"[This book is] a classic memoir of self-invention in a strange land: Ian Buruma's unflinching account of his amazing journey into the heart of Tokyo's underground culture as a young man in the 1970's"--Amazon.com.

"A debut book by the education columnist for Slate traces her experiences as a Jewish teen intellectual whose fateful relationship with a boy who introduced her to Kafka inspired her love for German language and culture"--NoveList.

"Poet Laureate Joy Harjo offers a vivid, lyrical, and inspiring call for love and justice in this contemplation of her trailblazing life. In the second memoir from the first Native American to serve as US poet laureate, Joy Harjo invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road. A musical, kaleidoscopic meditation, Poet Warrior reveals how Harjo came to write poetry of compassion and healing, poetry...

"A lyrical and evocative collection of personal stories from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, in which the queen of wanderlust reflects on the comforts of home. While Frances Mayes is known for her travels, she has always sought a sense of home wherever she goes. In this poetic testament to the power of place in our lives, Mayes reflects on "home," from the earliest imprint of four walls to the startling discoveries...

Charlie Howard travels the globe writing suspense novels for a living. To supplement his income--and keep his hand in--Charlie has a small side business: stealing for a very discreet clientele on commission. When a mysterious American offers Charlie 20,000 euros to steal two small monkey figurines to match the one he already has, Charlie is suspicious; the job seems too good to be true, and of course, it is: He soon finds the American beaten nearly...

"An unconventional guide to the English language drawn from the cross-country adventures of an itinerant grammarian"--Provided by publisher. When Jovin first walked outside her Manhattan apartment building and set up a folding table with a Grammar Table sign, it took about thirty seconds to get her first visitor. Everyone had a question for her. Jovin soon took it on the road, traveling across the US to answer questions from anyone who uses words...

"It is 1961 and the artist Agnes Pelton, nearly eighty, is close to death. Surrounded by a few of her cherished paintings and the boxes that contain her memorabilia -- her papers -- she pours out her story and shares her secrets at last. Born into a family ruined by the famous Beecher-Tilton scandal, Agnes's life is complicated by poor health and intense shyness as she grows up with her mother and grandmother in a darkly draped Brooklyn house. Always...

"Lynn Freed's deeply personal essays explore our most quintessential question: What makes a home? From very early on she had imagined for herself an ideal life: a stranger in a strange place: someone just arrived, just about to leave, and always with a home to return to. As a teenager on an exchange program to the U.S., she had made up fantastic reasons to escape high school in the suburbs and spend her time in New York City. Accepting a marriage...

"A luminous, wise, and joyful insight into what really matters at the end of a long life, from the beloved author of the award-winning Somewhere Towards the End. What will you remember if you live to be 100? Diana Athill charmed readers with her prize-winning memoir Somewhere Towards the End, which transformed her into an unexpected literary star. Now, on the eve of her ninety-eighth birthday, Athill has written a sequel every bit as unsentimental,...

"The astonishing story of twenty-four British prisoners who used tunnels to break out of a highly fortified Italian castle-turned-prison during World War II. In March 1943, at Vincigliata Castle, a menacing medieval fortress set in the beautiful Tuscan hills of Italy, an extraordinary assemblage of middle-aged British POWs were finally ready to execute an escape. The castle, which became a special prisoner of war camp on Benito Mussolini's personal...