This biography of George Sand (1804-1876) concentrates on her life rather than her writing, and posits the fascinating idea that Sand wrote about things as a sort of rehearsal for living them--including her sexual experiments.

The life of Joyce's father, whose bond with his son remained unbroken until his death. A "New York Times" Notable Book for 1998.

This debut novel covers the last days of the eccentric fifth Duke of Portland, an actual historical figure who died at the end of the 19th century. Jackson's version of the Duke's journals chronicles his descent into madness, culminating in his drilling a hole in his head so that he can reach his brain. Nominated for the 1997 Booker Prize.

A.J. Jacobs decided to become smart by the simple expedient of reading the ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA from cover to cover. It contained 44 million words, and the project took him a year. At the end of it, he may have been smarter, but as he describes in this comical narrative, he was also a pariah: people recoiled in horror when he began regaling them with his odd bits of offbeat knowledge. But at least he can take comfort in being one of the few people in the world who know everything there is to know about budgerigars, the Spanish-American War, and ancient East Asian music.

The 12th book in the Redwall Abbey adventure series, this entry tells the story of Martin's journey to try and solve the legend of his father, Luke, who was one of the first Redwall warriors.

When a presidential candidate's campaign manager is slain during a soigné party, NYPD captain Bill Donovan is on the case.