Faber & Faber – serie

The startling originality of Emily Dickinson's style condemned her poetry to obscurity during her lifetime, but her bold experiments in prosody, her tragic vision, and the range of her intellectual and emotional explorations have since won her international recognition as a poet of the highest order. The Complete Poems is the only one-volume edition containing all of Emily Dickinson's verse. In this landmark edition, the editor, Thomas H. Johnson, has presented the poems in their original contexts; and where alternate readings were suggested, he has chosen only those which the poet evidently preferred. His introduction includes a brief explanation of his selection of texts as well as an outline of Emily Dickinson's career.

From the author of Foster and the Booker Prize shortlisted Small Things Like These.'Perfect short stories.' Anne Enright'Breath-taking.' Irish Times'Her stories are as good as Chekhov.' David MitchellA writer alone at a retreat is faced with an unwelcome visitor. A priest seeks solace from a romantic memory. A farmhand regrets losing the finest woman in town. In this remarkable collection of stories, Claire Keegan observes an Ireland wrestling with its past.

The Sunday Times Top Ten BestsellerLonglisted for the Booker Prize'Books this good don't come along very often.' Maggie O'Farrell'A magically beguiling work, a triumph.' Financial Times 'A thing of total joy . . . thrums with rhythm and life.' ObserverNot far from London, there is a village. This village belongs to the people who live in it and to those who lived in it hundreds of years ago. It belongs to England's mysterious past and its confounding present. It belongs to families dead for generations, and to those who have only recently moved here, such as the boy Lanny, and his mum and dad.But it also belongs to Dead Papa Toothwort, who has woken from his slumber in the woods. Dead Papa Toothwort, who is listening to them all.'Startling, moving and overwhelming . . . Wonderful.' Daily Telegraph'A devastating, disquieting and exhilarating book.' Psychologies'Stunning and deeply affecting.' Nathan Filer'A remarkable feat of literary virtuosity.' Sunday TimesMax Porter's book Lanny was a #6 Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 04-03-2019Max Porter's book Lanny was a #6 Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 11-03-2019

This moving fable sees a young Greek writer set out to Crete to claim a small inheritance. But when he arrives, he meets Alexis Zorba, a middle-aged Greek man with a zest for life. Zorba has had a family and many lovers, has fought in the Balkan wars, has lived and loved - he is a simple but deep man who lives every moment fully and without shame. As their friendship develops, he is gradually won over, transformed and inspired along with the reader.Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis' most popular and enduring novel, has its origins in the author's own experiences in the Peleponnesus in the 1920s. His swashbuckling hero has legions of fans across the world and his adventures are as exhilarating now as they were on first publication in the 1950s.'There can never be any doubt that Kazantzakis was the possessor of genius.' Sunday Telegraph

'Brave, beautifully written and shrewdly researched . . . this is a riveting read by a writer at the top of her game.' The Times'Seldom have I read such an enthralling biography.' Literary Review'An exemplary Life, about a strange English writer of rare gifts and peculiar greatness.' Independent'As adventurous and intelligent as its roving subject.' Telegraph'Superb.' SpectatorA captivating authorised biography of the legendary writer Jan Morris.She was the twentieth century. Who wouldn't want to write her biography?When Jan Morris joined the 1953 Everest expedition and was first to get news of the ascent back to London, she became the most famous journalist in the world. So began a glittering career covering the Eichmann trial, interviewing Che Guevara and scooping the story of Suez collusion. Morris transitioned in the early seventies and documented the experience in Conundrum. She was a pioneer and her books, including Venice and the Pax Britannica trilogy, have inspired readers across the globe.Here, renowned travel writer and biographer Sara Wheeler uncovers the complexity of this twentieth-century icon to reveal a mosaic of contradictions. Morris's work conjured the spirit of place, yet her late masterpiece Trieste celebrates 'the meaning of nowhere'; she was a Welsh nationalist who wasn't Welsh; a preacher of kindness with a cruel side. This is a portrait of an astonishing life, and a scintillating story of longing, travel and never reaching home.'Wonderful.' Paul Theroux'Brilliant.' Simon Jenkins'Superb.' Colin Thubron'Breathtakingly good.' Michael Palin

The dystopian classic - which has sold over 25 million copies - introduced by Stephen King. When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong?ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD''The first book with hands - strong ones that reached out of the pages and seized me by the throat. It said to me, 'This is not just entertainment; it's life or death.' ... I've been thinking about it ever since, for fifty years and more.' Stephen King'One of my favorite books - I read it every couple of years.' Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger GamesINTRODUCED BY STEPHEN KING'There aren't any grown-ups anywhere.'A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they explore the dazzling beaches, gorging fruit, seeking shelter, and ripping off their uniforms to swim in the lagoon. At night, in the darkness of the jungle, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast. Orphaned by society, they must forge their own; but it isn't long before their innocent games devolve into something far more dangerous . . .'Thrills me with all the power a fiction can have ... Exemplary.' Ian McEwan'An existential fable backlit with death's incandescent glare.' Ben Okri'Violently real ... An apocalyptic novelist [who writes with] humanist rage and defiance.' Marlon James'Beautifully written, tragic and provocative.' E. M. Forster'A fragment of nightmare.' New Statesman'A post-apocalyptic, dystopian survivor-fantasy ... [A novel] for all time ... A cult classic.' Guardian'Stands out mightily in my memory ... Such a strong statement about the human heart.' Patricia Cornwell'Terrifying and haunting.' Kingsley AmisWhat readers are saying:'Every real human being should read this ... This is what we are.''It's brilliant, it's captivating, it's thought provoking and brutal and for some, its truly terrifying.''It can be read and re-read many times, and every time something new will appear.''There is a reason why this is studied at school ... Excellent read.''This is one of the few books I've read that I keep on my Kindle to read again.''I revisit this every few years and it's always fresh and impressive ... One of the best books I've ever read.'

**Featuring a new introduction by Jon Savage**Everything I've ever doneEverything I ever doEvery place I've ever beenEverywhere I'm going toOver a career that spans four decades and fourteen studio albums with Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant has consistently proved himself to be one of the most elegant and stylish of contemporary lyricists. Arranged alphabetically, One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem presents an overview of his considerable achievement as a chronicler of modern life: the romance, the break-ups, the aspirations, the changing attitudes, the history, the politics, the pain. The landscape of Tennant's lyrics is recognisably British in character - restrained and preoccupied with the mundane, occasionally satirical, yet also yearning for escape and theatrical release. Often surprisingly revealing, this volume is contextualised by a personal commentary on each lyric and an introduction by the author which gives a fascinating insight into the process and genesis of writing. Flamboyant, understated, celebratory and elegiac, Neil Tennant's lyrics are a document of our times.

It's the early 1990s in Glasgow, and Stephen - music loving romantic - has emerged from a lengthy hospital stay diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, a little-understood disease that has robbed him of any prospects of work, a social life or independent living. Meeting fellow strugglers, who the world seems to care less and less for, they form their own support group and try to get by as cheaply and as painlessly as possible.Finding that he has the ability to write songs, albeit in a slow and fledgling way, Stephen wakes to the possibility of a spiritual life beyond the everyday. Leaving Glasgow in search of a cure in the mythic warmth of California, Stephen and his friend Richard float between hostels, sofas, and park benches. Could the trip really offer them both a new-world reinvention?

'Brimming with compassion . . . the sort of novel you press into the hands of those you love' COLIN WALSH'Vlautin writes about people overlooked by society and overlooked by literature' ANN PATCHETT'Gut-wrenching and compassionate, with shades of John Steinbeck' HARLAN COBEN The moving, large-hearted story of a young boy in danger of slipping through society's cracks and the unlikely father figure who takes him under his wing.'And try to breathe, man. You gotta remember to breathe. You won't get so panicky if you can remember that.'Eddie Wilkens runs his own house-painting business. Forty-something and living alone, he just wants to take life one day at a time. When his eight-year-old neighbour, Russell, starts hanging around, Eddie sees that this small kid - with his single mother working nights and his violent older brother - is struggling to keep his head above water, and so tries to help.Equal parts heart wrenching and uplifting, The Left and the Lucky is a portrait of this unusual friendship - the ways hurt shatters people and the compassionate acts that can, maybe, hold some of those pieces together.Readers adored The Left and the Lucky:'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I couldn't put this book down once I realised the story it was telling. There is something about how Vlautin voices these characters that force you to read "just one more page"'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A compelling and at times heartbreaking read. I loved it!'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'His writing here will touch something in your heart or your memory, too, because it's so incredibly REAL!!'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I officially will read anything this man writes'

**THE NEWER WORLD - THE UNFORGETTABLE NEW NOVEL FROM SEBASTIAN BARRY - IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW**ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES' '25 BEST NOVELS OF THE 21ST CENTURY'AN IRISH TIMES BEST IRISH BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY Winner of the 2016 Costa Book of the YearWinner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2017Winner of the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award 2017Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017After signing up for the US army in the 1850s, Irishman Thomas McNulty and his brother-in-arms, John Cole, fight in the American Frontier Wars and the Civil War. Having both fled terrible hardships, their days are now vivid and filled with wonder, despite the horrors they both see and are complicit in. But when a young Indian girl crosses their path, Thomas and John must decide on the best way of life for them all in the face of dangerous odds.

A stunning new hardback edition of Claire Keegan's debut story collection.'A beautiful, tender work of great clarity.' SEBASTIAN BARRY'Simply put, Claire Keegan is one of the greatest fiction writers in the world.' GEORGE SAUNDERS'Among the finest contemporary stories written recently in English.' OBSERVERA secret one-night tryst in the city. A sister's revenge. A love-struck doctor. A missing girl. In Antarctica, an astonishing sequence of stories, one of our most gifted writers illuminates human longing and fallibility in all its variety.-------Readers love Antarctica:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This is the best short story collection I have ever read. Trust me she is a real find!''⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A skilled writer who immerses us seamlessly in the lives of her characters.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I have now read every word Claire Keegan has written. That's how much I love her writing.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'With her keen eye and lucid prose, Keegan beguiles, jolts and haunts us beyond the pages.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'The writing is both tender, poetic and authentic ... the stories stay with you long after you have finished reading.'

Annie Dunne and her cousin Sarah live and work on a small farm in a remote and beautiful part of Wicklow in late 1950s Ireland. All about them the old green roads are being tarred, cars are being purchased, a way of life is about to disappear. Like two old rooks, they hold to their hill in Kelsha, cherishing everything. When Annie's nephew and his wife are set to go to London to find work, their two small children, a little boy and his older sister, are brought down to spend the summer with their great-aunt.It is a strange chance for happiness for Annie. But against that happiness moves the figure of Billy Kerr, with his ambiguous attentions to Sarah, threatening to drive Annie from her last niche of safety in the world. The world of childish innocence also proves darkened and puzzling to her, and she struggles to find clear ground, clear light - to preserve her sense of love and place against these subtle forces of disquiet.A summer of adventure, pain, delight and ultimately epiphany unfolds for both the children and their elderly caretakers in this poignant and exquisitely told story of innocence, loss and reconciliation.

Acclaimed historian and broadcaster Helen Castor tells the story of Joan of Arc as you have never read it before.'Popular history at its best.' Daily TelegraphHelen Castor brings us afresh a gripping life of Joan of Arc. Instead of the icon, she gives us a living, breathing young woman; a roaring girl fighting the English, and taking sides in a bloody civil war that was tearing fifteenth century France apart.Here is a portrait of a 19-year-old peasant who hears voices from God; a teenager transformed into a warrior leading an army to victory, in an age that believed women should not fight. And it is also the story behind the myth we all know, a myth which began to take hold at her trial: that of the Maid of Orleans, the saviour of France, a young woman burned at the stake as a heretic, a woman who five hundred years later would be declared a saint.Joan and her world are brought vividly to life in this refreshing new take on the medieval world. Helen Castor brings us to the heart of the action, to a woman and a country in turmoil, a world where no-one - not Joan herself, nor the people around her, princes, bishops, soldiers or peasants - knew what would happen next.

A stunning new edition of Claire Keegan's multi-award-winning, bestselling novel Small Things Like These.NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CILLIAN MURPHYA SUNDAY TIMES 'TOP 5 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY'A SUNDAY TIMES AND IRISH TIMES BESTSELLERA TOP 5 IRISH TIMES 100 BEST IRISH BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURYA NEW YORK TIMES 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURYWINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE AND THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE AND THE IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE DALKEY LITERARY AWARDS'Exquisite.' Damon Galgut'Masterly.' The Times'Miraculous.' Herald'Astonishing.' Colm Tóibín'Stunning.' Sunday Independent'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas StuartIt is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.Claire Keegan's book Small Things Like These was a Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 05-11-2022-----Readers love Small Things Like These: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Gripping and very moving and thought-provoking ... brilliantly done, but also softly and slowly. You'll never regret reading this book, but it will haunt you for ever after.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I haven't loved a book for so long. This has changed it. Every word counted. Moral, heartfelt & a beautiful read.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This is a beautifully written story, both simple and profound. Set at Christmas, it is, in essence, an exploration of the best and the worst of what it is to be human. A stunning achievement.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A remarkable novel - short, succinct, moving. I read it in one sitting early on a Sunday morning before anybody else was up.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This book needs to sit and settle with the reader after it's read. Much lies here within what seems a simple tale. It strikes to the heart.'

'An extraordinary writer of the female experience.' Financial Times'Cusk is startlingly insightful.' Independent on Sunday'What keeps you reading, hungrily, is the violent precision of her writing . . . Divorce has been a catastrophe for Cusk but Cusk the writer triumphs.' MetroIn the winter of 2009, Rachel Cusk's marriage of ten years came to an end. Candid and revelatory, Aftermath chronicles the perilous journey as the author redefines herself and creates a new version of family life for her daughters.

For fans of Inside Number 9 and The League of Gentlemen -- with an introduction by Reece ShearsmithAickman's 'strange stories' (his preferred term) are constructed immaculately, the neuroses of his characters painted in subtle shades. He builds dread by the steady accrual of realistic detail, until the reader realises that the protagonist is heading towards their doom as if in a dream. Cold Hand in Mine, first published in 1975, stands as one of Aickman's finest collections and contains eight tales including 'Pages from a Young Girl's Journal' which won the World Fantasy Award. 'He had the ability to invest the daylight world with all the terrors of the night, and specialised in subverting notions of safety and sunshine into something sinister and unforgiving.' Christopher Fowler, Independent

A beautiful gift edition of The Iron Man, the bestselling classic by Ted Hughes, illustrated by the multi-award-winning Tom Gauld. For fans of The Wild Robot. The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff.Where had he come from? Nobody knows.How was he made? Nobody knows.The Iron Man is causing destruction everywhere he goes, and humankind are setting a trap to stop him. But one little boy realises that the Iron Man is not here to destroy the Earth, he could even save the planet from a new, more deadly danger! 'Gripping . . a classic.' Phillip Pullman'A visionary tale.' Michael Morpurgo'One of the greatest of modern fairy tales.' Observer

Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor's first novel, is the story of Hazel Motes who, released from the armed services, returns to the evangelical Deep South. There he begins a private battle against the religiosity of the community and in particular against Asa Hawkes, the 'blind' preacher, and his degenerate fifteen-year-old daughter. In desperation Hazel founds his own religion, 'The Church without Christ', and this extraordinary narrative moves towards its savage and macabre resolution. 'A literary talent that has about it the uniqueness of greatness.' Sunday Telegraph'No other major American writer of our century has constructed a fictional world so energetically and forthrightly charged by religious investigation.' The New Yorker'A genius.' New York Times

Jean Genet, French playwright, novelist and poet, turned the experiences in his life amongst pimps, whores, thugs and other fellow social outcasts into a poetic literature, with an honesty and explicitness unprecedented at the time. Widely considered an outstanding and unique figure in French literature, Genet wrote five novels between 1942 and 1947, now being republished by Faber & Faber in beautiful new paperback editions.The Thief's Journal is perhaps Jean Genet's most authentically autobiographical novel; an account of his impoverished travels across 1930s Europe. The narrator is guilty of vagrancy, petty theft and prostitution, but his writing transforms such degradations into an inverted moral code, where criminality and delinquency become heroic. With a holy trinity of his own making - homosexuality, theft and betrayal - in The Thief's Journal Genet produced a startlingly powerful novel without precedent.Includes a new introduction by Ahdaf Soueif.

April is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain . . .Published in 1922, The Waste Land was the most revolutionary poem of its time, offering a devastating vision of modern civilisation which has lost none of its power as we enter a new century.

A terrifying supernatural thriller for fans of Let the Right One In, The Passage, and The Loney'Very scary. Never mind Scandi crime fiction, the time has come for Scandi horror.' Metro *****'Ratchets up the tension to an almost unbearable level ... Astonishing.' Independent on Sunday, Books of the YearIn the late 1970s, a young boy disappears from a summer cabin in the Swedish woods. His mother claims that he was abducted by a giant. The boy is never found.Twenty-five years later, an old woman claims that a creature has been standing outside her house, observing her and her five year old grandson for hours.When Susso - a blogger who's dedicated her life to the search for creatures whose existences have not been proved - hears of this, and sees a possible link between the two incidents, she takes to the road on a terrifying adventure into the unknown.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTIONTWICE WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONTHE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR'A rich and compulsive read' GuardianFrom the award-winning and internationally bestselling author of Demon Copperhead, The Lacuna and The Poisonwood Bible.It is summer in the Appalachian mountains and love, desire and attraction are in the air. Nature, too, it seems, is not immune. From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and interrupts her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly feuding neighbours tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them expected. Over the course of one humid summer, these characters find their connections of love to one another and to the surrounding nature with which they share a place. With its strong balance of narrative and drama, Prodigal Summer is stands alongside Demon Copperhead, The Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna as one of Barbara Kingsolver's finest works.

A stunning new hardback edition of Claire Keegan's classic and beloved novella Foster.AN IRISH TIMES TOP 100 BEST IRISH BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURYWINNER OF THE DAVY BYRNES IRISH WRITING AWARD 'A real jewel.' Irish Independent'A small miracle.' Sunday Times'A thing of finely honed beauty.' Guardian'As good as Chekhov.' David MitchellIt is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm, not knowing when she will return home. In the strangers' house, she finds a warmth and affection she has not known before and slowly begins to blossom in their care. But in a house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers how fragile her idyll is.--------Readers love Foster:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'To say this story is exceptional doesn't adequately describe it. If there were 10 stars to award this would deserve every one. Claire Keegan has a wonderful talent at storytelling.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Foster is beautifully and confidently written, the prose is evocative, poignant and moving, with wonderfully atmospheric imagery ... Claire Keegan is an incredible storyteller.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I've read books four times the length that didn't have near as much depth. There are so many layers to the writing and this is close to perfection.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This is another literary diamond packed full of emotional charge, depth, poignancy and wonder. This novella is a thing of pure beauty and I urge you to read it!'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I rarely cry when reading a book but I wept ... Read it everyone. It will stay with you forever.'

Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan is the long awaited second collection from the Booker-shortlisted author of Small Things Like These. A long-haired woman moves into the priest's house and sets fire to his furniture. That Christmas, the electricity goes out. A forester mortgages his land and goes off to a seaside town looking for a wife. He finds a woman eating alone in the hotel. A farmer wakes half-naked and realises the money is almost gone. And in the title story, a priest waits on the altar for a bride and battles, all that wedding day, with his memories of a love affair. In her long-awaited second collection, Claire Keegan observes an Ireland wrestling with its past.

Tragedy at Law follows a rather self-important High Court judge, Mr Justice Barber, as he moves from town to town presiding over cases in the Southern England circuit. When an anonymous letter arrives for Barber, warning of imminent revenge, he dismisses it as the work of a harmless lunatic. But then a second letter appears, followed by a poisoned box of the judge's favourite chocolates, and he begins to fear for his life. Enter barrister and amateur detective Francis Pettigrew, a man who was once in love with Barber's wife and has never quite succeeded in his profession - can he find out who is threatening Barber before it is too late?

Francis Pettigrew travels to Exmoor for a holiday with his wife - an area in which as a young boy he was traumatised by coming across a dead body on the moor. In an attempt to exorcise this trauma, Pettigrew walks across the moor to the place where the incident occurred - only to find another dead body. Moreover when he returns to the scene with the police, the body is gone. Did he really see a body - or is it a hallucination conjured up by his return to the scene of the crime that has haunted him since childhood? In Untimely Death, Cyril Hare conjures up an intriguing puzzle whose twists and turns will keep the reader turning the pages until the final surprising resolution.

By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gilead, Home, Lila and Jack, a modern American masterpiece by an author whose work 'defines universal truths about what it means to be human' (Barack Obama)'A perfect novel.' David Nicholls'Genius.' Anne Enright 'The rarest talent.' Colm Tóibín 'A marvel.' Barbara KingsolverRuth and Lucille are orphans in the desolate lakeside town of Fingerbone: the same lake where their grandfather died in a spectacular train wreck and their mother drove off a cliff. Abandoned by a succession of relatives, the sisters find themselves in the care of Sylvie, their enigmatic aunt. Over time, the sisters grow up, and apart - until they must discover what it truly means to escape. One of the Observer's 100 Greatest Novels of All Time

It is sixty years since Ariel was first published. This heritage edition restores Berthold Wolpe's iconic jacket and reproduces the original distinctive typesetting in celebration of the enduring importance of a collection that contains many of Sylvia Plath's best-known poems.Written in an extraordinary burst of creativity just before her death in 1963, the poems are as expressive of joy as they are of desolation. The remarkable combination of artistry and intensity that was recognised on this volume's first publication established Plath as one of the most original and gifted poets of the twentieth century.'If the poems are despairing, vengeful and destructive, they are at the same time tender, open to things, and also unusually clever, sardonic, hardminded. . . They are works of great artistic purity and, despite all the nihilism, great generosity. . . the book is a major literary event.' A. Alvarez, Observer

Sunday Times Sports Book of the YearShortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year AwardWinner - Best New Writer category at the British Sports Book AwardsAfter years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world's biggest long-distance races, Runner's World contributor Adharanand Finn set out to discover what it was that made them so fast - and to see if he could keep up. Packing up his family, he moved to Iten, Kenya, the running capital of the world, and started investigating. Was it running barefoot to school, the food, the altitude, or something else? At the end of his journey he put his research to the test by running his first marathon, across the Kenyan plains.This edition includes a new chapter covering the 2012 Olympics.