at times outrageous adventure, encountering sadistic thieves who beat him mercilessly and plot to throw him over a cliff; a miller who works his human and animal slaves to death (until his wife, caught in an act of adultery, resorts to magic to bring him down); a noblewoman who fancies him; poverty-stricken merchants and a Roman soldier; and finally, the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Peter Singer, the world-renowned philosopher and author of Animal Liberation, was initially drawn to The Golden Ass by virtue of its historically significant early portrayal of the life of an abused animal. He was soon stunned to discover that what is arguably the first surviving novel is now little known and even less read. Realizing that Apuleius's tale in its original form is far too complex, Singer decided to streamline it. Assisted by Apuleius scholar Ellen Finkelpearl--who provides a fresh, modern translation, expertly mirroring the florid style of the original--Singer deftly prunes away the many digressions from the main narrative, and in so doing, uncovers the still-beating heart of the text: the highs and lows in the life of an ass, as seen and experienced by the irrepressible Lucius.

Featuring delightful new illustrations drawn by the prize-winning artists Anna and Varvara Kendel, this newly-rendered edition brilliantly reintroduces a forgotten classic. Whether interested in tales of animals, magic, or life in Roman times, readers will be charmed by the hilarious and risqué misadventures of Lucius--before, during, and after becoming a donkey.

Aristophanes: Four Plays

Aristophanes: Four Plays

Aristophanes
$18.95

The citizens of ancient Athens enjoyed a freedom of speech as broad as our own. This freedom, parrhesia, the right to say what one pleased, how and when one pleased, and to whom, had no more fervent champion than the brilliant fifth-century comic playwright Aristophanes. His plays, immensely popular with the Athenian public, were frequently crude, even obscene. He ridiculed the great and the good of the city, showing up their hypocrisy and arrogance in ways that went far beyond the standards of good taste, securing the ire (and sometimes the retaliation) of his powerful targets. He showed his contemporaries, and he teaches us now, that when those in power act obscenely, patriotic obscenity is a fitting response.

Aristophanes's satirical masterpieces were also surpassingly virtuosic works of poetry. The metrical variety of his plays has always thrilled readers who can access the original Greek, but until now, English translations have failed to capture their lyrical genius. Aaron Poochigian, the first poet-classicist to tackle these plays in a generation, brings back to life four of Aristophanes's most entertaining, wickedly crude, and frequently beautiful lyric comedies--the pinnacle of his comic art:

- Clouds, a play famous for its caricature of antiquity's greatest philosopher, Socrates;
- Lysistrata, in which a woman convinces her female compatriots to withhold sex from their warmongering lovers unless they negotiate peace;
- Birds, in which feathered creatures build a great city and become like gods;
- and Women of the Assembly, Aristophones's most revolutionary play, which inverts the norms of gender and power.

Poochigian's new rendering of these comic masterpieces finally gives contemporary readers a sense of the subversive pleasure Aristophones's original audiences felt when they were first performed on the Athenian stage.

Poetics

Poetics

Aristotle; Heath, Malcolm (TRN
$13.00
Aristotle's Politics is a key document in Western political thought. In these first two books Aristotle shows his complete mastery of political theory and practice, and raises many crucial issues still with us today. In Book I he argues vigorously for a political theory based on 'nature'. By nature, man is a 'political animal', one naturally fitted for life in a polis or state. Some people, however, are natural slaves; and women are by nature subordinate to men. Acquisition and exchange are natural, but not trading for profit. In Book II he launches a sharp attack on Plato's two 'utopias', the Republic and the Laws, and also criticizes three historical states reputed to be well governed: Sparta, Crete, and Carthage. This volume contains a close translation of these two books, together with a philosophical commentary. It is well suited to the requirements of readers who do not know Greek.
Complete Novels

Complete Novels

Austen, Jane
$20.00
$25.00
$20.00 - $25.00

Now in Penguin Classics Deluxe: a treasure trove of Jane Austen's novels

Few novelists have conveyed the subtleties and nuances of their own social milieu with the wit and insight of Jane Austen. Here in one volume are her seven great novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Lady Susan. Through her vivacious and spirited heroines and their circle, Austen vividly portrays English middle-class life as the eighteenth century came to a close and the nineteenth century began. Each of the novels is a love story and a story about marriage--marriage for love, for financial security, for social status. But they are not romances; ironic, comic, and wise, they are masterly evocations of the society Jane Austen observed. This beautiful volume covers the literary career of one of England's finest prose stylists of any century.

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A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition with French flaps and luxurious packaging


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Features the definitive Penguin Classics texts recommended by the Jane Austen Society


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New introduction by bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club Karen Joy Fowler



For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Emma

Emma

Austen, Jane
$20.00
Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse delights in interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protégée, Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility

Austen, Jane
$8.95
Two sisters, very different in attitude but both in search of the perfect man, are the heart of "Sense and Sensibility." Sensible, restrained Elinor seems to have found a kindred spirit in Edward Ferrars, while the impetuous, romantic Marianne falls hard for the dashing Willoughby. But each man has a secret that may destroy the relationship. Will the sisters find happiness--or betrayal?
Encounter on the Seine

Encounter on the Seine

Baldwin, James
$20.00
"James Baldwin was born for truth. It called upon him to tell it on the mountains, to preach it in Harlem, to sing it on the Left Bank in Paris. . . . He was a giant." -- Maya Angelou

This collectible edition celebrates James Baldwin's 100th-year anniversary, delving into his years in France and Switzerland

Originally published in Notes of a Native Son, the essays, "Encounter on the Seine: Black Meets Brown," "A Question of Identity," "Equal in Paris," and "Stranger in the Village" will appeal to readers interested in Baldwin's observations as a Black man overseas.

During his transformative time in Europe, Baldwin uncovers what it means to be American, immersing the reader in his life as a foreigner, his troubling encounter with a Parisian prison, and his unprecedented arrival to a tiny Swiss village.

This final collection in the Baldwin centennial anniversary series raises issues of identity, belonging, nationhood, and race within a global context. Encounter on the Seine: Essays showcases Baldwin's strengths as a storyteller, revealing how his years in Paris transformed his understanding of American identity.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Baldwin, James
$16.00
Harlem Ghetto

Harlem Ghetto

Baldwin, James
$20.00
This collectible edition celebrates James Baldwin's 100th-year anniversary, revealing and critiquing the realities of Black life in mid-century US

Originally published in Notes of a Native Son, the essays "The Harlem Ghetto," "Journey to Atlanta," and "Notes of a Native Son" will appeal to those interested in the personal and political turmoil of Baldwin's life.

"The Harlem Ghetto" introduces readers to the extremities of life in Baldwin's native city. "Journey to Atlanta" depicts the faulty relationship between the Black community and the politician, following a quartet called The Melodeers on a trip to Atlanta under the auspices of the Progressive Party. Baldwin concludes this collection with "Notes of A Native Son," a powerful autobiographical essay about his fractured relationship with his father.

The Harlem Ghetto: Essays explores the American condition through a mix of analytic and autobiographical essays. This second collection in the Baldwin centennial anniversary series is Baldwin's most personal as he grapples with his childhood and his own affinity with Blackness.

If Beale Street Could Talk (Deluxe Edition)

If Beale Street Could Talk (Deluxe Edition)

Baldwin, James
$17.00
A stunning edition of James Baldwin's timeless novel, with a new introduction by bestselling novelist Brit Bennett

From one of our greatest writers, James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk is a profoundly moving novel about love in the face of injustice that is as socially resonant today as it was when it was first published. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions--affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.