When Michael Herr went to Vietnam in 1967 he was virtually unknown as a writer. But with "Dispatches" he brought us a terrifying account of what it was like to fight in, and survive, the war in Vietnam. These are his journals, describing the waste and the human lives involved.

Winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize for fiction

Selected from the book Making Babies by Anne Enright VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Love by Jeanette Winterson Fatherhood by Karl Ove Knausgaard Motherhood by Helen Simpson Home by Salman Rushdie

How do we find calm in our frantic modern world? The author - lifelong sceptic of all things spiritual - finds himself on a Buddhist meditation retreat trying to answer this very question. In this book, he recounts his journey from disbelief to something approaching inner peace and tackles one of the great mysteries of our time.

When it comes to death, is there ever a best case scenario? In this book, the author confronts our unending obsession with the end. He also reflects on what it means to miss God, whether death can be good for our careers and why we eventually turn into our parents.

How does a writer compose a suicide note? In this true account of his depression, the author describes an illness that reduced him from a successful writer to a man arranging his own destruction. It includes a description of his descent into mental anguish, and his eventual success in overcoming a little-understood yet very common condition.

You've just passed someone on the street who could be the love of your life, the person you're destined for - what do you do? This book features five tales, each of which, unlocks the many-tongued language of desire, whether it takes the form of hunger, lust, sudden infatuation or the secret longings of the heart.

Selected from the book Collected Stories by John Cheever VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Death by Julian Barnes Eating by Nigella Lawson Psychedelics by Aldous Huxley Calm by Tim Parks

How to be a good father? In this honest account of family life, you will find all the trials of parenthood such as: children's birthday parties, unsuccessful family holidays, and, humiliating antenatal music classics.

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Love by Jeanette Winterson Race by Toni Morrison Death by Julian Barnes Sisters by Louise May Alcott

Can we truly know the one we love? In this book, the author looks straight into the green eye of every lover's jealous struggle. It focuses on why we are driven to try possess one another, how jealousy can outlive death, and whether we can ever reclaim those careless days of first love.

Selected from the book A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Desire by Haruki Murakami Eating by Nigella Lawson Race by Toni Morrison Babies by Anne Enright

Why should one half be free to live, while the other is doomed to watch silently from the sidelines? The author leads us on a journey through the liberating powers of the mind. From an exploration of why women were barred from writing and under what conditions they might break free, to the solace derived from haunting London's streets.

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Desire by Haruki Murakami Babies by Anne Enright Depression by William Styron Race by Toni Morrison

Welcome to motherhood - a land of aching fatigue, constant self-sacrifice and thankless servitude, a land of bottomless devotion, small hands and feet like warm pink roses, and velvet kisses. This book offers a collection of short stories dealing with motherhood such as: Dear George, Hey Yeah Right Get a Life and Constitutional.

1953, in the presence of an investigator, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gramme of mescalin, sat down and waited to see what would happen. When he opened his eyes everything, from the flowers in a vase to the creases in his trousers, was transformed. This book offers an account of his experience.

Your sister might be the kindred soul who knows you best, or the most alien being in your household; she might enrage you or inspire you, but she'll always share with you a totally unique bond. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are four of the most famous sisters in literature. This book features their stories of the joys and heartaches they share.

Is there anything quite so exhilarating as swimming in wild water? This is a joyful swimming tour of Britain, a frog's-eye view of the country's best bathing holes - the rivers, rock pools, lakes, ponds, lochs and sea that define a watery island.

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Language by Xiaolu Guo Death by Julian Barnes Love by Jeanette Winterson Home by Salman Rushdie

Bob Slocum is anxious, bored and fearful of his job. So why is it he wants nothing more than the chance to speak at the next company convention? In this book, the author takes us for a turn on the maddening hamster wheel of work.

Selected from the book Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. Also in the Vintage Minis series: Liberty by Virginia Woolf Eating by Nigella Lawson Swimming by Roger Deakin Drinking by John Cheever

A guide to the works of Susan Hill for teachers and students. This work offers an in-depth interview with Susan Hill, relating specifically to the texts under discussion. It deals with Hill's themes, genre and narrative technique.

A story featuring the foul-mouthed Kinky Friedman, ace private eye. Little old ladies are dropping dead at an alarming rate in the vicinity of the family's ranch/summer camp in Texas, and Kinky is asked to investigate. A faded photograph of ten pretty girls is just the clue he needs.