A collection of illustrations by cartoonist Chris Riddell that poke fun at popular contemporary and classic works of literature.

A brilliantly witty collection of sketches from master artist Chris Riddell. Alice in Sunderland, A Brief History of Tim and One Hundred Years of Solihull. All literary classics...Or are they? The Observer political cartoonist Chris Riddell imagines what the world would be like if there really had been a novel called Wuthering Tights and expertly illustrated them accordingly This hilarious book collects over forty-five black and white sketches (originally printed in the London Review of Books) based on the titles of well-known literary mainstays.;A deliriously comic gift that will appeal to all ages

NEW YORK TIMES best-selling series! Stories Are the Only Thing Worth Dying For Tom Taylor has spent his entire life as a hostage to his father’s literary legacy. Wilson Taylor’s wildly successful 13-volume series chronicling the adventures of a bespectacled boy wizard named Tommy Taylor made him the most popular author on Earth-and destroyed his son’s future. On the day that the 13th title was published, Wilson vanished, leaving young Tom alone beneath the shadow of his famous namesake. Years later, Tom is still struggling to build an identity independent of his magical doppelgänger when disturbing new questions about his childhood suddenly arise. These revelations cast doubt upon his heritage, his memories-his very existence. Is it possible that nothing of his own past is actually true? That he is merely his father’s imaginary character somehow brought to life? Desperate to disprove this horrifying idea, Tom embarks on an epic journey that takes him and a strangely improbable group of companions around the world and deep into the realms of fiction-all while being hunted relentlessly by an ancient and sinister power determined to bring his story to a premature end. Mike Carey and Peter Gross’ masterpiece of metatextual storytelling is presented here for the first time in six definitive hardcover volumes. THE UNWRITTEN: THE DELUXE EDITION BOOK ONE collects issues #1-12 of the acclaimed Vertigo series and features a special behind-the-scenes section from Gross, Carey and cover artist Yuko Shimizu, as well as a new introduction by series editor Pornsak Pichetshote.

Secrets of the Widow's Son is a revealing look at the themes that will be explored in The Solomon Key, Dan Brown's upcoming sequel to the cultural phenomenon known as The Da Vinci Code. David A. Shugarts provides what Browns widespread admirers crave most--an enlightening glimpse into the secrets behind Brown's eagerly anticipated new book. Secrets of the Widow's Son is not a plot spoiler--rather, it is an engaging piece of work that will pique readers' interest in The Solomon Key while laying the groundwork for the theories to be explored in Brown's can't-miss sequel.

A sweeping history of how writing has preserved cultural practices, traditions, and knowledge throughout human history. In How Writing Made Us Human, 3000 BCE to Now, Walter Stephens condenses the massive history of the written word into an accessible, engaging narrative. The history of writing is not merely a record of technical innovations—from hieroglyphics to computers—but something far richer: a chronicle of emotional engagement with written culture whose long arc intimates why the humanities are crucial to society. For five millennia, myths and legends provided fascinating explanations for the origins and uses of writing. These stories overflowed with enthusiasm about fabled personalities (both human and divine) and their adventures with capturing speech and preserving memory. Stories recounted how and why an ancient Sumerian king, a contemporary of Gilgamesh, invented the cuneiform writing system—or alternatively, how the earliest Mesopotamians learned everything from a hybrid man-fish. For centuries, Jews and Christians debated whether Moses or God first wrote the Ten Commandments. Throughout history, some myths of writing were literary fictions. Plato's tale of Atlantis supposedly emerged from a vast Egyptian archive of world history. Dante's vision of God as one infinite book inspired Borges's fantasy of the cosmos as a limitless library, while the nineteenth century bequeathed Mary Shelley's apocalyptic tale of a world left with innumerable books but only one surviving reader. Stephens presents a comprehensive history of the written word and demonstrates how writing has preserved and shaped human life since the Bronze Age. These stories, their creators, and their preservation have inspired wonder and an endless appetite for historical revelation.