In sixteen spirited essays, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alison Lurie, who is also one of our wittiest and most astute cultural commentators, explores the world of children's literature--from Lewis Carroll to Dr. Seuss, Mark Twain to Beatrix Potter--an
"Are those artists, Mom, or are they real people?" asks a child visiting Illyria, a luxurious retreat for successful and not-so-successful writers, painters, and musicians. On the first day of her stay, Janet Smith likens Illyria to heaven--and its guests
The War Between The Tates subtly dissects the disintegration of a perfect marriage. Brian Tate and his wife Erica seem to have it all: a strong relationship, beautiful children, good friends and enough money. But when Brian, a middle-aged professor of pol
Faculty wife Emily Stockwell Turner is beautiful, rich, and principled. However, five years in a marriage devoid of passion and virtuosity is enough to propel Emmy, despite herself, into an affair with cocky, silver-tongued Will Thomas, a music instructor
Like a loyal Victorian wife, Jenny has devoted her life to her much older husband, the famous writer and naturalist Wilkie Walker, bringing up their children and researching and editing his best-selling books. But this year, as winter approaches, Wilkie i
With tales exquisitely strange and perfectly told, the best-selling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Foreign Affairs delights us yet again with nine tales of women and of the unexpected.
In the name of sociological research, two scientists infiltrate the ranks of the Truth Seekers--a rather ridiculous small-town cult whose credo involves sex, spiritualism, and a flying saucer messiah. Exposed to the persuasive energies of a sensuous high
Most people think of fairy tales as having been created anonymously and almost magically long ago, and later discovered and recorded by scholars such as the Brothers Grimm. In fact original fairy tales are still being written. Over the last century and a
