Vanity Fair (Barnes & Noble Classics) - Softcover

Thackeray, William Makepeace

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593080719 ISBN 13: 9781593080716

Publisher: Sterling Children's Books, 2003

Synopsis

&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RVanity Fair&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RWilliam Makepeace Thackeray&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&R

• New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
• Comments by other famous authors
• Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
• Bibliographies for further reading
• Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences―biographical, historical, and literary―to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R“I think I could be a good woman, if I had five thousand a year,” observes beautiful and clever Becky Sharp, one of the wickedest―and most appealing―women in all of literature. Becky is just one of the many fascinating figures that populate &&LB&&RWilliam Makepeace Thackeray&&L/B&&R’s novel &&LI&&RVanity Fair&&L/I&&R, a wonderfully satirical panorama of upper-middle-class life and manners in London at the beginning of the nineteenth century. &&LP&&RScorned for her lack of money and breeding, Becky must use all her wit, charm and considerable sex appeal to escape her drab destiny as a governess. From London’s ballrooms to the battlefields of Waterloo, the bewitching Becky works her wiles on a gallery of memorable characters, including her lecherous employer, Sir Pitt, his rich sister, Miss Crawley, and Pitt’s dashing son, Rawdon, the first of Becky’s misguided sexual entanglements. &&L/P&&R&&LP&&RFilled with hilarious dialogue and superb characterizations, &&LI&&RVanity Fair&&L/I&&R is a richly entertaining comedy that asks the reader, “Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?” &&L/P&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LB&&RFeatures more than 100 illustrations drawn by Thackeray himself for the initial publication.&&L/B&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&RNicholas Dames&&L/B&&R&&L/B&&R is Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, and is the author of &&LI&&RAmnesiac Selves: Nostalgia, Forgetting, and British Fiction, 1810–1870&&L/I&&R, and other commentary on nineteenth-century British and French fiction.&&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R

About this title

Book Description:

After first appearing as a serial in brilliant yellow covers, Vanity Fair, 'a novel without a hero', was published in full in 1848. A panoramic and biting satire, it was the first of William Makepeace Thackeray's works to bear his own name. This edition includes his original illustrations and preface.

From the Publisher:

Vanity Fair is a story of two heroines--one humber, the other scheming and social climbing--who meet inboarding school and embark on markedly different lives. Amid the swirl of London's posh ballrooms and affairs of love and war, their fortunes rise and fall. Through it all, Thackeray lampoons the shallow values of his society, reserving the most pointed barbs for the upper crust. What results is a prescient look at the dogged pursuit of wealth and status--and the need for humility.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1593080719
• ISBN 13: 9781593080716
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 736