UNITED STATES AUTHOR · JUVENILE · BIOGRAPHY
Russell Shorto
Russell Anthony Shorto (born February 8, 1959) is an American author, historian, and journalist. He is best known for his book on the Dutch origins of New York City, The Island at the Center of the World. Shorto's research for the book relied greatly on the work of the New Netherland Project, now known as the New Netherland Research Center, as well as the New Netherland Institute. Shorto has been the New Netherland Institute's Senior Scholar since 2013. In November 2017, he published Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom, which tells the story of the American Revolution through the eyes of six Americans from vastly different walks of life.
Most acclaimed
Edgar Allan Poe
1963
"Charlatan, plagiarist, pathological liar, whimpering child, egomaniac, braggart, and irresponsible drunkard, he did what few American writers had ever tried to do before: he tapped the rich reservoir of the subconscious mind to set free the terrible images which had seldom been allowed to stalk the printed page." Thus in his introduction to this collection Philip Van Doren Stern sums up the strange genius of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America's most original men of letters. The Portable Poe compiles Poe's greatest writings: tales of fan- tasy, terror, death, revenge, murder, and mystery, including "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the world's first detective story. In addition, this vol-ume offers letters, articles, criticism, visionary poetry, and a selection of random "opinions" on fancy and the imagination, music and poetry, intuition and sundry other topics. --back cover
Jane Fonda
1982
A biography of the film actress known for her political activism during the Vietnam War and her more recent physical fitness programs.
J.R.R. Tolkien
"Recent polls have consistently declared that J. R. R. Tolkien is "the most influential author of the century" and The Lord of the Rings is "the book of the century." In support of these claims, Tom Shippey, a prominent medievalist and scholar of fantasy, now presents us with a fascinating companion to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, focusing in particular on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.". "The core of the book consists of three chapters that examine The Lord of the Rings as a linguistic and cultural map, as a twisted web of story, and as a response to the meaning of myth. Shippey presents a unique argument to explain the nature of evil and gives readers a compelling insight into the complicated interweaving of the many strands of the story. Other chapters examine The Hobbit, explaining the hobbits' anachronistic relationship to the heroic world of Middle-earth; show the fundamental importance of The Silmarillion to Tolkien's canon; and take an illuminating look at Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, and other lesser-known works in connection with Tolkien's life."--BOOK JACKET.