Author:Horace,Persius,Niall Rudd,Niall Rudd

The Satires of Horace (65-8 BC), written in the troubled decade ending with the establishment of Augustus' regime, provide an amusing treatment of men's perennial enslavement to money, power, glory and sex. Epistles I, addressed to the poet's friends, deals with the problem of achieving contentment amid the complexities of urban life, while Epistles II and the Ars Poetica discuss Latin poetry - its history and social functions, and the craft required for its success. Both works have had a powerful influence on later Western literature, inspiring poets from Ben Jonson and Alexander Pope to W. H. Auden and Robert Frost. The Satires of Persius (AD 34-62) are highly idiosyncratic, containing a courageous attack on the poetry and morals of his wealthy contemporaries - even the ruling emperor, Nero.
"Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in."
—— EVELYN WAUGH"He exhausts superlatives"
—— STEPHEN FRY"Pure word music"
—— DOUGLAS ADAMS"The Everyman edition promises to be a splendid celebration of the divine Plum"
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—— Lynne Truss , THE TIMESIn a literary world which is so often either relaxed into the flabby indifference of review-speak, or corseted into position with the strings and eyelets of critical jargon, James Wood's tone is invaluable
—— Robert MacFarlane , Times Literary SupplementHe is one of literature's true lovers, and his deeply felt, contentious essays are thrilling in their reach and moral seriousness
—— Susan SontagJames Wood is an authentic literary critic, very rare in this bad time. One can dissent gently from his judgements but he is always urgent, lucid, and interesting
—— Harold BloomThe mysteries are never tainted by explanation, merely beautifully described, delivering a hypnotic read
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