Elegy plus comedy is the only way to express how we live in the world today, says a character in Sigrid Nunez’s ninth novel. The Vulnerables offers a meditation on our contemporary era, as a solitary female narrator asks what it means to be alive at this complex moment in history and considers how our present reality affects the way a person looks back on her past.

Humor, to be sure, is a priceless refuge. Equally vital is connection with others, who here include an adrift member of Gen Z and a spirited parrot named Eureka. The Vulnerables reveals what happens when strangers are willing to open their hearts to each other and how far even small acts of caring can go to ease another’s distress.

A search for understanding about some of the most critical matters of our time, Nunez’s new novel is also an inquiry into the nature and purpose of writing itself.

In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America's finest writers. "Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature." --The Guardian

It's spring and Lara's three grown daughters have returned to the family orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the one story they've always longed to hear – of the film star with whom she shared a stage, and a romance, years before.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.

Mirar con las palabras, con los nervios, los latidos, contemplar el cielo con el asombro del verso contenido, encender la hierba y los insectos, saber del aroma y del recuerdo. Ventanas ofrece una contemplación al paisaje y también a las emociones, a los deseos y la inquietud existencial. Gracias a los cristales de esta poesía podemos asumir el instante de la germinación, el trasunto de las nubes pensativas o sentir la vibración de las moléculas, las células en su afán metafísico de construir.

Pero Ventanas va más allá del asombro de la observación es una apuesta por el lenguaje y el verso dilatado, por los senderos de la métrica y los espacios de la hoja para labrar una sombra, dibujar un astro o iluminar el acto amoroso, los poemas nos permiten asomarnos a la vida retratada y a la reflexión del tiempo disfrazado de lluvia, de flores indolentes, de tersura en el campo de voces, árboles y sonidos.

The various crises we experience in society and culture today, at their root, reveal a spiritual problem: a profound lack of meaning. The mystical truths revealed in scripture can surely help.

Part One, "Entering the Desert," introduces the reader to principles of awareness, deep listening, and contemplation as essential for “hearing” what Scripture has to say.

Part Two details the importance of mystery and struggle in the process of healing from any past or present wounds.

Part Three explores the “undivided heart” that is possible when we come to know God in silence and stillness.

With Be Still and Listen, it is possible to explore the contemplative dimensions of the Bible, either on your own or in a group setting, as you perhaps never have before.

Tehlikeli Oyunlar is a striking and jarring novel that calls upon the individual to perceive the struggle and triumph over one's self as a vital issue. The main character, Hikmet Benol, delves into the underlying realities of the intense turmoil in society. He senses that genuinely engaging with these truths is seen as dangerous by those in power.

As a result, Hikmet explores ways to engage with life as if playing a game. He embarks on a journey filled with both danger and play, pushing himself to the limits of where this path can lead.

Along the streets of Manhattan, a young Nigerian doctor doing his residency wanders aimlessly. The walks meet a need for Julius: they are a release from the tightly regulated mental environment of work, and they give him the opportunity to process his relationships, his recent breakup with his girlfriend, his present, his past.

But it is not only a physical landscape he covers; Julius crisscrosses social territory as well, encountering people from different cultures and classes who will provide insight on his journey—which takes him to Brussels, to the Nigeria of his youth, and into the most unrecognizable facets of his own soul.

This haunting novel about national identity, race, liberty, loss, dislocation, and surrender, seethes with intelligence. Written in a clear, rhythmic voice that lingers, this book is a mature, profound work by an important new author who has much to say about our world.

A nameless character. A faceless figure. A disturbing, thought-provoking journey through the facts of the world we live in that we often refuse to acknowledge.

By taking full advantage of their author's lack of identity and extreme levels of introspection, The Unwords unleash a full scale attack on all fronts of cultural and social decay. Education, religion, politics, language, relationships and common every day social activities are stripped down to their bare foundations and deconstructed through the eyes of a man who has rejected any notion of self in his quest for truth and justice.

Written in fluent poetic verse which expands into full-page illustrations that carry the theme into artistic territory, the words blend seamlessly with the arts as they form novel-like chapters; a new, refreshing form of writing known as "Graphic-verse."

Originally published in 2012, The Unwords introduced Graphic-verse to the public and readers quickly embraced this newly created genre. This expanded second edition of The Unwords features 35 pages of additional material, including 54 full color illustrations as well as an introduction by the author himself, revealing his entire creative process, his influences, as well as his motivations and the reasoning behind the book's unusual structure.

Words are meant to be spoken. In a dishonest world, what remains unspoken can only be the truth. In a dishonest world... the pen is never mightier than the sword!

Maira Kalman paints her highly personal worldview in this inimitable combination of image and text. The Principles of Uncertainty is an irresistible invitation to experience life through a beloved artist's psyche. It is a compilation of Maira Kalman's New York Times columns.

Part personal narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, part chapbook, and all Kalman, these brilliant, whimsical paintings, ideas, and images—which initially appear random—ultimately form an intricately interconnected worldview, an idiosyncratic inner monologue.

Kalman contends with some existential questions: What is identity? What is happiness? Why do we fight wars? And then, of course, death, love, and candy (not necessarily in that order).

De Avonden vertelt het verhaal van Frits van Egters, die in de donkere decemberdagen van vlak na de Tweede Wereldoorlog zich een houding probeert te geven tegenover zijn ouders en vrienden. Over alles ligt een grijze waas van melancholie, en met zijn eigenzinnige gevoel voor humor probeert hij door het pantser van de verveling te breken.

In het ontroerende slothoofdstuk komt hij tot het louterende inzicht dat hij door te kijken en te observeren de zinloosheid heeft bezworen: 'Het is gezien, het is niet onopgemerkt gebleven.'

Without Dogma is a departure from Henryk Sienkiewicz's famous historical novels, diving into the realm of contemporary issues faced by late nineteenth-century individuals. This novel provides a profound exploration of a man's existential struggles, as he grapples with a life devoid of moral principles and lasting purpose.

Without Dogma is a psychological novel where the romantic plot serves as a backdrop to delve deep into the hero's mental states and self-analysis. It presents a vivid portrayal of the hero's introspection and existential questioning. This has led to heated discussions regarding the book's stance on morality.

For many young readers, Without Dogma was seen as a reflection of their generation's plight. The novel's lack of explicit condemnation of the main character sparked significant debate, making it a significant cultural piece of its time.

On the eve of his move to a new, more desirable residence, Professor Godfrey St. Peter finds himself in the shabby study of his former home. Surrounded by the comforting, familiar sights of his past, he surveys his life and the people he has loved — his wife Lillian, his daughters, and Tom Outland, his most outstanding student and once, his son-in-law to be.

Enigmatic and courageous — and a tragic victim of the Great War — Tom has remained a source of inspiration to the professor. But he has also left behind him a troubling legacy which has brought betrayal and fracture to the women he loves most.

Willa Cather's "The Professor's House" is a richly layered exploration of discontent and nostalgia set against the backdrop of early 20th-century America. The novel interweaves the life of Professor Godfrey St. Peter with the haunting influence of his past and the changing landscape around him. Cather's exquisite prose balances lyrical description with stark realism, reflecting the tension between the academic world and the natural beauty of the New Mexico landscape.

The narrative structure, oscillating between the present and St. Peter's memories, invites readers to ponder themes of identity, success, and the search for meaning amidst societal expectations.

The 25th Hour is an absorbing novel of crime, its terrifying consequences, and a bond that redefines the friendship of three restless young men. Wall Street speculators, the Manhattan downtown club scene, Russian gangsters, immigrant neighborhoods - all the elements in the urban turf of this finely crafted contemporary crime novel wed danger with excitement and possibility.

They're the rewards that Monty Brogan, who stands at the center of the moral glare in this tale, has already lost, just as he's lost his Corvette, and the "sway" that opened the doors of exclusive night spots and guaranteed him courtside seats at Madison Square Garden.

Tomorrow Monty's traveling by bus, to the federal prison in Otisville, for seven years. He's afraid, and all he'd ever really wanted when he grew up was to be a fireman.

With the pulse of the city in its prose, this debut novel follows Monty through the twenty-four hours of his last day out. At the same time, it illuminates the worlds, and souls, of his two best friends: Frank Slattery, an edgy bond trader who gambles daily with financial ruin, and Jakob Elinsky, an English teacher who clings to illusions as he compromises his ideals.

Friends since their high school days, the three of them nostalgically share a past, but warily they confront a future that can no longer accommodate their adolescent dreams. They meet, drink, talk, go clubbing, dance, and remember. What neither Slattery nor Jakob know, however, is that Monty has a plan. It's a shocker.

Hubert Selby Jr. is one of the most acclaimed novelists in the English language. Known for his controversial cult classic, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Selby began his literary career as a writer of short fiction. He excels in this form, plunging the reader into the densely realized worlds of his protagonists, where the details of daily life intermingle with obsession and madness.

Although fundamentally concerned with morality, Selby's humility prevents him from preaching. Instead, he offers a passionate empathy for the ordinary dreams and aspirations of his characters, showcasing a brilliant ear for the urban vernacular and the voices of conscience and self-deceit that torment them.

Song of the Silent Snow is a collection that reflects these themes, offering a profound insight into the human condition through Selby's masterful storytelling.

In a rural Kentucky river town, "Old Jack" Beechum, a retired farmer, sees his life again through the shades of one burnished day in September 1952. Bringing the earthiness of America's past to mind, The Memory of Old Jack conveys the truth and integrity of the land and the people who live from it.

Through the eyes of one man can be seen the values Americans strive to recapture as we arrive at the next century.

Krapp's Last Tape & Embers is a compelling collection of two plays by the legendary Samuel Beckett. In the first play, an old man records his comments as he listens to a tape recording of his own observations on how life felt when he was 39.

In the second play, a man strolling along the seashore recalls his deceased father while other familiar voices from the past speak to him. These works brilliantly display the unique quality of Beckett's vision, offering a profound look into the themes of memory, aging, and existential reflection.

Returning from a visit to her daughter in Iraq, Joan Scudamore finds herself unexpectedly alone and stranded in an isolated rest house due to flooding of the railway tracks. This sudden solitude compels Joan to assess her life for the first time ever and face up to many of the truths about herself.

Looking back over the years, Joan painfully re-examines her attitudes, relationships, and actions, becoming increasingly uneasy about the person who is revealed to her. This journey of self-discovery and emotional reflection unveils the complexities of her inner world, offering readers a profound psychological drama.

Dreamtigers has been heralded as one of the literary masterpieces of the twentieth century. It is acknowledged by its author, Jorge Luis Borges, as his most personal work. Composed of poems, parables, stories, sketches, and apocryphal quotations, Dreamtigers appears at first glance to be a dazzling sampler of the master's work. However, upon closer examination, the reader discovers the book to be a subtly and organically unified self-revelation.

Dreamtigers explores the mysterious territory that lies between the dreams of the creative artist and the "real" world. The central vision of the work is that of a recluse in the "enveloping serenity" of a library, looking ahead to the time when he will have disappeared but in the timeless world of his books will continue his dialogue with the immortals of the past—Homer, Don Quixote, Shakespeare. Like Homer, the maker of these dreams is afflicted with failing sight. Still, he dreams of tigers, real and imagined, and reflects upon a life that, above all, has been intensely introspective, a life of calm self-possession and absorption in the world of the imagination. At the same time, he is keenly aware of that other Borges, the public figure about whom he reads with mixed emotions: "It's the other one, it's Borges, that things happen to."