The Figure in the Carpet and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)

by Frank Kermode (Editor), Frank Kermode (Editor), Henry James (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1986

  $4.27

  The stories in this collection were written mostly between 1888 and 1897, a time when Henry James's writing was concerned with the art of fiction and the position of the artist in society. The motif and title story, The Figure and the Carpet is an inspired joke, a masterpiece of double-entendre that demands the reader's undivided love and attention and continues to baffle its critics. Also included are The Author of Beltraffio , an absorbing story of family infighting, authorship and tragedy, and The Private Life , a spirited tale that considers the contrast between the artist alone and at work. While many of these stories appear to be elaborate Jamesian games, all employ irony and humour to allegorize artistic creation.

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $14.09