Alberto Manguel

A worldwide exploration of the history, purpose, and inescapable influence of the Iliad and the Odyssey that will inspire readers to think anew about Homer's work. No one knows whether Homer was a real person, but there is no doubt that the epic poems assembled under his name are foundations of Western literature. The Iliad and the Odyssey—with their tales...

An eclectic history of human curiosity, a great feast of ideas, and a memoir of a reading life from an internationally celebrated reader and thinker. Curiosity has been seen through the ages as the impulse that drives our knowledge forward and the temptation that leads us toward dangerous and forbidden waters. The question “Why?” has appeared under a multiplicity of...

An exploration of Maimonides, the medieval philosopher, physician, and religious thinker, author of The Guide of the Perplexed, from one of the world’s foremost bibliophiles. Moses ben Maimon, or Maimonides (1138–1204), was born in Córdoba, Spain. The gifted son of a judge and mathematician, Maimonides fled Córdoba with his family at the age of thirteen due to Almohad persecution of...

A best-selling author and world-renowned bibliophile meditates on his vast personal library and champions the vital role of all libraries. “The author brings a fresh hopefulness to the enterprise of books and reading. Vintage Manguel—a pleasure for his many readers and admirers.”—Kirkus Reviews In June 2015, Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France’s Loire Valley and...

A celebration of reading, of libraries, and of the mysterious human desire to give order to the universe Inspired by the process of creating a library for his fifteenth-century home near the Loire, in France, Alberto Manguel, the acclaimed writer on books and reading, has taken up the subject of libraries. “Libraries,” he says, “have always seemed to me pleasantly...

“In art and words, a book lover honours the characters he can’t forget.”—New York Times Book Review An original look at how literary characters can transcend their books to guide our lives, by one of the world's most eminent bibliophiles. Alberto Manguel, in a style both charming and erudite, examines how literary characters live with us from childhood on. Throughout...