Writers as Readers: A Celebration of Virago Modern Classics

(Hardback)

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Description

The perfect anthology for book lovers

Writers as Readers is a celebration of forty years of the Virago Modern Classics list. Started in 1978, Virago Modern Classics is dedicated to the rediscovery and championing of women writers, challenging the often narrow definition of 'classic'.

In this collection, forty of the most significant writers of the past century tell us about one of their favourite writers by introducing books from the Virago Modern Classics collection, offering a glimpse at the treasures that have been published over the past four decades: they may be great works of literature; they may be wonderful period pieces; they may reveal particular aspects of women's lives; they may be classics of comedy, storytelling, diary-writing or autobiography.

Writers include: Margaret Drabble | Beryl Bainbridge | Angela Carter | Maggie O'Farrell | Elizabeth Jane Howard | A. S. Byatt | Penelope Lively | Sarah Waters | Jonathan Coe | Diana Souhami | Jilly Cooper | Elizabeth Bowen | Mark Bostridge | Alexander McCall Smith | Sarah Dunant | Rachel Cooke | Zadie Smith | Anita Desai | Sophie Dahl | Clare Boylan | Paula McLain | Diana Athill | Marina Lewycka | Claire Messud | Michele Roberts | Simon Russell Beale | Amanda Craig | Hilary Mantel | Elizabeth Taylor | Ali Smith | Linda Grant | Jane Gardam | Julie Burchill | Carmen Callil | Helen Oyeyemi | Marian Keyes | Nora Ephron | Sandi Toksvig | Kate Saunders

Reviews

If you can't think of anything better than reading Angela Carter's writing on reading Charlotte Bront, this book is for you. It's a complete delight - I couldn't put it down. You can devour it cover-to-cover or dip into it every now and then, when you need some inspiration. Luckily, it has it in abundance * Pool *
With more than thirty of the most respected authors offering their take on some of the best modern classics, this book is a complete joy. It's a beautifully presented hardback and, at just over four hundred pages, is definitely a good buy. Very much a book for dipping into rather than reading cover-to-cover, it offers a guide to the wide range of writing included among the Virago Modern Classic collection * Reading Room *

Author Bio

Since Virago began in 1973, its mission has been to champion women's voices and bring them to the widest possible readership around the world. From fiction and politics to history and classic children's stories, our writers continue to win acclaim, break new ground and enrich the lives of readers.

The Virago Modern Classics list was launched in 1978 with Antonia White's Frost in May, and celebrates its fortieth birthday in 2018 with the publication of Writers as Readers and beautifully designed reissues of books including Frost in May by Antonia White; The Collected Stories of Grace Paley; Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault; The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter; The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann; Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Heartburn by Nora Ephron; The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy; Memento Mori by Muriel Spark; A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor; Faces in the Water by Janet Frame.