"An enthralling collection of nonfiction essays on a myriad of topics--from art and artists to dreams, myths, and memories--observed in #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman's probing, amusing, and distinctive style. An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, The View from the Cheap...

"A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor--these form a series of events that change the orphan Pip's life forever, as he abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens's novel depicts Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers the...

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.

This complete study edition of William Shakespeare's classic comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream includes background on Shakespeare's life and Renaissance theater, questions, writing ideas, and projects.

"The Gilded Page is the story of the written word in the pre-Gutenberg age. Ranging from the earliest intact book in Europe, to the only known literary manuscript to be written in Shakespeare's hand, scholar Mary Wellesley reveals the secret lives of these literary and artistic treasures. Traipsing through the remarkable history, she recounts fires (the only surviving Beowulf manuscript is singed at its edges, losing a bit of its matter every decade)...

The debate over the true author of Shakespeare's body of work (some of which was published under the name "Shake-speare") began not long after the death of William Shakespeare, the obscure actor and entrepreneur from Stratford-upon-Avon who was conventionally assumed to be the author. There were natural doubts that an uneducated son of a glover who never left England and apparently owned no books could have produced some of the greatest works of Western...