Open Road: 9207 books

The classic satirical play about England’s upper class from a master dramatist.   Centering on a long-concealed secret, A Woman of No Importance, like many of Oscar Wilde’s plays, satirizes England’s upper class.   A house party is in full swing at Lady Hunstanton’s country home, when it...

Collected here in a single volume are the most important philosophical writings of Albert Schweitzer, one of the greatest thinkers and humanitarians of our time. Carefully chosen from among his many written works, the selections in this anthology illuminate and amplify Dr. Schweitzer’s cardinal...

Compelling collections of short fiction and essays by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple and “marvelous writer” (San Francisco Chronicle).   Whether she is writing fiction or nonfiction, sharing personal reflections or expressing political views, Alice Walker is without question...

The “dazzling” and essential portrayal of 1960s America from the author of South and West and The Year of Magical Thinking (The New York Times). Capturing the tumultuous landscape of the United States, and in particular California, during a pivotal era of social change, the first work of...

New York Times Bestseller: An “elegant” mosaic of trenchant observations on the late sixties and seventies from the author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem (The New Yorker). In this landmark essay collection, Joan Didion brilliantly interweaves her own “bad dreams” with those of a nation...

The Pulitzer Prize winner explores the literary joys of sci-fi and superheroes, gumshoes and goblins, and the stories that bring us together. “I read for entertainment, and I write to entertain. Period.” Such is the manifesto of Michael Chabon, an author of indisputable literary renown...

The only play by famed Scottish author Muriel Spark takes on the dilemmas of two intellectually ambitious women in 1960s England In a home overlooking London’s Regent’s Canal in the 1960s, two scholars debate the choices they have made with their lives. Catherine Delfont was one of the...

“[Cooke is] one of the most gifted and urbane essayists of the century, a supreme master.” —The Spectator As the voice of the BBC’s Letter from America for close to six decades, Alistair Cooke addressed several millions of listeners on five continents. They tuned in every Friday evening...

A provocative collection of letters to his longtime friend and translator that spans Einstein’s career and reveals the inner thoughts and daily life of a transformative genius From their early days as tutor and scholar discussing philosophy over Spartan dinners to their work together to publish...

Incisive essays on Patty Hearst and Reagan, the Central Park jogger and the Santa Ana winds, from the New York Times–bestselling author of South and West. In these eleven essays covering the national scene from Washington, DC; California; and New York, the acclaimed author of Slouching Towards...

A distinguished collection of essays on language, literature, and philosophy from acclaimed scholar and critic George Steiner On Difficulty is as provocative and relevant today as when its essays were first published. Ranging from critical topics such as the understanding of language to the...

From Dickens to Wilde—literary criticism and personal reflections by a master “unmatched . . . in his uncanny psychological insights” (The New York Times). Graham Greene shares his love affair with reading in this collection of essays, memories, and critical considerations, both affectionate...

Writings on the South, Catholicism, and more from the National Book Award winner: “His nonfiction is always entertaining and enlightening” (Library Journal). Published just after Walker Percy’s death, Signposts in a Strange Land takes readers through the philosophical, religious, and...

The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist’s early columns “peopled by some of the funniest, looniest and saddest characters anywhere outside of a zoo” (The New York Times). In the 1960s, as the once-proud New York Herald Tribune spiraled into bankruptcy, the brightest light in its pages...