Author:Michel de Montaigne,M. A. Screech
Blending intellectual speculation with anecdote and personal reflection, the Renaissance thinker and writer Montaigne pioneered the modern essay. This selection contains his idiosyncratic and timeless writings on subjects as varied as the virtues of solitude, the power of the imagination, the pleasures of reading, the importance of sleep and why we sometimes laugh and cry at the same things.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
The best novels entrance us by showing what is missed in life as much as by what's discovered; this is one.
—— Daily TelegraphRich, intricate and alive with emotion ... Glass has used the edges and color blocks of her own life to build an honest portrait of sister-love and sister-hate
—— New York Times Book ReviewLouisa and Clem, the sisters at the very centre of this wonderfully vivid, truthful novel, are (as Louisa puts it) "not exactly soul mates. Historically we're kind of like England and France"... [a] quarter century of their lives unfolds, switching between their two voices, kept beautifully distinct by Glass.
—— The TimesThe beauty of this story lies in its rich detail and the descriptions of the emotions and events that have shaped the sisters' complex relationship. A riveting and intricate read.
—— Candis[A] promising extension of Glass's already impressive range
—— Kirkus ReviewsAn engaging and intelligent page-turner
—— Publishers WeeklyGlass is a wisely questioning, ardent, and artful novelist
—— BooklistNowhere are the ebbs and flows, the complex and often ugly nuances, the bonds and breaks between sisters more achingly or more piercingly explored.
—— USA TodayOne doesn't read so much as sink into a Julia Glass novel, lulled into an escapist reverie by her mastery . . .
—— People MagazineA sometimes stinging, always affecting tale of siblings who can't quite make it as friends
—— Marie ClaireThe voices of bookish Louisa and bold Clem - sisters 'as different as white chocolate and seaweed' - alternate in Glass's wrenching tale as the strong-willed sibs cope with love, loss and each other.
—— Good HousekeepingGlass writes with a bracing emotional and intellectual intensity, and . . . so accurately depicts the complexities of the sororal bond that it's no surprise to find that she hails from a sisterhood of two as well.
—— ElleA lovely and heartbreaking book . . . Julia Glass writes the sort of novels you wish would go on forever; such is your immediate attachment to her impeccably drawn characters . . . [she] offers up intimate examinations of the lives on complex people, recognizable for their insecurities and strengths, failings and successes, humor and sadness, loves and loves lost.
—— Miami HeraldAn arresting story that is both thorny and complex ... A wonderful novelist will expose truths that elude us in the everyday. [Glass's] eye in I See You Everywhere takes in blind spots and makes them mesmerizing
—— New York Daily NewsJulia Glass is a writer firmly in control
—— Dallas Morning NewsGlass elegantly captures what it means to be an independent and spirited contemporary woman
—— Chicago TribuneBeautifully written
—— Image MagazineIt is expertly written in its way, and oddly compelling - like a slushy movie you can't help but respond to
—— GuardianMoving and thoughtful ... Poignant and compelling, this lyrical novel lifts the veil on an internal world of love, rivalry and misunderstanding; an intricate depiction of sibling relationships
—— Good Book GuideA beautifully evocative and intelligent novel
—— Woman & Home