Remember me?
March 7, 2008 by hesperuspress
I’m afraid I’ve been shamefully remiss at blogging of late; my only defence is that we’ve been hard at work producing lovely, lovely books. It’s a sad fact that the more there is to blog about, the less time there is in which to set pen to paper - or finger to keyboard.
Perhaps the most exciting development here at Hesperus Press is that we have lift-off with the Brief Lives. I am, in fact, holding three in my hands right now, which is making typing slightly difficult but is tremendously satisfying. There’s more about this new series of concise biographies of literary greats in the new edition of the Hesperus magazine, which you can find right about here. Those taking the trip over to peruse those pages will be rewarded with information on how to claim a discount on the first three titles in the Brief Lives series: Anton Chekhov, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde.
More tales from Hesperus Towers soon…
Ellie
Good to have you “back in the room” Ellie.
These look really nice! I like a chunky biog, I must admit, but Ackroyd’s recent mini-Poe biog shows a short biog can be a provocative and informative one.
I’m hoping as well as classic authors like these mentioned, you could maybe look into Brief Lives of folk like Marguerite Duras or the recently sadly deceased Alain Robbe-Grillet…?
Hi Mark,
It’s nice to be back!
I agree that there’ll always be a place for lengthy biographies, but the great thing about ‘Brief Lives’ is that they allow those who don’t have the time or the inclination to dedicate themselves to 700 pages on, say, Dickens to cover ground much more quickly and greatly enrich their knowledge, but without compromising on quality. These books really are fantastically written and researched, as well — if I do say so myself!
The first titles hit the major names, with Brief Lives of Conrad, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Flaubert and Balzac planned for 2008, but it’s a series with so much scope that I’m sure we’ll want to branch into some lesser-known names a little further down the line.
Apologies if this response is somewhat garbled: am suffering from a horrific computer-induced headache!
All the best,
Ellie
Hello, I visit sometimes but do not always comment, always enjoy your site!