The Dispossessed American Classics Edition

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels / Winner of the Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Awards “Le Guin expanded the boundaries of fiction not just by committing to its revolutionary capacities but also by considering deeply, and with great clarity, other ways of being. The Dispossessed, her most intricate and beautifully realized book, . . . a moving story that is also about loneliness, will, and what it means to return home. More than a novel, this is an ontological work of extraordinary imagination and compassion." — Meng Jin, The Atlantic In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, HarperCollins is proud to present this library of American classics drawn from our storied catalog. The Dispossessed is Ursula K. Le Guin’s Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award–winning classic, a masterful, thought-provoking tale of anarchism and capitalism, individualism and collectivism, and one ambitious man’s quest to bridge the ideological chasm separating two worlds. It’s the spellbinding story of anarchist Shevek, the galactically famous physicist from the severely isolationist and anarchic Anarres. In the face of great hostility, outright threats, and the pain of separation from his family, Shevek makes an unprecedented trip to the rich mother planet, Urras, defined by warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Greater than any concern for his own well-being is the belief that the walls of hatred, distrust, and philosophic division between his planet and the rest of the civilized universe must be torn down. Upon his arrival, he finds not the egotistical philistines he expected, but an intelligent, complex people who warmly welcome him. But soon Shevek and his work are seen as a threat, and in the profound conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs even as he ignites the fires of change.

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contributions to American Letters. Her body of work includes twenty-three novels, twelve volumes of short stories, eleven volumes of poetry, thirteen children's books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and the Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master Award, along with a PEN/Malamud Award and many other accolades. In 2016 she joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.