P. N. Furbank

Edward Morgan Forster died in 1970 at the age of 91, having achieved a world-wide reputation as an outstanding writer. Though best-known for his novels - Howard's End and A Passage to India are arguably the finest - he was also a brilliant critic and essayist and the author of some remarkable short stories. Forster was born into a mixed family background of bohemia and prim respectability. Indulged, cosseted, dressed up and shown off by his adored mother Lily, it was not surprising that he found public school life painfully harsh. Cambridge began the emancipation - intellectual, artistic, social, and sexual - which Forster's experiences abroad, his growing literary reputation, his deep friendships, and his love affairs were to extend. In his closing years Forster invited Furbank, a close friend, to write his biography. Based on the full range of private diaries, correspondence, and personal reminiscences, this book (first published in 1977) is the authorized and definitive 'life' of Forster. In the words of John Bayley, 'it is impossible to overpraise Furbank's style and sympathy as a biographer'; according to Noel Annan, 'he has done what Forster asked his biographer to do: he has told the truth'.

A Life

E. M. Forster

Stéphane Mallarmé

Stephane Mallarme

A. M. Cain

In 1874, Stephane Mallarme, the great French poet, undertook a highly idiosyncratic project--the publication of a fashion magazine called La Derniere Mode (The Latest Fashion)--that he almost single-handedly compiled. Using a variety of feminine and masculine pseudonyms to theorize about fashion and to advise on popular vacation destinations, home furnishings, and entertainment, Mallarmé created a spectacularly original work. The distinguishing feature of Mallarme's magazine is that it explores the nature of fashion from the inside. While it is a genuine fashion magazine, it also satirizes the entire genre. Various theories have been entertained about the work: it has been viewed as a prose poem, a hoax, and a cynical money-making venture. Furbank and Cain, however, argue that such guesses are hopelessly off the mark. Complete with the original artwork and a contextualizing introduction and commentary, this is the definitive translation of one of French literature's greatest enigmas.

P. N. Furbank

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