In his widely acclaimed new collection of stories, Julian Barnes addresses what is perhaps the most poignant aspect of the human condition: growing old. The characters in The Lemon Table are facing the ends of their lives-some with bitter regret, others with resignation, and others still with defiant rage. Their circumstances are just as varied as their responses. In 19th-century Sweden, three brief conversations provide the basis for a lifetime of longing. In today's England, a retired army major heads into the city for his regimental dinner-and his annual appointment with a professional lady named Babs. Somewhere nearby, a devoted wife calms (or perhaps torments) her ailing husband by reading him recipes. In stories brimming with life and our desire to hang on to it one way or another, Barnes proves himself by turns wise, funny, clever, and profound-a writer of astonishing powers of empathy and invention.

Born in Leicester, England, in 1946, Julian Barnes is the author of a previous book of stories, Cross Channel, two collections of essays, a translation of Alphonse Daudet's In the Land of Pain, and nine novels. In France, he is the only writer to have won both the Prix M?dicis and the Prix F?mina, and in 2004 he became a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; in England his honors include the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He has also received the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He lives in London.www.julianbarnes.com