Resistance

Alberto Manguel author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Yale University Press

Publishing:12th Jan '27

£12.99

This title is due to be published on 12th January, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Resistance cover

A passionate tribute to literature and writing as beacons of clarity and truth

Can a society compel its inhabitants to admit the evidence of facts? Can literature help us see the world as it really is? Why do censors fear books and the possibility of a dialogue between reader and writer? How does a writer resist and bear witness?

In this searching essay, Alberto Manguel reflects on his life’s work and on the relationship of writing to what is true. Drawing on a rich array of sources, from ancient philosophy and Dante’s Divine Comedy to contemporary political thought and diverse views on AI, Manguel explores the illuminative power of the written word. “Perhaps, in this sense, literature is nothing more than affirmation, an ongoing act of resistance,” he writes. “Perhaps that is enough.”

Praise for Alberto Manguel:
 
"Though reading is often a solitary activity, Manguel reminds us of the community we join every time we open a book.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Time and again Manguel retrieves dusty stuff from the out-trays of history and restores them to beguiling currency.”—Literary Review
 
“Reading Mr. Manguel is like taking a city walk or an unhurried meal with an erudite, cosmopolitan friend. . . . Few cultures or historical periods are closed to him. He hops knowledgeably and divertingly from topic to topic. Yet he never strays far from his true interest, reading itself.”—Economist
 
“Books jump out of their jackets when Manguel opens them and dance in delight as they make contact with his ingenious, voluminous brain. He is not the keeper of a silent cemetery, but a master of bibliographical revels.”—The Observer
 
“If there’s anyone alive today who is as widely read and bibliomaniacal as Borges was in his day, it’s [this] author.”—New York Review of Books
 
"If there are such things as a musician’s musician and a writer’s writer, one could argue that Manguel . . . is a reader’s reader.”—Library Journal
 
"Alberto Manguel is a wanderer among books, immensely curious in such an intriguing way that he lets his readers easily discover the fruits of his curiosity.”—Roberto Calasso
 
"Manguel vaults over the traditional fences of genre, literary history, and discipline with breathtaking virtuosity. He is the Montaigne de nos jours.”—John Sutherland

ISBN: 9780300282498

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

168 pages