Why Read

Selected Writings 2001–2021 Will Self

A dazzling essay collection from one of Britain’s most iconic writers.

From one of the most distinctive writers working today, dubbed ‘the most daring and delightful novelist of his generation’ by the Guardian, Will Self’s Why Read collects twenty years of thoughtful and brilliantly witty essays, with subjects ranging from skyscrapers to typewriter repairmen to a trip to Chernobyl to the past and future of literature.

With his trademark intoxicating prose and mordant, energetic humour, Self considers titans of literature from Sebald to Woolf to Kafka, and asks readers how, what and ultimately why we should read in an everchanging world. Why Read will satisfy both old and new readers of this icon of postmodernist literature.

‘Self often enough writes with such vividness it’s as if he is the first person to see anything at all.’ New York Times

‘Self’s prose demands real attention, but is never less than sharp, biting and incisive. Prepare to be eaten whole.’ Independent

Will Self is the author of many novels and books of non-fiction, including Umbrella, shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He lives in south London.

Allen & Unwin Fiction

Allen & Unwin Fiction publishes quality literary and book-club fiction in the areas of women’s, historical and international with universal appeal, from a mixture of debut authors and established names alike. Highlights on our Summer/Autumn 2023 list include Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo’s return to muchloved characters in Somebody’s Fool; debut author Claudia Cravens’ feminist Western, Lucky Red; Elizabeth Delo’s unforgettable baby-abduction psychological thriller, Becoming Liz Taylor; and award-winning Canadian short-fiction writer Alicia Elliott’s emotional and powerful examination of motherhood and mental health, And Then She Fell; as well as the paperback edition of J. C. Harvey’s immersive historical epic, The Dead Men.