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Tracing twenty-five centuries of human history, from the fourth century BC to the present day, Manguel dedicates each of his chapters to a single character- ranging from our best-known thinkers, scientists, and artists to seemingly minor figures of whom we know little more than one inspired utterance- in whom he identifies a particular way of asking the question 'Why?' Above all, he aims to 'awake in readers a consciousness of their own powers of enquiry and imagination, of their right to doubt and contest assumed answers, and of their responsibility in furthering the questio

This collection of 24 essays is a perfect introduction to the world of Lewis Thomas. Topics ranging from the riddle of smelling to nuclear proliferation carry the gentle, unassuming persuasiveness that characterizes the author's work. Here we are also introduced to the concerns that have distinguished Thomas' literary career: the natural altruism of organisms; the inter-relatedness of all creatures; the fragility of the human species; the uneasiness of life on a threatened planet.

The fifty essays in Second Words span the period from 1962 to 1980 and reveal Margaret Atwood's views on feminism, Canadian literature, the creative process, nationalism, sexism, as well as critical commentary on such writers as Erica Jong, E. L. Doctorow, Northrop Frye, Roch Carrier, Marie-Claire Blais, Marge Piercy, Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, and many more.

The North-South Project is an original work of collective storytelling made up of prose pieces that consider what it means to be lost, the significance of memory, imagination, and history, and how all of these intersect and contribute to our sense of place and belonging. Edited by Noah Richler, author, journalist, cultural critic, and Literary & Ideas Curator of Toronto’s Luminato Festival, this anthology brings together thirteen acclaimed writers who take us across the Americas, from the Arctic to Argentina.

In six magnificent essays, George Grant reflects on the extent to which technology has shaped the way we live now. Admirers of Grant's English-Speaking Justice will welcome this exploration of the fate of traditional values in modern education, social behaviour, and religion, as well as Grant's penetrating insights into the technology of birth.

Distinguished cyberneticist Stafford Beer states the case for a new science of systems theory and cybernetics. His essays examine such issues as The Real Threat to All We Hold Most Dear, The Discarded Tools of Modern Man, A Liberty Machine in Prototype, Science in the Service of Man, The Future That Can Be Demanded Now, The Free Man in a Cybernetic World. Designing Freedom ponders the possibilities of liberty in a cybernetic world.

The twenty-first century has been dominated by two major global crises: a scarcity of food and fuel. Both have had detrimental effects on the environment and both are at the root of the fragile health of the global economy.

“One could do worse than to grow up on a river.” In his new collection of essays, Wayne Curtis voyages back through the tributaries of his past, throwing a pastoral net over the backwaters of his childhood to ensnare the sepia-tinged moments of love, loss, and life lessons he gleaned through his rise to maturity on the waterways of New Brunswick. As Proust recalled his past through the delicate taste of a madeleine, so, too, Curtis ruminates on growing up on the Miramichi, albeit through the more uniquely Canadian flavour of the home-cooked doughnut.

In this provocative essay, David Adams Richards brings together his ideas about writing -- how great works of literature are created, the writer's essential position as an outsider, and the difficulties writers experience in the pursuit of personal truth. The quest for truth always comes with a price, says Richards, but it also results in freedom for writers and their characters, and sometimes results in great works of literature. Says Richards, "What I say to young writers is never fear that you too will be evaluated most harshly in your life for telling the truth.

A CNQ Editors' Book of the YearA Dropped Threads-style anthology, assembling original and inspiring works by some of Canada's best younger female writers — such as Heather Birrell, Saleema Nawaz, Susan Olding, Diana Fitzgerald Bryden, Carrie Snyder, and Alison Pick — The M Word asks everyday women and writers, some of whom are on the unconventional side of motherhood, to share their emotions and tales of maternity.