Despite the heavy rain, the presiding officer at polling station 14 finds it odd that by midday on national election day, only a handful of voters have turned out puzzlement swiftly escalates to shock when eventually, after an extension, the final count reveals seventy per cent of the votes are blank – not spoiled, simply blank national law decrees the election should be repeated eight days later the result is worse; eighty-three per cent of the votes are blank the incumbent government receives eight per cent and the opposition even less the authorities, seized with panic, decamp from the capital and place it under a state of emergency in his new novel, josé saramago has deftly created the politicians ultimate nightmare: disillusionment not with one party, but with all, thereby rendering the entire democratic system useless seeing explores how simply this could be achieved and how devastating the results might be

‘A good essay must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in, not out.’ According to Virginia Woolf, the goal of the essay ‘is simply that it should give pleasure…It should lay us under a spell with its first word, and we should only wake, refreshed, with its last.’ One of the best practitioners of the art she analysed so rewardingly, Woolf displayed her essay-writing skills across a wide range of subjects, with all the craftsmanship, substance, and rich allure of her novels. This selection brings together thirty of her best essays, including the famous ‘Mr Bennett and Mrs Brown’, a clarion call for modern fiction. She discusses the arts of writing and of reading, and the particular role and reputation of women writers. She writes movingly about her father and the art of biography, and of the London scene in the early decades of the twentieth century. Overall, these pieces are as indispensable to an understanding of this great writer as they are enchanting in their own right. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.