{"title":"The Edit by Pegah Farahmand","description":"\u003cp\u003eI don’t know of anything more powerful than literature. This thing that weighs hardly anything and fits in your pocket contains the power to expand and transform us. My mother was a librarian in Tehran and for as long as I can remember it was drilled into my head that nothing is more valuable than a library card. I have an eclectic selection here. I love classic literature thanks to my voracious reader of a brother who forced it on me when we were kids. I tried to move beyond the classics for this list, but I love the Russians. I love Shakespeare. I love Southern Gothic literature. Whenever I sit down to read, I stand up transformed in one way or another. And I’m always surprised by my own ignorance.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSufi poetry is the most grounding force in my life. Without it I would be a wreck. My mother sends me one poem a week via voice note, usually a passage from Rumi. Chekhov’s plays are like a crystal clear lake reflecting the landscape around it; a perfect mirror of ourselves. Yeats is the occult master. I still find much of his poetry slightly out of reach, but I allow myself to get lost in his mystical diction. Faulkner is the greatest modernist. His prose feels more contemporary to me than anything else today, and reading him is a painful, bodily, cathartic experience. I'm in love with Omar Sharif and his tortured eyes; I want to know anything and everything about his life. I have a weird obsession with Joyce Carol Oates’s essay on Mike Tyson. Lydia Davis’s dry sensibility cuts through my heart every time I read her stories. And finally The Pillow Book lights up my imagination; it was written in imperial Japan around the year 1000 by a fabulous young woman, Sei Shōnagon. Peter Greenaway’s 1996 film adaptation is also a favorite of mine.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-pillow-book-sei-shonagon","title":"The Pillow Book — Sei Shōnagon","description":"\u003cp\u003e'A mistress of wry observation and scalding wit ... The Pillow Book retains its fresh, authentic appeal more than 1,000 years after its inception' \u003cem\u003eJapan Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten by the court gentlewoman Sei Shonagon as a journal for her own amusement, \u003cem\u003eThe Pillow Book\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the greatest works of Japanese literature. A fascinating exploration of life amongst the nobility at the height of the idyllic Heian period, it describes the exquisite pleasures of a confined world in which poetry, love, fashion and whim dominated. From brief reflections to longer, lyrical tales, Shonagon moves elegantly across themes including nature, society and her own flirtations and frustrations, to provide a witty, unique insight into a woman's life at court in classical Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranslated with an introduction by Meredith McKinney. Penguin Classics, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448809779545,"sku":"9780140448061","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9780140448061.jpg?v=1794408887"},{"product_id":"diaries-1898-1902-alma-mahler-werfel","title":"Diaries 1898–1902 — Alma Mahler-Werfel","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in 1879 in Vienna, Alma Mahler-Werfel was the daughter of the popular landscape painter, Emil J. Schindler. Her stepfather, Carl Moll, was instrumental in forming the Secession movement and she became the pupil, friend and lover of many famous men, including Alexander Zemlinsky, Gustav Klimt and Max Burckhard. In 1902 she married Gustav Mahler. After his death she married Walter Gropius, had a liaison with Oskar Kokoschka, and later married Franz Werfel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a young girl she began writing a diary. This selection from four years of that diary gives a breathtaking (and breathless) account of cultural life in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century. With their mixture of beady-eyed observation and impassioned confession, the pages of Alma Mahler-Werfel's diary make for gripping reading.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelected and translated by Antony Beaumont. Faber \u0026amp; Faber, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Faber \u0026 Faber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810402137,"sku":"9780571197255","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9780571197255.jpg?v=1794408898"},{"product_id":"on-boxing-joyce-carol-oates","title":"On Boxing — Joyce Carol Oates","description":"\u003cp\u003eJoyce Carol Oates explores the world of professional boxing, examining the subject from many angles: boxing as metaphor, spectacle and history, boxing as seen in literature and film and by women. The author chronicles many famous figures such as Jack Dempsey, Barry McGuigan, Joe Louis and others. Oates writes of \"stiffs and bums\" who make a living out of losing and the big-earning champs like Ali who made $70 million with his fists. She explores boxing's links with racism and the violent streets - long the recruiting ground for generations of professional pugilists.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoyce Carol Oates is also author of the novel \u003cem\u003eMarya: A Life\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eA Garden of Earthly Delights\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThem\u003c\/em\u003e, winner of the 1970 National Book Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBloomsbury, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810467673,"sku":"9780747537663","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9780747537663.jpg?v=1794408901"},{"product_id":"the-poems-w-b-yeats","title":"The Poems — W. B. Yeats","description":"\u003cp\u003eA leader of the twentieth-century Irish nationalist movement, who eventually became one of the Free States's senators, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is also the greatest poet that nation has yet produced. The present selection includes poetry from every period in life, dealing with all the topics closest to his heart: love, death, old age, ambition, the poet's craft, and of course the history and destiny of Ireland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryman's Library, hardback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Everyman's Library","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810598745,"sku":"9781857151039","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9781857151039.jpg?v=1794408903"},{"product_id":"as-i-lay-dying-william-faulkner","title":"As I Lay Dying — William Faulkner","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe death and burial of Addie Bundren is told by members of her family, as they cart the coffin to Jefferson, Mississippi, to bury her among her people. And as the intense desires, fears and rivalries of the family are revealed in the vernacular of the Deep South, Faulkner presents a portrait of extraordinary power - as epic as the Old Testament, as American as Huckleberry Finn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVintage Classics, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810664281,"sku":"9780099479314","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9780099479314.jpg?v=1794408906"},{"product_id":"lapvona-ottessa-moshfegh","title":"Lapvona — Ottessa Moshfegh","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to Lapvona. In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself at the centre of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiscover the Sunday Times bestselling novel from the author of \u003cem\u003eMy Year of Rest and Relaxation\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'One of the most provocative reads of the year' \u003cem\u003ei Newspaper\u003c\/em\u003e · 'Disturbingly funny' \u003cem\u003eObserver, Books of the Year\u003c\/em\u003e · 'An addictive read . . . with a chequered cast of misfits, despots and unholy souls' \u003cem\u003eThe Face\u003c\/em\u003e · 'One of America's most exciting - and most provocative - young novelists' \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e · 'Lapvona deserves all the hype it's received and more' \u003cem\u003ei-D\u003c\/em\u003e · 'Brace yourselves' \u003cem\u003eStylist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVintage, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810795353,"sku":"9781529115727","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9781529115727.jpg?v=1794408908"},{"product_id":"plays-anton-chekhov","title":"Plays — Anton Chekhov","description":"\u003cp\u003eFive masterful dramatic works from one of the world's best-loved playwrights, Anton Chekhov's \u003cem\u003ePlays\u003c\/em\u003e is translated with notes by Peter Carson, and an introduction by Richard Gilman in Penguin Classics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt a time when the Russian theatre was dominated by formulaic melodramas and farces, Chekhov created a new sort of drama that laid bare the everyday lives, loves and yearnings of ordinary people. \u003cem\u003eIvanov\u003c\/em\u003e depicts a man stifled by inactivity and lost idealism, and \u003cem\u003eThe Seagull\u003c\/em\u003e contrasts a young man's selfish romanticism with the stoicism of a woman cruelly abandoned by her lover. With 'the scenes from country life' of \u003cem\u003eUncle Vanya\u003c\/em\u003e, his first fully mature play, Chekhov developed his own unique dramatic world, neither tragedy nor comedy. In \u003cem\u003eThree Sisters\u003c\/em\u003e the Prozorov sisters endlessly dream of going to Moscow to escape the monotony of provincial life, while his comedy \u003cem\u003eThe Cherry Orchard\u003c\/em\u003e portrays characters futilely clinging to the past as their land is sold from underneath them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeter Carson's moving translations convey Chekhov's subtle blend of comedy, tragedy and psychological insight. In his introduction, Richard Gilman examines how Chekhov broke with theatrical conventions and discusses each play in detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnton Chekhov (1860-1904) was born in Taganrog, a port on the sea of Azov. In 1879 he travelled to Moscow, where he entered the medical faculty of the university, graduating in 1884. During his university years, he supported his family by contributing humorous stories and sketches to magazines. He published his first volume of stories, \u003cem\u003eMotley Tales\u003c\/em\u003e, in 1886, and a year later his second volume \u003cem\u003eIn the Twilight\u003c\/em\u003e, for which he received the Pushkin Prize. Today his plays are recognised as masterpieces the world over.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePenguin Classics, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810860889,"sku":"9780140447330","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9780140447330.jpg?v=1794408911"},{"product_id":"the-rubaiyat-omar-khayyam","title":"The Ruba'iyat — Omar Khayyam","description":"\u003cp\u003eRevered in eleventh-century Persia as an astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, Omar Khayyam is now known first and foremost for his \u003cem\u003eRuba'iyat\u003c\/em\u003e. The short epigrammatic stanza form allowed poets of his day to express personal feelings, beliefs and doubts with wit and clarity, and Khayyam became one of its most accomplished masters with his touching meditations on the transience of human life and of the natural world. One of the supreme achievements of medieval literature, the reckless romanticism and the pragmatic fatalism in the face of death means these verses continue to hold the imagination of modern readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs. Penguin Classics, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810926425,"sku":"9780140443844","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9780140443844.jpg?v=1794408913"},{"product_id":"the-collected-stories-lydia-davis","title":"The Collected Stories — Lydia Davis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Collected Stories of Lydia Davis\u003c\/em\u003e is the complete collection of short fiction from the world-renowned Lydia Davis. Winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2013.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Daring, excitingly intelligent and often wildly comic ... This is a writer as mighty as Kafka, as subtle as Flaubert and as epoch-making, in her own way, as Proust ... She's a joy. There's no writer quite like her' \u003cem\u003eAli Smith\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'What stories. Precise and piercing, extremely funny. Nearly all are unlike anything you've ever read' \u003cem\u003eMetro\u003c\/em\u003e · 'A body of work probably unique in American writing, in its combination of lucidity, aphoristic brevity, formal originality, sly comedy, metaphysical bleakness, philosophical pressure and human wisdom' \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e · 'I felt I had encountered a most original and daring mind' \u003cem\u003eColm Tóibín, Daily Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLydia Davis is the author of one novel and seven story collections, the most recent of which was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and was named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government for her fiction and her translations of modern writers including Maurice Blanchot, Michel Leiris and Marcel Proust.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePenguin, paperback.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":60448810959193,"sku":"9780241969137","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/files\/9780241969137.jpg?v=1794408916"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0106\/3665\/6704\/collections\/sb-pegah-montserrat.jpg?v=1794409112","url":"https:\/\/sendb00ks.com\/collections\/the-edit.oembed","provider":"Sendb00ks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}