Penguin Modern

50 books in this series
Book cover of Why Do You Wear a Cheap Watch? by Hans Fallada

Why Do You Wear a Cheap Watch?

'It was what we call in the trade a potato...'

Tales of low-lifes and grifters trying to make ends meet in pre-War Germany.

Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
Book cover of Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer by Wendell Berry

Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer

'Do I wish to keep up with the times? No. My wish simply is to live my life as fully as I can'

The great American poet, novelist and environmental activist argues for a life lived slowly.