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On Living and Dying Well
On Living and Dying Well
Jan 11, 2026 6:02 PM

Author:Cicero,Thomas Habinek,Thomas Habinek,John Hastings,Thomas Habinek

On Living and Dying Well

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by John Hastings. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Thomas Habinek read by John Hastings.

In the first century BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero, orator, statesman, and defender of republican values, created these philosophical treatises on such diverse topics as friendship, religion, death, fate and scientific inquiry. A pragmatist at heart, Cicero's philosophies were frequently personal and ethical, drawn not from abstract reasoning but through careful observation of the world. The resulting works remind us of the importance of social ties, the questions of free will, and the justification of any creative endeavour.

This lively, lucid new translation from Thomas Habinek, editor of Classical Antiquity and the Classics and Contemporary Thought book series, makes Cicero's influential ideas accessible to every reader.

© Thomas Habinek 2012 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Reviews

I’m mad about Lurie… I have a thing for over-educated adulterers in fiction

—— Rachel Cooke , Guardian

I am re-reading with enormous delight and greed. If you're new to them, lucky you: marvellously astute comedies of social, moral and sexual manners, their witty exuberance is nothing short of inspirational.

—— Helen Simpson

Lurie shows some really fine ironic humor… An incisive and very witty novel

—— Kirkus Reviews

Perhaps more shocking than she knows - shocking like Jane Austen, not Genet

—— Christopher Isherwood

The Queen Herod of contemporary fiction

—— Gore Vidal

Marvellous entertainment

—— Sunday Times

A very witty, assured, sustained creation of both people and place

—— New Statesman

Lurie treats Los Angeles as worth looking at closely, not just as a backcloth...often very funny, always easily readable

—— Punch

Absorbing new cautionary tale...intelligent and entertaining

—— Observer

Easy to read and witty but full of pathos and sadness, this tightly plotted tale will bring you joy.

—— BEST

Tender, humorous and hopeful

—— LISSA EVANS, author of V for Victory

Dog Days is a beautiful novel, filled with poignancy and humour. Ericka Waller looks closely at life with all its ghosts and new beginnings, finding glitter in the dark and hope where there is healing.

—— Rónán Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul

A beautifully written book... it's very hard to believe it's a debut novel. Ericka Waller peels back the layers of life and delves deep into the highs and lows of mental health, of loss, and of love.'

—— NEW BOOKS MAGAZINE

This was such an emotional read and the perfect mix of humour and heartache

—— GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Both joyful and heartbreaking

—— HEAT

Deftly drawn... a warm debut about loss, healing and making new connections

—— MAIL ON SUNDAY

We loved this heartwarming story

—— CLOSER

Weaves together tales of man's best friend helping in the darkest days

—— HELLO! magazine

Waller's tormented, endearing and intriguing characters cross paths as they walk dogs on the Sussex Downs in a bittersweet, touching novel of waggy tails, wet noses and tear-filled eyes.

—— SAGA

A charming novel that focuses on the healing properties of man and woman's best friend

—— Choice Magazine

Waller has a lyrical way of weaving words that perfectly encapsulates a feeling or thought ... Funny, sad and reassuringly sage, Dog Days is a story of humanity, family and life.

—— Culturefly

A glorious read full of love and humour

—— THE IRISH EXAMINER

Combines two total opposites - sorrow and joy. The way Waller makes the two work together is outstanding

—— FEMALE FIRST magazine

A charming novel that focusses on the healing powers of man and woman's best friend

—— CHOICE Magazine

With its tightly plotted twists Dog Days is an exhilarating, at times even vertiginous ride... The mix of human passion and canine good sense works triumphantly..

—— Ed Stourton, author of Diary of a Dog Walker

'A tender, complicated novel of love, loss and self-discovery.'

—— SUSAN WILSON, New York Times bestselling author of One Good Dog and What a Dog Knows

An emotional tour-de-force that will leave you with the whole-hearted understanding that dogs really do bring people (even the most unlikely of us) together.

—— Annie England Noblin, author of Sit, Stay, Speak and Pupcakes

Where better to get lost than a mighty, make-believe kingdom reminiscent of Swift

—— i

Enchanting . . . Knox hits the mark

—— Herald

A devastating stripping back of the gendered and politicised conditions that shape desire, a revelation of the unnerving ways we are made vulnerable to others in unequal systems. Its crisp, knowing prose is unparalleled, its anger remarkable.

—— Anahit Behrooz , Skinny, *Books of the Year*

Nolan's intelligent, elegant first novel, a gripping portrait of love turned toxic.

—— Daily Telegraph

The star feature of Nolan's narration is her ability to cut through received ideas about women, relationships and even rape. Her headlong, fearless prose, feels like salt wind on cracked lips. You wince and you thrill.

—— Claire Lowdon , Sunday Times

A raw read of vulnerability, desperation, and most definitely a new voice in fiction

—— Chloe Brown , Cosmopolitan

A thrilling read...if you want a visceral, honest, unputdownable summer read then this is it. You'll devour it in a day.

—— Stylist, *Summer Reads of 2022*

A very elegant novel, with coercive control at the core. She has such a strong voice and not a sentence is extraneous

—— Emma Frost, author of BUSY BEING FREE , i

I read this in one go... I found it raw, honest, brutal and real.

—— Lykke Li , Observer

Written with acerbic style and wit, this is an intoxicatingly good look at romantic obsession, delusion and desire.

—— i

Beautifully written…and the short chapters keep things moving at an addictively fast pace. Most importantly, it’s shamelessly real

—— Crack
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