J. M. Coetzee

"Exacting yet unpredictable, pithy yet complex, Coetzee's The Pole tells the story of Wittold Walccyzkiecz, a vigorous, extravagantly white-haired pianist and interpreter of Chopin who becomes infatuated with Beatriz, a stylish patron of the arts, after she helps organize his concert in Barcelona. Although Beatriz, a married woman, is initially unimpressed by Wittold and his "gleaming dentures," she soon finds herself pursued and ineluctably swept...

"In this provocative dialogue, a Nobel laureate novelist and a leading translator investigate the nature of language and the challenges of translation. Language, historically speaking, has always been slippery. Two dictionaries provide two different maps of the universe: which one is true, or are both false? ...The authors address questions that we must answer in order to understand contemporary society. They inquire if one can truly love an acquired...

A young woman living on a remote South African farm describes her loneliness and bitter anger

In 1720 the eminent man of letters Daniel Foe is approached by Susan Barton, lately a castaway on a desert island. She wants him to tell her story, and that of the enigmatic man who has become her rescuer, companion, master and sometime lover: Cruso. Cruso is dead, and his manservant, Friday is incapable of speech.