A literary and psychoanalytical first cousin to the Bombay Laughing Club: a book about laughter and the unconscious, with philosophy, poetry, memoir and the tragi-comedy of clowns thrown in ... read more
Quietism perhaps, rather than the silence of things not being talked about: the art of listening, of stilling the interior babble. By the writer, painter and traveller who set up the Travel ... read more
Slim but far-reaching memoir of the author's brush with suicide, framed as the consequence of familial trauma and isolation. Superbly written, this bears honourable comparison with William S... read more
The author is a medical doctor and a poet: this book is both a meditation on art and life and a collection of snippets about the history of medicine. Written over twenty years, it moves effo... read more
SB-C argues that the secrets of humanity's cognitive development - from the invention of agriculture to musical instruments - can be found in the genes for autism.
Despite its title, this is not a self-help book but rather a beautiful exploration of a condition that is at the heart of human life - solitude. The book is a memoir of time spent in social ... read more
The late CB specialized in identifying patterns (eg The Seven Basic Plots). Here he examines three sets of ‘in-group’ attitudes that he believed to be increasingly pervasive, and dangero... read more
A perfect antidote to toxic positivity – a touching, deeply felt and beautifully written look at the human condition, by the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't ... read more
Translated from the French, a biography of the complex Swiss founder of the Red Cross, a devout Christian and social activist, but also an ambitious - and unsuccessful - businessman.
Fortitude and patience: Cicero's text in Latin and in English translation, with a commentary. One of three niftily pocket-sized philosophical guides from Princeton.