The book of lost books : an incomplete history of all the great books you will never read

In an age when deleted scenes from Adam Sandler movies are saved, it’s sobering to realize that some of the world’s greatest prose and poetry has gone missing. This witty, wry, and unique new book rectifies that wrong. Part detective story, part history lesson, part exposé, The Book of Lost Books is the first guide to literature’s what-ifs and never-weres. In compulsively readable fashion, Stuart Kelly reveals details about tantalizing vanished works by the famous, the acclaimed, and the influential, from the time of cave drawings to the late twentieth century. Here are the true stories behind stories, poems, and plays that now exist only in imagination: ·Aristophanes’ Heracles, the Stage Manager was one of the playwright’s several spoofs that disappeared. ·Love’s Labours Won may have been a sequel to Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost–or was it just an alternative title for The Taming of the Shrew? ·Jane Austen’s incomplete novel Sanditon, was a critique of hypochondriacs and cures started when the author was fatally ill. ·Nikolai Gogol burned the second half of Dead Souls after a religious conversion convinced him that literature was paganism. ·Some of the thousand pages of William Burroughs’s original Naked Lunch were stolen and sold on the street by Algerian street boys. ·Sylvia Plath’s widower, Ted Hughes, claimed that the 130 pages of her second novel, perhaps based on their marriage, were lost after her death. Whether destroyed (Socrates’ versions of Aesop’s Fables), misplaced (Malcolm Lowry’s Ultramarine was pinched from his publisher’s car), interrupted by the author’s death (Robert Louis Stevenson’s Weir of Hermiston), or simply never begun (Vladimir Nabokov’s Speak, America, a second volume of his memoirs), these missing links create a history of literature for a parallel world. Civilized and satirical, erudite yet accessible, The Book of Lost Books is itself a find. In An Age When Deleted Scenes From Adam Sandler Movies Are Saved, It's Sobering To Realize That Some Of The World's Greatest Prose And Poetry Has Gone Missing. This Witty, Wry, And Unique New Book Rectifies That Wrong. Part Detective Story, Part History Lesson, Part Expose, The Book Of Lost Books Is The First Guide To Literature's What-ifs And Never-weres. In Compulsively Readable Fashion, Stuart Kelly Reveals Details About Tantalizing Vanished Works By The Famous, The Acclaimed, And The Influential, From The Time Of Cave Drawings To The Late Twentieth Century. Here Are The True Stories Behind Stories, Poems, And Plays That Now Exist Only In Imagination: Aristophanes' Heracles, The Stage Manager Was One Of The Playwright's Several Spoofs That Disappeared. Love's Labours Won May Have Been A Sequel To Shakespeare's Love's Labours Lost--or Was It Just An Alternative Title For The Taming Of The Shrew? Jane Austen's Incomplete Novel Sanditon, Was A Critique Of Hypochondriacs And Cures Started When The Author Was Fatally Ill. Nikolai Gogol Burned The Second Half Of Dead Souls After A Religious Conversion Convinced Him That Literature Was Paganism. Some Of The Thousand Pages Of William Burroughs's Original Naked Lunch Were Stolen And Sold On The Street By Algerian Street Boys. Sylvia Plath's Widower, Ted Hughes, Claimed That The 130 Pages Of Her Second Novel, Perhaps Based On Their Marriage, Were Lost After Her Death. Whether Destroyed (socrates' Versions Of Aesop's Fables), Misplaced (malcolm Lowry's Ultramarine Was Pinched From His Publisher's Car), Interrupted By The Author's Death (robert Louis Stevenson's Weir Of Hermiston), Or Simply Never Begun (vladimir Nabokov's Speak, America, A Second Volume Of His Memoirs), These Missing Links Create A History Of Literature For A Parallel World. Civilized And Satirical, Erudite Yet Accessible, The Book Of Lost Books Is Itself A Find.--publisher's Website. A History Of World Literature Showcases Authors Whose Books Have Been Missing, Destroyed, Or Left Unfinished, Describing Works That Have Been Lost By Such Authors As Euripides, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, And Sylvia Plath. Anonymous -- Homer -- Hesiod -- The Yahwist, The Elohist, The Deuteronomist, The Priestly Author, And The Redactor -- Sappho -- K'ung Fu-tzu -- Aeschylus -- Sophocles -- Euripides -- Agathon -- Aristophanes -- Xenocles And Others -- Menander -- Callimachus -- The Caesars -- Gallus -- Ovid -- Longinus -- St. Paul (saul Of Tarsus) -- Origen -- Faltonia Betitia Proba -- Kālidāsa -- Fulgentius -- Widsith The Wide-traveled -- The Venerable Bede -- Muhammad Ibn Ishaq -- Ahmad Ad-daqiqi -- Dante Alighieri -- Geoffrey Chaucer -- François Villon -- John Skelton -- Camillo Querno -- Luis Vaz De Camões (camoëns) -- Torquato Tasso -- Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra -- Edmund Spenser -- William Shakespeare -- John Donne -- Ben Jonson -- John Milton -- Sir Thomas Urquhart -- Abraham Cowley -- Molière (jean-baptiste Poquelin) -- Jean Racine -- Ihara Saikaku -- Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz -- Alexander Pope -- Dr. Samuel Johnson -- Rev. Laurence Sterne -- Edward Gibbon -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe -- Robert Fergusson -- James Hogg -- Sir Walter Scott -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge -- Jane Austen -- George Gordon, Lord Byron -- Thomas Carlyle -- Heinrich Heine -- Joseph Smith, Jr. -- Nikolai Gogol -- Charles Dickens -- Herman Melville -- Gustave Flaubert -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky -- Sir Richard Burton -- Algernon Charles Swinburne -- Émile Zola -- Arthur Rimbaud -- Frank Norris -- Franz Kafka -- Ezra Loomis Pound -- Thomas Stearns Eliot -- Thomas Edward Lawrence -- Bruno Schulz -- Ernest Hemingway -- Dylan Marlais Thomas -- William Seward Burroughs -- Robert Traill Spence Lowell Iv -- Sylvia Plath -- Georges Perec. Stuart Kelly. Includes Index. This Work Was Originally Published In The United Kingdom In 2005 By Viking... -- T.p. Verso. "Beginning with the earliest hominids, 'The Book of Lost Books' traces various pieces of literature which, for a variety of reasons, cannot be read. Each entry describes the reasons for the loss - it may have been destroyed, or left incomplete at the time of the author's death." - GBP Forfatteren, der er anmelder ved Scotland on Sunday, fortæller om 3000 års forsvunden litteratur: ødelagte, forlagte, stjålne og ufuldendte manuskripter, ulæselige tekster og ideer til bøger som aldrig blev skrevet