When Doris Lessing came to England from Rhodeisa almost forty years ago, she brought with her a manuscript: The Grass is Singing. It was immediately recognised as an exceptional first novel and she was soon acclaimed as one of the finest writers in English, producing work which is consistently controversial, entertaining and profound. This volume is the perfect way to encounter a remarkable author in all the facets of her work. Doris Lessing herself has chosen the extracts, from The Grass is Singing; the two great novel sequences, Children of Violence and Canopus in Argos; The Golden Notebook; Briefing for a Descent into Hell; The Summer Before Dark; and The Good Terrorist. There are six short stories and a representative section of non-fiction, including a piece from Going Home (a personal account of her return to Africa); an essay, 'My Father' from A Small Personal Voice; and an article describing her interest in Sufism. In the preface Doris Lessing points out that her readership tends to fall into two categories - those who admire her writing for its realism and those who prefer her space fiction. The Reader shows just how meaningless such divisions can be. Doris Lessing's ideas evolve over the years; we seen them recur and develop in this generous selection from an extraordinary body of work.