Isak Dinesen

In describing her experiences managing a coffee plantation in Kenya, the author provides insight into the nature of African life

Out of Africa

Seven short fantasies set in the nineteenth century explore the psychological dimensions of familiar landscapes and human experiences

Seven Gothic Tales

�And it happened when Martine or Philippa spoke to Babette that they would get no answers, and would wonder if she had even heard what they said � Orshe would sit immovable on the three-legged kitchen chair, her strong hands in her lap and her dark eyes wide open, as enigmatical and fatal as a Pythia upon her tripod. At such moments, they realised that Babette was deep, and that in the soundings of her being there were passions, there were memories and longings of which they knew nothing at all.� Babette�s Feast is a sublime celebration of eating, drinking and sensual pleasure. In Isak Dinesen�s life-affirming short story, two elderly sisters living in a remote, god-fearing Norwegian community take in a mysterious refugee from Paris one night � and are rewarded for their kindness with the most decadent, luxurious feast of a lifetime.

Babette's Feast

Tells the stories of a struggling author, Danish country life, a brave Frenchwoman, a young sailor, a young married couple, a dreamer, and a wealthy child

Winter's Tales

Karen Blixen

Tells the stories of Lady Ehrengard's affair with an eccentric portrait painter and five people in the past who are caught up in their own peculiar fates

And, Ehrengard

Anecdotes of Destiny

These five rich, witty and magical stories from the author of Out of Africa include one of her most well-known tales, 'Babette's Feast', which was made into the classic film. It tells the story of a French cook working in a puritanical Norwegian community, who treats her employers to the decadent feast of a lifetime. There is also a real-life Prospero and his Ariel in 'Tempests', a mysterious pearl-fisher in 'The Diver' and a brief, tragic encounter in 'The Ring'. All the stories have a mystic, fairy-tale quality, linked by themes of angels, the sea, dreams and fate. They were among the last to be written by Isak Dinesen, and show her as a master of short fiction. 'Immensely satisfying . . . splendid imaginative creations, the work of a writer of stature.' The Times Literary Supplement 'Acutely perceptive, often mysterious stories.' Sunday Telegraph

Babette's Feast and Other Stories

Five tales set in the past explore the experiences of men and women who become the unwilling victims of fate

Babette's Feast and Other Anecdotes of Destiny

Isak Dinesen takes up the absorbing story of her life in Kenya begun in the unforgettable Out of Africa, which she published under the name of Karen Blixen. With warmth and humanity these four stories illuminate her love both for the African people, their dignity and traditions, and for the beauty and wildness of the landscape. The first three were written in the 1950s and the last, 'Echoes from the Hills', was written especially for this volume in the summer of 1960 when the author was in her seventies. In all they provide a moving final chapter to her African reminiscences.

Shadows on the Grass

Written to her family, these letters recount the failure of Dinesen's marriage, the financial collapse of her husband's coffee plantation, and her experiences in Kenya

Letters from Africa, 1914-1931

Karen Blixen, author of the acclaimed memoir Out of Africa, was also a master of the short story form- her tales offer luminous meditations on rebirth and redemption, on the mystery and unexpectedness of human behaviour. Alongside 'Babette's Feast', this selection also includes 'Sorrow-Acre', often thought to be one of her finest stories.

Sombras en la hierba

Lejos de Africa

In this book, the author of Seven Gothic Tales gives a true account of her life on her plantation in Kenya. She tells with classic simplicity of the ways of the country and the natives: of the beauty of the Ngong Hills and coffee trees in blossom: of her guests, from the Prince of Wales to Knudsen, the old charcoal burner, who visited her: of primitive festivals: of big game that were her near neighbors--lions, rhinos, elephants, zebras, buffaloes--and of Lulu, the little gazelle who came to live with her, unbelievably ladylike and beautiful. The Random House colophon made its debut in February 1927 on the cover of a little pamphlet called "Announcement Number One." Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, the company's founders, had acquired the Modern Library from publishers Boni and Liveright two years earlier. One day, their friend the illustrator Rockwell Kent stopped by their office. Cerf later recalled, "Rockwell was sitting at my desk facing Donald, and we were talking about doing a few books on the side, when suddenly I got an inspiration and said, 'I've got the name for our publishing house. We just said we were go-ing to publish a few books on the side at random. Let's call it Random House.' Donald liked the idea, and Rockwell Kent said, 'That's a great name. I'll draw your trademark.' So, sitting at my desk, he took a piece of paper and in five minutes drew Random House, which has been our colophon ever since." Throughout the years, the mission of Random House has remained consistent: to publish books of the highest quality, at random. We are proud to continue this tradition today. This edition is set from the first American edition of 1937 and commemorates the seventy-fifth anniversary of Random House.

Out of Africa ; And, Shadows on the Grass

From the Ngong Hills

Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass

Last Tales is a collection of twelve of the last tales that Isak Dinesen wrote before her death in 1962. They include seven tales from Albondocani, a projected novel that was never completed; "The Caryatids," an unfinished Gothic tale of a couple bedeviled by an old letter and a gypsy's spell; and three tales of winter, including "Converse at Night in Copenhagen," a drunken, all-night conversation between a boy-king, a prostitute, and a poor young poet.

Last Tales

Isak Dinesen Herself Telling Two Stories

Drawing on her own experiences, the author speculates on the meaning of marriage and the relationship between human love and modern marriage

Isak Dinesen

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