From the internationally bestselling author of What I Loved and The Summer Without Men, a dazzling collection of essays written with Siri Hustvedt's customary intelligence, wit and ability to convey complex ideas in a clear and lively way. Divided into three sections - Living, which draws on Siri's own life; Thinking, on memory, emotion and the imagination; and Looking, on art and artists - the essays range across the humanities and science as Siri explores how we see, remember, feel and interact with others, what it means to sleep, dream and speak, and what we mean by 'self'. The combination offers a profound and fascinating insight into ourselves as thinking, feeling beings.

Reviews: 
 'Provocative but often funny, encyclopedic but down to earth...Hustvedt's erudite book deepens one's wonder about the relation of body and mind.' -- Oliver Sacks 

'Readers of Oliver Sacks will rate this book highly; as with Sacks, scientific knowledge and a powerful capacity for empathy are closely linked...It is Hustvedt's gift to write with exemplary clarity of what is by necessity unclear.' -- Hilary Mantel, Guardian 

'She thinks her way through complex subject matter with the effortless clarity of a poised and sceptical outsider...a short book with an encyclopaedic breadth' -- Lisa Appignanesi, Independent 

'She has an enviable ability to digest and reframe her discoveries into clear, accessible prose' -- Melanie McGrath, Sunday Telegraph 

'Fascinating...what gives the book its originality is that she wavers on the edge of the various disciplines, preferring her own imaginative, deeply personal reflections to the potential certainty that might be offered by doctors...Although a desire for clear-cut answers is understandable, Hustvedt suggests that this is often far from possible. And she leaves the reader thinking about his or her own bouts of illness in a thoroughly fresh way.' -- Lorna Bradbury, Daily Telegraph

Author Biography: Siri Hustvedt's first novel, THE BLINDFOLD, was published by Sceptre in 1993 and her second, THE ENCHANTMENT OF LILY DAHL, followed in 1997. Both were highly acclaimed and translated around the world, while part of THE BLINDFOLD was made into a film (Of Women and Magic, directed by Claude Miller). Her third novel, WHAT I LOVED, was published in 2003 to even greater acclaim and has been an international success; her next novel, THE SORROWS OF AN AMERICAN, followed in 2008. Her work has been published in The Paris Review, Fiction, and The Best American Short Stories, and she is also the author of READING TO YOU, a poetry collection, and three collections of essays, YONDER, MYSTERIES OF THE RECTANGLE: Essays on Painting, and A PLEA FOR EROS, and a non-fiction work, THE SHAKING WOMAN: A HISTORY OF MY NERVES. Her most recent novel is THE SUMMER WITHOUT MEN. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Paul Auster.        

Release Date:
June 2012                                    

As I Was Saying is a swirling conversation with the reader on everything from travel to dogs and cats, from sport and swearing to the pleasures of idleness. Punctuated at regular intervals by talks Dessaix has given on a wide range of subjects, as well as by some of his most incisive journalism, the conversation invites the reader to join a leisurely guided tour of his chamber of curiosities, featuring pieces collected all over the globe from across the centuries. Whether writing home from Vladivostock or Damascus, discussing what makes for good conversation or thinking aloud about the paintings, poems and books he loves, Dessaix always writes with an intimacy and attentiveness that beguile, entertain and make his readers eager for new discoveries.

In issues including the ongoing financial crisis, Obama's presidency, the limits of the two-party system, nuclear Iran, Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, corporate power, and the future of American politics. Laced throughout his critiques are expressions of commitment to democracy and the power of popular struggles. 'Progressive legislation and social welfare,' writes Chomsky, 'have been won by popular struggles, not gifts from above.

Those struggles follow a cycle of success and setback. They must be waged every day, not just once every four years, always with the goal of creating a genuinely responsive democratic society, from the voting booth to the workplace.'

Making the Future offers fierce, accessible, timely, gloves-off political writing by one of the world's foremost intellectual and political dissidents.

'Chomsky is one of a small band of individuals fighting a whole industry. And that makes him not only brilliant, but heroic.' Arundhati Roy

       'The future's already here: it's just not evenly distributed' William Gibson was writing fiction when he predicted the internet. And as his stories bled into reality so he became one of the first to report on the real-world consequences of cyberspace's growth and development. Now, with the dust settling on the first internet revolution, comes Gibson's first collection of non-fiction - essays from the technological and cultural frontiers of this new world. Covering a variety of subjects, they include: Metrophagy - the Art and Science of Digesting Great Cities; An account of obsession in 'the world's attic' - eBay; Reasons why 'The Net is a Waste of Time'; Singapore as 'Disneyland with the Death Penalty'' A primer on Japan, our default setting for the future. These and many other pieces, collected for the first time in Distrust that Particular Flavour, are studded with revealing autobiographical fragments and map the development of Gibson's acute perceptions about modern life.

Author Biography: William Gibson's first novel Neuromancer has sold more than six million copies worldwide. In an earlier story he had invented the term 'cyberspace'; a concept he developed in the novel, creating an iconography for the Information Age long before the invention of the Internet. The book won three major literary prizes. He has since written nine further novels, most recently Zero History. William Gibson was born in South Carolina but has lived for many years in Vancouver.                                            

       This is the most complete history of fiction in English ever published. The world's greatest authority - arguably the only person who could have written it, John Sutherland - provides the lives of some 294 novelists writing in English, from the genre's seventeenth-century origins to the present day. Arranged in chronological order the novelist's lives are opinionated, informative, frequently funny and often shocking. Professor Sutherland's authors come from all over the world; their writings illustrate every kind of fiction from gothic, penny dreadfuls and pornography to fantasy, romance and high literature. The book shows the changing forms of the genre, and how the aspirations of authors to divert and sometimes to educate their readers, has in some respects, radically changed over the centuries, and in others - such as their interest in sex and relationships - remained remarkably constant.


Author Biography: John Sutherland is Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of English Literature at University College London. Twice on the Booker committee, in 2005 as chairman, he is a regular columnist and critic on radio and television. His books include How to Read a Novel (Profile), a bestselling trilogy on literary mysteries, and the moving memoir Last Drink to LA.                                            

These nuggets of wisdom are offered by an Academy Award-nominated actor (James Woods), a popular comedian (Aasif Mandvi), and a world-famous novelist (Jodi Picoult) to their sixteen-year-old selves. No matter how accomplished and confident they seem today, at sixteen, they were like the rest of us--often unsure, frequently confused, and usually in need of a little reassurance. <p>In Dear Me, 75 celebrities, writers, musicians, athletes, and actors have written letters to their younger selves that give words of comfort, warning, humor, and advice. These letters present intimate, moving, and witty insights into some of the world's most intriguing and admired individuals. By turns funny, surprising, raw, and uplifting, this singular collection captures the universal conditions that are youth, life, and growing up.

In The Best Australian Poems 2011, renowned poet John Tranter selects the finest poems written by Australians over the past year. The vibrant and unforgettable voices of established poets blend seamlessly with the fresh voices of emerging poets in this sublime collection. Previous contributors include Judith Beveridge, Stephen Edgar, Sandy Fitts, Lisa Gorton, Clive James, Paul Kelly, John Kinsella, David Malouf, Peter Minter, Les Murray, Dorothy Porter, Peter Rose, Craig Sherborne, Alicia Sometimes, Chris Wallace-Crabb and many more.

Author Biography: John Tranter is the author of Urban Myths: 210 Poems - New and Selected and Starlight: 150 Poems.                                            

In The Best Australian Essays 2011, Ramona Koval compiles a diverse and invigorating collection of the year's best non-fiction. Describing world-altering events as well as moments of introspection, and ranging from the provocative to the life affirming, these illuminating essays are certain to stimulate conversation for years to come. Previous contributors include Helen Garner, J.M. Coetzee, Tim Flannery, Inga Clendinnen, Robyn Davidson, Clive James, Chloe Hooper, David Marr, David Malouf, Robert Manne, Noel Pearson and many more.

Author Biography: Ramona Koval has published several books, including Samovar and Speaking Volumes: Conversations with Remarkable Writers.                                            

In The Best Australian Stories 2011, Cate Kennedy selects the year's most outstanding short fiction. Featuring much loved masters as well as exciting new voices, this book is a perfect introduction to Australia's best contemporary fiction. Previous contributors include Nam Le, Kate Grenville, David Malouf, Tim Winton, Mandy Sayer, DBC Pierre, Frank Moorhouse, Karen Hitchcock, Peter Goldsworthy, Marion Halligan, Venero Armanno and many more.

Author Biography: Cate Kennedy is the author of the critically acclaimed short-story collection Dark Roots and the novel The World Beneath, as well as poetry collections and a travel memoir.                                            

Glamour. Flair. Style. Panache. Call it what you will, the women who feature in this collection of interviews and essays on style from Clare Press, have it in spades. 

Clare, one of Australia's most accomplished fashion writers, has collected advice on how to live well from women who know –icons such as Diana Vreeland, Wallis Simpson and Elsie de Wolfe, as well as her favourite local style-setters and chicest friends.

Whether you want tips on how to shop, how to host (and dress for) an indulgent afternoon tea, how to choose the perfect gift or how to live lavishly on a limited budget, you will find them here, along with timeless words of wisdom on subjects such as why manners matter and the joys of fine lingerie.

Interspersed with Clare's own thoughts on clothes and what they mean to us, and beautifully photographed, this book is a celebration of all things chic and delicious. In Clare's opinion, the dressing table is a 'licence to embrace sheer undisguised prettiness'. Why not join her?