ELT & Literary Studies Books

Book Synopsis'I drew my first breath on the 28th of January 1935, which was quite a good time for a future writer to be born in England...’ The only child in a lower-middle-class London family, David Lodge inherited his artistic genes from his musician father and his Catholic faith from his Irish-Belgian mother. Four years old when World War II began, David grew to maturity through decades of great social and cultural change - giving him plenty to write about. Candid, witty and insightful, Quite a Good Time to be Born illuminates a period of transition in British society, and charts the evolution of a writer whose works have become classics in his own lifetime.Trade ReviewWhat one takes away from this half-memoir is the self-portrait of an extraordinarily good, wrongly modest man; a distinguished scholar, and one of the finest of current novelists -- John Sutherland * Spectator *As a piece of reportage from the third quarter of the English 20th century this is a sociologist’s paradise * Guardian *An outstanding memoir... Lucid and witty * Irish Times *A fascinating and moving read * Financial Times *Quite a Good Time to be Born is a record of success, free of boasting or malice. Anyone with some knowledge of academia or the literary world will find it full of interest -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisWhy should one half be free to live, while the other is doomed to watch silently from the sidelines? In this visionary collection, Virginia Woolf leads us on a transformative 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, these essays and stories present Woolf at her most impassioned, rendering the pursuit of liberty one of life's most poetic adventures. Selected from the books A Room of One's Own, The Waves and Street Haunting and Other Essays by Virginia WoolfVINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us humanAlso in the Vintage Minis series:Love by Jeanette WintersonHome by Salman RushdieLanguage by Xiaolu GuoRace by Toni MorrisonTrade ReviewOne realises afresh the full meaning of originality, the magic of the mind which plays around concrete facts as though they were all spirit. And when it is finished it is with a renewed sense of zest and stimulus that one takes up life again and looks anew at objects which before were only ordinary * Guardian *Imagine our joy when Vintage announced that it is publishing a collection of easily digestible books from the world’s most celebrated writers on the experiences that make us human… They look good and read well. That’s win/win in our book. * Stylist *

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Actor, producer and director Ben Crystal revisits his acclaimed book on Shakespeare for the 400th anniversary of his death, updating and adding three new chapters. Shakespeare on Toast knocks the stuffing from the staid old myth of the Bard, revealing the man and his plays for what they really are: modern, thrilling, uplifting drama.The bright words and colourful characters of the greatest hack writer are brought brilliantly to life, sweeping cobwebs from the Bard - his language, his life, his world, his sounds, his craft. Crystal reveals man and work as relevant, accessible and alive - and, astonishingly, finds Shakespeare's own voice amid the poetry.Whether you're studying Shakespeare for the first time or you've never set foot near one of his plays but have always wanted to, this book smashes down the walls that have been built up around this untouchable literary figure.Told in five fascinating Acts, this is quick, easy and good for you. Just like beans on toast.

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Book SynopsisValery Podoroga was one of the most important thinkers of his generation. Here his most famous work is translated into English for the first time. In it he gives a panorama view of Russian writing, focusing in on the work of Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Andrei Bely. He identifies these authors as pioneers in creating an 'other literature'. This constituted a new form of mimesis or vision of the world, in opposition to the Imperial and national myths.In Mimesis Podoroga develops and elaborates his analytic anthropological approach on these authors with startling effect, excavating the identities and forms of Russian literature, and society. He places an emphasis on how a literary work is a process of world building: both internally by creating a fictive world, but also how it reflects the wider world in which it was produced, and the power with which it changes the world. Finally, the literary work's ability to exist in a time that is other than its own time, a time where it does not have a contemporary reader and an author who exercises his will, but where it nonetheless continues to mean something. Mimesis is rightly seen as the masterwork of one of the world's leading literary thinkers.Trade Review"Podoroga has long been heralded as a quasi-patron saint of post-Soviet philosophy. . . Podoroga liberates classics of Russian literature from questions of historicism or fidelity to an external reality."—Marxism and Philosophy

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Book SynopsisThis is the first comparative study of the distinctive literatures and cultures that have developed in Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland since political devolution in the late 1990s, especially surrounding Brexit. The book argues that in conceptualising their cultures as ‘national’, each nation is caught up in a creative tension between emulating forms of cultural production found in the others to assert common aspirations, and downplaying those connections in order to forge a sense of cultural distinctiveness. The author explores the resulting dilemmas, with chapters analysing the growth of the creative industries; the relationship between UK City of Culture and its forerunner, the European Capital of Culture; national book prizes in Britain and Europe; British variations on Nordic Noir TV; and the Brexit novel. With regard to separate cultural precursors and responses in each nation, Brexit itself is debated as a factor that has widened their differences, placing the future of the UK in question.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction: Compatriots or Competitors? Chapter 1: From Counter Culture to Creative Industries Chapter 2: The Cultural Capital of Capitals of Culture Chapter 3: Imaging Northern Europe: British Varieties of Nordic Noir Chapter 4: Aspiration by Proxy: National Book Awards in International Markets Chapter 5: Brexit and Beyond Afterword: Brexit and Coronavirus References

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Book SynopsisGuy Delisle's work for a French animation studio requires him to oversee production at various Asian studios on the grim frontiers of free trade. His employer puts him up for months at a time in 'cold and soulless' hotel rooms where he suffers the usual deprivations of a man very far from home. After Pyongyang, his book about the strange society that is North Korea, Delisle turned his attention to Shenzhen, the cold, urban city in Southern China that is sealed off with electric fences and armed guards from the rest of the country. The result is another brilliant graphic novel - funny, scary, utterly original and illuminating.Trade ReviewLike last year's Pyongyang, about his similar stint in North Korea, Shenzhen is a casual, dryly witty series of observations... Delisle's got an animator's eye for quirks of motion, analyzing the arc of a public fountain's water and the way street vendors make popcorn in a pressure cooker. The best artwork in the book is his impressionistic, unnarrated pen-and-ink-wash drawings of Shenzhen's drab buildings and billboards, but Delisle's keen awareness of how and why he can't connect to the city makes for a rarity: a thoroughly engaging memoir of being bored to distraction. -- Douglas Wolk * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisThe follow-up to the bestselling Wanderers, Kerri Andrews' Way Makers is the first anthology of women's writing about walking. Moving from the eighteenth century to the present day, and across poetry, letters, diaries, novels and more, this anthology traces a long tradition of women's walking literature. Walking is, for the women included in this anthology, a source of creativity and comfort; it is a means of expressing grief, longing and desire. It is also a complicated activity: it represents freedom but is also sometimes tinged with danger and fear. What cannot be denied any longer is that walking was, and continues to be, an activity full of physical and emotional significance for women: this anthology is testament to the rich literary heritage created by generations of women walker-writers over the centuries.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION by Kerri Andrews Elizabeth Carter to Catherine Talbot, 1746 Frances Burney, Evelina; or, The History of a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World (1778) Ann Yearsley, 'Clifton Hill', from Selected Poems (1785) Helen Maria Williams, Letters Written in France, in the Summer 1790 (1790) Charlotte Smith, Rural Walks: In Dialogues: Intended for the Use of Young Persons (1795) Mary Wollstonecraft to William Godwin, 10 September 1796 Dorothy Wordsworth, The Alfoxden Journal (1798) Sarah Murray, Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland (1799) Dorothy Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journal (1800) Jane Austen to Cassandra Austen Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813) Mary Shelley, History of a Six Weeks' Tour through a Part of France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland (1817) Jane Austen, Persuasion (1817) Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818) Dorothy Wordsworth to William Johnson, 21 October 1818 Sarah Stoddart Hazlitt, The Journal of Sarah Stoddart Hazlitt, 16 May 1822 Ellen Weeton, Miss Weeton's Journal of a Governess (1825) Dorothy Wordsworth, 'Thoughts on My Sick-Bed' (1832) Charlotte Bronte to Emily Jane Bronte, 2 September 1843 Harriet Martineau, A Year at Ambleside (1845) Emily Bronte, 'Loud Without the Wind was Roaring', from Poems, by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846) Christina Rossetti, 'The Trees' Counselling' (1847) Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights (1847) Harriet Martineau to Mr H. G. Atkinson, 7 November 1847, from Autobiography 'Often Rebuked, yet Always Back Returning', from Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, ed. Charlotte Bronte (1850) Harriet Martineau, A Complete Guide to the English Lakes (1855) Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh (1856) Charlotte Bronte, The Professor (1857) Eliza Keary, 'Through the Wood', from Little Seal-Skin (1874) Kate Chopin, 'Beyond the Bayou' (1893) Gwen John to Ursula Tyrwhitt, 3 September 1903, La Reole Katherine Mansfield, Journal of Katherine Mansfield, Sunday, 16 May 1915 Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway (1925 Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927) Virginia Woolf, Street Haunting: A London Adventure (1927) Nan Shepherd, 'Summit of Coire Etchachan', from In the Cairngorms (1934) Virginia Woolf, The Diary of Virginia Woolf, Tuesday, 2 October 1934 Frieda Lawrence, 'Not I, But the Wind . . .' (1935) Sylvia Townsend Warner, Summer Will Show (1936) Nan Shepherd to Neil Gunn, 14 May 1940 Flora Thompson, Heatherley (1944) Jessie Kesson, 'Blaeberry Wood' (1945) Jessie Kesson, 'To Nan Shepherd' (1945) Flora Thompson, Lark Rise to Candleford (1945) Janet Adam Smith, Mountain Holidays (1946) Anais Nin, 'The Labyrinth', from Under a Glass Bell (1948) C. C. Vyvyan, Down the Rhone on Foot (1955) Eleanor Farjeon, Walking with Edward Thomas (1958) Simone de Beauvoir, The Prime of Life, trans. Peter Green (1960) Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain (1977) Jenny Nimmo, The Snow Spider (1986) Alexandra Stewart, Daughters of the Glen (1986) Muriel Gray, The First Fifty: Munro-Bagging Without A Beard (1991) Kathleen Jamie, 'At Point of Ness', from The Queen of Sheba (1994) Alice Oswald, 'Another Westminster Bridge', from Woods, etc (2005) Gwyneth Lewis, 'Imaginary Walks in Istanbul', from Sparrow Tree (2011) Cheryl Strayed, Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found (2012) Linda Cracknell, Doubling Back: Ten Paths Trodden in Memory (2014) Linda Cracknell, 'Assynt's Rare Animals?' (2015) Lauren Elkin, Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London (2016) Melissa Harrison, Rain: Four Walks in English Weather (2016) Helen Mort, 'Kinder Scout', from No Map Could Show Them (2016) Camille T. Dungy, Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood and History (2017) Kate Davis, 'She teaches herself to walk across a limestone landscape', from The Girl Who Forgets How to Walk (2018) Katherine May, The Electricity of Every Living Thing (2018) Raynor Winn, The Salt Path (2018) Nancy Gaffield, Meridian (2019) Kathleen Jamie, Surfacing (2019) Anita Sethi, I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain (2021) Sasha Dugdale, 'The Fall of the Rebel Angels', from Deformations (2020) Sarah Moss, The Fell (2021) Polly Atkin, 'Unwalking', from Much With Body (2021) Sonia Overall, Heavy Time (2021) Merryn Glover, Of Stone and Sky (2021) WORKS INCLUDED PERMISSIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Book SynopsisIf the Punisher became a valuable piece of intellectual property during the closing decades of the twentieth century, he has become a global icon in the twenty-first. In this pathbreaking study, Kent Worcester explores the sometimes ridiculous and often socially resonate storyverse of the most famous rageaholic in popular culture: Frank Castle, aka the Punisher. Worcester pays particular attention to nearly five decades' worth of punishment-themed comics and graphic novels published between the 1970s and the present day. These texts provide the material resources for a close reading of the Punisher's distinctive and extreme form of justice discourse. Punishment, after all, is a political and social construct. Violence does not imply or claim legitimacy. Punishment does. To talk about punishment is to ask who deserves to be punished, who decides who deserves to be punished, and what form the punishment should take. All costumed heroes have their political moments; the Punisher is political. Frank Castle inhabits the most politically engaged corner of the entire Marvel Universe. His adventures should attract our interest for precisely this reason.Trade Review“Kent Worcester has put together a hard-hitting, street-wise, in-depth look at the life and times of Frank Castle. His analysis is trenchant and fascinating, taking into consideration all the myriad aspects of the character and how they have changed over time. This is a rich, important study of a character whose violent ethos and iconography are so much a part of today's cultural zeitgeist.” -- Andrew J. Friedenthal, writer and arts critic'I detest The Punisher. I mean, I ordinarily have no use for the character. But this book? Whoa. Excellent writing: trenchant, provocative, at times jaw-dropping. The arguments are needle-sharp, the contexts surprising yet persuasive. Worcester deftly steers clear of defensiveness, righteous dismissal, handwringing, and the oh so many pitfalls that could easily trip up a project like this. In the process, he makes the whole "Marvel Universe" look different.' -- Professor Charles Hatfield (co-author of Comics Studies: A Guidebook and author of Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby)“Deep-diving into a publication history spanning multiple decades, Kent Worcester's precise study helps explain the enduring fascination with the Punisher against the backdrop of an evolving sociopolitical climate. This long overdue examination of Marvel's most controversial yet iconic character will provide valuable insight to scholars, students, and fans alike.” -- Peter Vignold, author of Das Marvel Cinematic Universe – Anatomie einer Hyperserie and Superhelden im Film – Zur post-patriarchalen Utopie des Marvel Cinematic UniverseTable of ContentsList of Figures vii Preface ix Introduction 1 1. Trauma Culture 29 2. Trigger Happy, or Grim and Gritty 64 3. The Universe Pushes Back 97 4. Negative Dialectics 134 5. The Narratological Impasse 169 6. From Print to Screen to Icon 202 Conclusion: Those Who Need Hurting 235 Appendix 245 Bibliography 249 Index 257

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Book Synopsishe twelve chapters collected in the volume criticise, analyse, and discuss the issue of peace in Arab literature, philosophical and theological thought, and both institutional and grassroots practices of intercultural and interreligious mediation.

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Book SynopsisUlrike Almut Sandig’s second volume of poems to be translated into English is a journey through a world that is imaginary yet entirely recognizable. Precise observation of the concrete is mixed with playful humor, inspired musicality, and an anxious reckoning with undercurrents of violence in these poems from Ulrike Almut Sandig. Borrowing from the Brothers Grimm, the collection explores the darker side of their fairy tales as a backdrop for very contemporary concerns: Migration, war, the rise of the new right, ecological threat, information overload, and political apathy. At the same time, Sandig plays with the German meaning of the word “Grimm”: rage. That emotion permeates the collection as a reaction to the darkness in the collective German consciousness. Yet the book is also animated by passionate, expansive empathy—and reminds us what it is to be human. Always inventive, Sandig teases us here with multiple versions of the self, and multiple voices all in search of the origins of poetry in hidden places: in the silence before language, in the wings, in the field of rapeseed deep in the snow. Trade Review"Reading this book is a powerful experience. For me it meant full immersion into a unique world, filled with vivid, or even lurid colours, and strong tastes and smells. . . . [A] truly masterful job of the translator, Karen Leeder." * European Lit Network *"Rage underscores much of the collection as a whole, as an invigorating energy that refuses to be silenced. There is beauty and ugliness here, balanced against anger and hope: a collection as strange and strangely intriguing as its wonderfully eccentric title." * Rough Ghosts *

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Book SynopsisOne of Italy's best-known contemporary philosophers and leftists offers a literature-informed take on our contemporary political situation. During the dramatic course of the twentieth century, amid the clash of the titans which marked that era, humanity could still think in terms of partisan struggles in which large masses took sides against one another. The new millennium, by contrast, appears to have opened under the guise of generalized insecurity, which pertains not only to the historical and social situation, or to one’s personal psychological predicament, but to our very being. The Earth’s current faltering and the twilight of every convention that might govern it—where roles, images, and languages become confused by a lack of direction and distance—were already powerfully prophesied in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and later in the works of Kafka and Beckett. In Hamletics, Massimo Cacciari, one of Italy’s foremost philosophers and leftist political figures, establishes a dialogue between these fateful authors, exploring the relationship between European nihilism and the aporias of action in the present.

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Book SynopsisShakespeare and Company, Paris, is one of the world's most iconic and beautiful bookshops. Located on the banks of the Seine, opposite Notre-Dame, it's long been a meeting place for anglophone writers and readers. In that tradition, determined for the bookshop to remain a place of meaningful and transformative conversation, owner Sylvia Whitman and novelist and literary director Adam Biles have hosted several hundred interviews with writers, ranging from prize-winning novelists to visionary non-fiction writers. The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews is a selection of the best of these interviews from the last decade. Packed with warmth, sensitivity and humour, it's a celebration of the greatest writers of our age and an insight into the lives and thoughts behind some of today's most talked-about books.Trade ReviewThis handsome hardback comprises a series of interviews with authors that took place on the shopfloor over the past decade or so * * Times Literary Supplement * *A tantalising glimpse into the thoughts of some of our most vital writers . . . This is a refreshing approach to a text that, in other hands, could have felt stuffy and inaccessible * * Arts Desk * *A collection of talks with an impressive range of writers that celebrates its heritage as a focus of cultural conversation . . . Thanks to this collection, you can settle into a corner of Shakespeare and Company even if you can't make it to Paris * * Harper's Bazaar * *Biles is a skilled interviewer, soliciting reflections that shed light on how successful authors approach their craft and think about the world. The result is an illuminating glimpse inside the minds of writers * * Publisher's Weekly * *

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Book SynopsisSut mae ysgrifennu drama ‘genedlaethol’ mewn cenedl ddwyieithog a diwladwriaeth? A yw ymdrech dramodwyr yr 1990au i ddychmygu cenedl amgen ac annibynnol ar lwyfan wedi pylu ers datganoli? Sut y mae lleiafrifoedd eraill wedi dygymod â heriau’r oes honedig ôl-fodern ac ôl-genedlaethol hon, ac a oes gan eu profiadau wersi i Gymru? Dyma rai o’r cwestiynau y mae nifer o arloeswyr y ddrama Gymraeg gyfoes yn ymhél â nhw yn y gyfrol ddiweddaraf hon yng nghyfres Safbwyntiau. Mae Llwyfannu’r Genedl Anghyflawn yn gasgliad heriol o ysgrifau, wedi ei guradu a’i olygu gan un o’n dramodwyr mwyaf blaengar.Table of ContentsRhagair Dramodydd ‘Proses’ Datganoli: Sylwadau ar Lwyfannu Cenedl Anghyflawn Ian Rowlands Plethu Diwylliannau Perfformio: Theatr Drawsddiwylliannol Gyfoes rhwng Cymru a Bryniau Casi Lisa Lewis Pwy fuck yw’r werin datws erbyn hyn?’ Y Werin, y Genedl a’r Ddrama Dafydd Llewelyn Menywod ar Lwyfan: Llais y Fenyw yn y Theatr Gymraeg Sharon Morgan Iaith fel Arf, Iaith fel Allwedd: Cyfweliad gydag Aled Jones Williams a Sergi Belbel Hannah Sams a David George Bywgraffiadau Mynegai

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Book SynopsisUntil the Age of Enlightenment, utopia was a popular literary genre, but without concrete political effects. However, in the decades leading up to 1789, its status gradually changed from an entertaining thought experiment to a socialist project. Imagining the ideal city took on the task of articulating revolutionary transformation of society towards equality and social justice.In Utopia, Stéphanie Roza explores the nascent ideal of a community of property and labour, not yet called communism, and the thinkers who engaged with it in the lead-up to the French Revolution. These philosophers included Étienne-Gabriel Morelly, a fierce critic of private property and the mysterious author of the Code de la Nature; the Abbé de Mably, a radical republican and interlocutor of Rousseau; and Gracchus Babeuf, who, from the 1780s onwards, defended the natural right to subsistence and dreamed of a more fraternal world.Together, they laid the foundations for modern socialist movements. In the crucible of the French Revolution, ‘real equality’ became the goal of a handful of conspirators gathered around Babeuf, who had meanwhile become the ‘tribune of the people’. The Conspiracy of Equals was considered by Marx to be ‘the first active communist party’: the hopes and questions that ran through the group prefigured those of the militants of later periods, including today.

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Book SynopsisA remarkably diverse treasury of literary celebrations, Books and Libraries is sure to take pride of place on the shelves of the book-obsessed. Books have long captured the imagination of readers everywhere, commanding their love, earning their veneration. For Emily Dickinson they are frigates that 'take us Lands away'; for Wordsworth they are 'a substantial world, both pure and good'; Alberto Rios calls them 'the deli offerings of civilization itself'. This affection extends to the hallowed gathering places of the written word: libraries where one can best hear "a choir of authors murmuring inside their books," as Billy Collins has it; bookshops, especially second-hand ones, 'too small for the worlds they hold, where words that sing you to sleep, stories that stalk your dreams, open like windows in a wall' (Gillian Clarke). The poets collected here include Catullus, Horace, T'ao Ch'ien, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Ronsard, Lope de Vega, Shakespeare, Marvell, Blake, Pope and Keats; more recent luminaries include Brecht, Cavafy, Gabriela Mistral, Dylan Thomas, Iku Takenaka, Pablo Neruda, Wislawa Szymborska, Anne Stevenson, Maya Angelou, Derek Walcott, John Burnside and Ian McMillan.

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Book SynopsisElizabeth Siddal is remembered as a Pre-Raphaelite supermodel and the muse and wife of Gabriel Rossetti. She is cast as a tragic heroine much like the Ophelia she modelled in the renowned Millais painting. But Elizabeth Siddal: Her Story overturns this myth. ‘Lizzie’ is presented as an aspirational and independent woman who knew what she wanted and was not afraid to let it be known. With extraordinary stories, including previously undiscovered details of Siddal’s journeys across the UK and to the south of France, Jan Marsh reclaims Siddal’s narrative from the historical record. She brings new perspective to the post-natal, mental trauma Elizabeth suffered after a stillbirth. Furthermore, she casts new light on the renowned story of Siddal’s grave being exhumed for Rossetti’s poems. Jan Marsh explores the finer, little known details of Siddal’s life, including her four months at art school in Sheffield, which Rossetti’s brother always denied. In addition to this, few will know how Siddal was often regarded as difficult and ungrateful. Historical record tends to forget or misremember women, but with Elizabeth Siddal: Her Story, Jan Marsh forces us to take a closer look and see a very different picture. Siddal was not passive and lacking in agency, she was a woman with a strong mind, flourishing career and an admirable talent.

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Book SynopsisNikolai Gogol was one of the great geniuses of nineteenth century Russian literature, with a command of the irrational unmatched by any writer before or since. His strange tales, though often read as forceful demands for social change, were displays of the fantasies of the human spirit. In this ideal marriage of subject and critic, Nabokov analyses his endlessly inventive compatriot, focusing on the masterpieces Dead Souls, The Overcoat and The Government Inspector.Misunderstood by his contemporaries, mishandled by theatre directors and ending his life mistreated by doctors - with medicinal leeches hanging from his exceptional nose - it took Nabokov to give Gogol, 'the oddest Russian in Russia', the critical biography he and his singular, brilliant work deserve.

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Book SynopsisIn Reading Chekhov Janet Malcolm takes on three roles: literary critic, biographer and journalist. Her close readings of Chekhov's stories and plays are interwoven with episodes from his life and framed by an account of a recent journey she made to St Petersburg. Malcolm demonstrates how the shadow of death that hovered over most of Chekhov's literary career - he became consumptive in his twenties and died in his forties - is almost everywhere reflected in the work. She writes of his childhood, his relationship with his family, his marriage, his travels, his early success, his exile to Yalta - always with an eye to connecting them to his themes and characters.Trade ReviewShe is like no other critic I have ever read: limpid, revelatory and startlingly attentive to every nuance * Financial Times *Malcolm writes wonderfully well. Her character sketches are superb. Malcolm's own talents are such that even on an off day she can't write a boring sentence -- John Lancaster * Daily Telegraph *Affectionate and insightful... Her writing is exuberant... Malcolm can be captivating whatever her subject -- Simon Hammond * Observer *Quite simply the best book about his methods as a storyteller I have read -- Paul Bailey * Sunday Times *She has the shy writer's gift for coming up with highly provocative statements in the quiet of her study - that the biographer is like "the professional burglar", that the work of the journalist is "morally indefensible" - and then claiming to be surprised when people are provoked. She is not about to get caught out in careless self-revelation * Independent *Malcolm gets to the heart of Chekhov, or at least comprehensibly, and comprehensively, maps out his mysteries for us, not only telling us what makes him tick but why we should regard him as one of the greatest writers to have lived * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA "beginning," especially as embodied in much modern thought, is its own method, Edward Said argues in this classic treatise on the role of the intellectual and the goal of criticism. Distinguishing between "origin," which is divine, mythical, and privileged, and "beginning," which is secular and humanly produced, Said traces the ramifications and diverse understandings of the concept of beginning through history. A beginning is a first step in the intentional production of meaning and the production of difference from preexisting traditions. It authorizes subsequent texts -- it both enables them and limits what is acceptable. Drawing on the insights of Vico, Valery, Nietzsche, Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, Husserl, and Foucault, Said recognizes the novel as the major attempt in Western literary culture to give beginnings an authorizing function in experience, art, and knowledge. Scholarship should see itself as a beginning -- as a uniting of theory and practice. Said's insistence on a criticism that is humane and socially responsible is what makes Beginnings is a book about much more than writing: it is about imagination and action as well as the constraints on freedom and invention that come from human intention and the method of its fulfillment.Trade ReviewTo understand Edward Said's Beginnings is to understand what is most importantly going on in contemporary critical theory, both in America and Europe. An immensely useful book by one of our most brilliant critics. -- Richard PoirierReaders will be surprised, stimulated, instructed, impressed * The New Yorker *It is the sense of total independence and, at times, of prophetic vision which makes [ Beginnings]... exhilarating * Times Higher Education Supplement *

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Book SynopsisDistinguished editor T.W. Craik makes an independent and balanced examination of the many textual problems of Henry V, providing many new emendations. "Craik's commentary is particularly ample and detailed, with careful attention to the play's language, textual problems, the interpretation of stage directions, and Shakespeare's handling of source materials...he builds up a distinct though traditionalist reading which, critically sympathetic and undogmatic, finds the play at once simple and subtle." John Jowett, Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare Survey, 1997 'With the exceptionally thorough Arden notes, and the extensive editorial coverage, including recent stage history, this Henry V is the one to have.'Times Higher Education Supplement'Craik's commentary is exemplary in its thorough treatment of critical concerns, glossaries and explanations, theatrical matters, and source material.'Barry Gaines, University of New Mexico, Shakespeare Quarterly

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Book SynopsisPhotography and Literature in the Twentieth-Century offers an accessible and fresh approach to an object of interdisciplinary research that is currently receiving increased international attention. Providing a broad historical schema, and examining pivotal moments within it, the collection brings together a range of writers and practitioners who help to guide the reader through a historical cross-section of current work in this area. Unlike most existing studies, this volume considers both key literary figures, from Proust to Sebald, and photographic practitioners, from Heartfield to Sekula, in order to give a commanding overview of its subject that is both well-informed and often ground-breaking. With original and accessible essays by acknowledged experts in the field, this is a book that should be of interest not only to students and teachers in departments of literature and photography, but also to those in cultural studies and art history, as well as photographic artists.Trade Review"Although in the 20th century the relation between literature and photography was arguably as significant as literature’s relation to painting in the 19th century, over the past generation the discussion of photography’s multiple intersections and interactions with writing and writers have tended to narrow to a few overly canonised works. This volume reverses this situation through the diversity and originality of the essays it gathers together: it has the potential to reawaken a field that for too long has been allowed to remain dormant." - Norman Bryson, Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism, University of California, San Diego, and author of Looking at the Overlooked."From Proust to Sebald, photography has occupied a significant place in literature, and visa versa. This book makes an important contribution to engaging with the relationship between the photograph and the text." - Steve Edwards, Open University, and author of The Making of English Photography."Discussion of literature and photography still tends to languish in the realms of image and text, rather than in the literary strategizing of photographers, or in the recurrent placing of the effects of the photographic act in twentieth-century fiction. Photography and Literature in the Twentieth Century remedies this. One of the most significant outcomes of the conjunction it generates is the realisation of how much the two are interrelated in the formation of modernism and after. The collection brings together work by some of the best emerging scholars and artists in the field. I highly recommend it." - John Roberts, University of Wolverhampton, and author of The Art of Interruption: Realism, Photography and the Everyday.

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Book SynopsisHave you ever felt frustrated talking to someone? Have you ever been puzzled by the way someone communicates, or struggled to understand what people really mean? Communication issues can be amplified when communicating internationally with people who have different norms and practices to our own, thereby causing issues to escalate if they are left unresolved. Successful International Communication is for anyone who communicates across cultures, whether it be for social purposes, or for work, where you might be using English to play your part in an international team. Perhaps you are communicating virtually or maybe you are a globe-trotter. Or you might be a language teacher or communications trainer looking to help your learners become more reflective and effective international communicators. Both theoretical and practical, this book is filled with easy-to-relate-to anecdotes and discussions on the use of English as a global language and the key issues of intercultural communication, as well as exploring different interpersonal skills such as relationship building and conflict management skills. Throughout the book, there are a number of critical incidents, discussion questions and other such tasks for you (as the reader) to complete, which in the process, encourage you to reflect on your own opinions, thoughts, experiences, and possible prejudices, whilst promoting self-awareness. The book is also packed full of useful tip sections summarising key points from the practical units as a reminder of the steps to follow for successful international communication.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: English as a lingua franca Chapter 2: Intercultural awareness Chapter 3: Building relationships Chapter 4: Collaboration and teamwork Chapter 5: Getting the right message Chapter 6: Listening actively Chapter 7: Leadership Chapter 8: Influencing Chapter 9: Conflict management Chapter 10: Communicating beyond words Conclusion

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Book SynopsisOn a wasted island in perpetual sun, the Father practices magic, laments his lost kingdom and commands a ragtag army of three: the passionate and damaged Daughter, the winged Spirit and an indigenous being known only as C. Behind their uniforms — white suits and full-face paper masks — the soldiers seethe with rebellion.The arrival of the Boy, a hapless prince, and the Brother, the Father’s rival, unleashes desire, betrayal, insanity and revenge — all of it witnessed by an irate sea.Paper Crusade is a bold reinvention of Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest. Michelle Penn’s vivid imagery and startling, sensual language create an unforgettable dystopia for our own time.Trade Reviewreview by @shoutaboutbooks on instagram"There must be something of Prospero in @mich_penn, because #PaperCrusade is utterly mesmeric & captivating."​ -- shoutaboutbooks * instagram *

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Book SynopsisFor as long as humans have existed, they have asked: What if? Science fiction was a defining genre of the postwar era, and its current boom across books, film and TV shows no sign of slowing. Space ships, time travel, aliens and artificial intelligence continue to obsess us, and dreams of the apocalypse haunt our own post-pandemic age. But what is it that compels writers to imagine the future? Writing the Future gathers some of the best contemporary writers of science fiction, speculative fiction, dystopia and eco-fiction to explain their craft and explore the many worlds upon which our imaginations might land. Authors such as Toby Litt, Nina Allan, Adam Roberts and Una McCormack reveal how to balance scientific research with creative freedom, examine the different forms the written text might evolve into, and offer practical advice on giving life to your own vision of the future. Whether you're a reader, a seasoned writer looking to hone your skills, or a beginner who's just starting out, Writing the Future provides valuable insights into the craft of imagining the worlds of tomorrow.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1959 and 2005, David Wood (‘the national children’s dramatist’) corresponded with his mentor, Frank Whitbourn, teacher, writer and theatre practitioner. Frank Exchanges opens with a letter from Whitbourn, praising a young Wood following a performance in one of his plays, and documents an almost fifty-year correspondence before Whitbourn’s death in 2005. Wood sent Whitbourn the first draft of every play he wrote, and Whitbourn commented constructively and often came to see and ‘review’ the plays in production. The letters chronicle Wood’s development as a playwright, director and producer, and Whitbourn’s memories of pre-war theatre-going and meeting Sybil Thorndike, Harcourt Williams and other eminent theatre folk. It is a reflection on the provision, content and status of theatre for young audiences, and ultimately a testimony to the man who Wood considered a friend and mentor.

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Book SynopsisA unique collection of interviews with contemporary poets at the height of their craft. How does a subconscious thought become an award-winning poem? Journalist, Rosanna McGlone, speaks to some of the country's leading poets to find out. Don Paterson, Sean O'Brien, Gillian Clarke, and many more, explore the development of a single poem from rough notes to a final version to provide invaluable insights for writers and poetry enthusiasts alike.Trade Review* "The Process of Poetry is a fantastic idea. Beautifully executed, this book will prove invaluable to poets, creative writing students, and anyone interested in the creative process." - Malika Booker

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Book Synopsis"All folktales have in common that they are the remains of a faith going back to the earliest times, a faith, a religion, that speaks of supersensible things in pictures. These pictures are like fragments of a shattered jewel that lie strewn on the ground overgrown with grass and flowers. Only the sharpest eye can discover them. Their meaning is long lost but can still be felt and gives the folktales their substance." -- Wilhelm Grimm In The Picture Language of Folktales, Friedel Lenz explores the meaning of twenty-five of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, originally collected and retold between 1812 to 1857. Lenz's interpretation draws on the ideas of anthroposophy and considers the stories in relation to the development of human consciousness. The tales considered range from the familiar, including Cinderella and Snow White, to the less well-known, including The Three Feathers, The Goose Girl and The Seven Ravens. Lenz's commentary illuminates the significance of these texts, making this a useful resource for Steiner-Waldorf teachers sharing these stories in the kindergarten and lower school, as well as for interested readers who want to understand these classic stories in a new way.

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Book SynopsisBlack artists of the avant-garde have always defined the future. Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture is the culmination of six years of multidisciplinary research by trans poet and curator Anaïs Duplan about the aesthetic strategies used by experimental artists of color since the 1960s to pursue liberatory possibility. Through a series of lyric essays, interviews with contemporary artists and writers of color, and ekphrastic poetry, Duplan deconstructs how creative people frame their relationships to the word, “liberation.” With a focus on creatives who use digital media and language-as-technology—luminaries like Actress, Juliana Huxtable, Lawrence Andrews, Tony Cokes, Sondra Perry, and Nathaniel Mackey—Duplan offers three lenses for thinking about liberation: the personal, the social, and the existential. Arguing that true freedom is impossible without considering all three, the book culminates with a personal essay meditating on the author’s own journey of gender transition while writing the book. Anaïs Duplan is a trans* poet, curator, and artist. He is the founding curator for the Center for Afrofuturist Studies, an artist residency program for artists of color, based in Iowa City. He has worked as an adjunct poetry professor at the University of Iowa, Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, and St. Joseph’s College. He was a 2017–2019 joint Public Programs Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem.Trade Review“Duplan skillfully models radical listening in the relationship he cultivates between the text and its audience, prompting us to reimagine our interactions with artistic tradition and our lives in language.” — Ploughshares“In Duplan’s exquisite (and exquisitely bizarre) vision, survival is effortful; it is massy; it is textural; it is en masse, dependent on group and swarm bodies; it is swarmed with contradiction; yet it is marvelous because it somehow persists.”—Fanzine

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Book SynopsisThe Holy Mountain of Athos is a self governing monastic republic on a peninsula in Northern Greece. Standing on the shores of the Aegean Sea is one of the twenty ruling monasteries that comprise the republic, that of St Panteleimon, known in Greek as the Rossikon. It's building, fully restored in recent years, can accommodate up to 5,000 men, reflecting the scale of the settlement at its apogee in the nineteenth century and prior to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 it has experienced a strong revival and is now one of the most numerous of the twenty.But the vast buildings that can be seen today are really only a reflection of the history of the past two centuries. Much less well known is the fact that the history of a Russian presence on Athos goes back more than one thousand years. This is the first comprehensive account of this in the English language. The author has been able to draw from previously inaccessible archival materials in gathering the wealth of information he shares in this work. The history of the community is not described in geographical isolation but shown as interacting with the much wider worlds of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and the modern nation state of Greece, together with that of the Russian homeland whose political character is constantly evolving. There are shown to be three distinct phases in this history: From the tenth to the twelfth centuries when Russian Athonites inhabited the ancient Russian Lavra of the Mother of God, also known as Xylourgou. Then the six hundred years from the mid-twelth to the mid-eighteenth century when the ancient Monastery of St Panteleimon was the Russian house on Athos, more commonly referred to as Nagorny or Stary Rusik. Finally the most recent 250 years, that are naturally covered in greater depth thanks to the wider availability of sources.Amongst the themes explored in the book are ethnic relations, the Pan-Orthodox ideal, the role of money and political pressure, sanctity and heroism in adversity, and the importance of historical memory and precedent. The author seeks to arbitrate fairly between often strongly opposing ethnic viewpoints.It examines in detail the fluctuating fortunes of the monastic community of St Panteleimon during the past 250 years when its ethnic identity was frequently questioned. It is a history that has been blighted by Greek-Russian quarrels, mass deportation of dissenting brethren, troubles in the Caucasus, and even tangential implication in the present-day dispute between the Ecumenical and Moscow Patriarchates over Ukraine.This text will be invaluable to both academic historians and the general educated reader who does not possess specialist knowledge. It is complimented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full colour illustrations and photographs.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 - The Monastery’s Early History: from Xylourgou to the Old Mountain Rusik 2 - From Savvas to Gerasim 3 - The Return of the Russians in the Reign of Abbot Gerasimos 4 - The New Spiritual Father and Leader of the Russian Brotherhood is Chosen 5 - The Crimean War 6 - The Greek and Russian Brotherhoods at Loggerheads 7 - The Reign of Archimandrite Makary 8 - Makary’s Successors, Abbots Andrey and Nifont 1889–1905 9 - Archimandrite Misail 10- The Name of God Dispute 11 - From 1913 to Abbot Misail’s Death in 1940 12- The Next Four Abbots: from Iustin to Avel´ (1940–1978) 13 - From Ieremiya to Evlogy Afterword Timeline Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWe bear deep wounds, individually and collectively. All have been worsened by a period of destructive politics that left us ill-equipped to respond to a global health catastrophe. As we struggle to recover our footing and grieve our dead, we believe that the arts must have a voice in the conversation about how we heal.This anthology draws together a wide range of artists and thinkers, established and emerging. In essays, memoir, poetry, fiction, and comics, contributors explore what it might look like to repair. Topics include the Salem witch trials, climate catastrophe, the January 6 siege of the Capitol, gender identity, the failures (and hope) of Western medicine, and the entwined horrors of racial, sexual, and colonial violence.No single text in this volume offers a definitive answer for what it means to repair. But together, they reveal a promising vision for where to go from here.

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Book Synopsis700 years after Dante Alighieri's death, this book intertwines the voice of the great poet with that of an exceptional contemporary, Marco Polo, who was equally curious about the geography of both earthly and celestial worlds. If Polo was the “ordinary genius” of the XIII century, the designation of “sorcerer genius” must go to Alighieri, the man with encyclopedic wisdom, at ease with his era’s philosophy, theology, and science. The sorcerer genius—well versed in this world—must create their own, which he did with The Divine Comedy. On the other hand, The Travels of Marco Polo, the greatest classic in travel literature, offers wonder and provides delight. This book combines the unforgettable characters of both books, the darkness of the infernal landscapes with the immensity of the Asian deserts, the richness of the Mongol empire with the glamor of medieval philosophy, the aspirations and dreams of two great explorers with knowledge of the science of their time, as well as the ever-eternal cosmology. This is an accessible and entertaining book for high school students, scholars of scientific history and the history of ideas, and curious readers who want to know more about Dante and Marco Polo and their unquenchable thirst for knowledge.This book is a translation of an original Italian edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.Table of ContentsContentsPrologueThe Merchant and the Poet1. Ordinary geniuses and sorcerers2. The gigantic crystal3. The enigma of the lost manuscript4. The disease of writing5. In the darkness of Hell6. The hill of Purgatory7. The light of Heaven8. The troubles of Botticelli9. A non-existent book10. Diplomatic missions11. The art of traveling12. The endless quarrelsVenice and Florence1. The opening of the thirteenth century2. The world seen from Rialto3. An extraordinary republic4. The horses of San Marco5. The art of wool6. At the roots of hatred8. International intrigue9. "How other people's bread tastes like salt"The astrolabe and the compass1. It all began in Jerusalem2. The shadow of an ancient master3. Behind the scenes4. In the heart of Tartaria5. The noble castle6. Pax Mongolian7. Francesca or love and sin8. The women of the far East9. Monsters, animals and giants10. The ineffable Presten John11. Travelers in the stubborn and opposite direction12. The sect of the Assassins13. The Southern Cross14. In the footsteps of Alexander the Great15. The purgatory fire16. The miracle of the mountain17. Dreams, prayers and numbers18. Round trip from Hormuz19. Flowers and trees, light and fire20. The highest place in the world21. The elements, the ether and trasumanar22. The Silk Road23. Light, dance and music24. At the court of the Great Khan25. The question to the eagle26. The discovery of Asia27. Medieval cleverness28. The white rose of the blessed29. The long goodbye

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Book SynopsisFirst distributed in 1913, John Barleycorn is the principal keen abstract composition on liquor in American writing. London offers intense speculations on Barleycorn along with his very own nearby story drinking vocation, which was chivalrous in scale. It is, notwithstanding, as a practice in life account that his book chiefly draws in the advanced peruser. London's life was unfortunately short however loaded with episode and experience. In John Barleycorn he keeps his initial difficulties in Oakland, his encounters as clam privateer, remote ocean sealer, homeless person, Yukon goldminer, understudy, nonconformist, and - eventually - top of the line creator. Long ignored by London hardliners (who wish he had never composed it) and utilized against him by pundits who might see him as a self-admitted inebriated, John Barleycorn should be commended for what it is: an exemplary of American life account.

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Book SynopsisRubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a collection of Persian poems, originally written by Omar Khayyam in the 11th century. The book is composed of quatrains, also known as rubaiyat, that explore themes such as love, mortality, and the meaning of life. The poems are written in a simple yet profound style and are often filled with references to nature, wine, and the pleasures of life. Khayyam also questions the traditional beliefs of his time, including the idea of an afterlife and the role of religion in human affairs. One of the most notable features of the book is its use of imagery, which ranges from the beauty of a rose to the vastness of the universe. Khayyam's poems also contain a sense of melancholy and a recognition of the fleeting nature of life, which adds to the book's timeless appeal. The Rubaiyat has been translated into many languages and has become a beloved classic throughout the world. It continues to inspire readers with its timeless wisdom and its celebration of the beauty and impermanence of life.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisSomething extraordinary happened to the UK literary scene in the 1980s. In the space of eight years, a generation of young British writers took the literary novel into new realms of setting, subject matter and style, challenging - and almost eclipsing - the Establishment writers of the 1950s. It began with two names - Martin Amis and Ian McEwan - and became a flood: Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Graham Swift, Salman Rushdie, Jeanette Winterson and Pat Barker among them. The rise of the newcomers coincided with astonishing changes in the way books were published - and the ways in which readers bought them and interacted with their authors. Suddenly, authors of serious fiction were like rock stars, fashionable, sexy creatures, shrewdly marketed and feted in public.The yearly bunfight of the Booker Prize became a matter of keen public interest. Tim Waterstone established the first of a chain of revolutionary bookshops. London publishing houses became the playground of exciting, Trade Review[An] elegant and elegiac memoir . . . the vigour of the book's attack and the hilarity of its anecdotage ... [shows he was] one of the great power-brokers of literary London . . . He was (and is) a good thing and I salute him. -- D. J. Taylor * Literary Review *Very funny . . . I laughed long at the set-piece lunch with [Martin] Amis * Observer *Walsh's enthusiasm for the writing of the 1980s is infectious * Irish Times *This is by no means just a book of literary history, fascinating though much of that is. Walsh also gives us plenty of terrific stories/gossip from those far-off days when newspaper offices were full of typewriter noise and cigarette smoke, and the choice of lunchtime drinks was definitely not restricted to still or sparkling. * Reader's Digest *Through it all, Walsh was there. First as an eager wannabe, then as a full-blooded insider. Any disappointment that his own efforts at a novel didn't prove a ticket to the dream-circus was quickly mitigated once he discovered his potential as a critic, commentator and general facilitator, swishing through the forest as interviewer, literary judge, pundit, speaker, partygoer par excellence . . . An immersive literary history . . . highly readable * Financial Times *Reading John Walsh's adventures in the literary world of the 1980s is like donning a pair of spectacles that bring blurred memories into sudden, sharp focus . . . Walsh describes people, events and places with such accuracy that he will transport oldies back to the era, allowing them to reappraise and appreciate it afresh. His memory - even if dependent on a diary - is prodigious, and his anecdotes polished till they sparkle. * The Oldie *An entertainingly gossipy memoir of the period . . . * The Week *Elegant and entertaining * Critic *[There's a] mixture of high and low, sacred and profane, running through Walsh's account of literary London in the 1980s that makes it such a joy * Sunday Times *Walsh's appetite for celebrity gossip is supplemented by a keen understanding of the business moves behind the invention of these literary stars, while his candour about his own shortcomings is endearing . . . [this] memoir is highly recommended * Irish Examiner *Walsh makes London seem like the place to have been. The stage was smaller; everything burned more brightly; more angels teemed on the head of a pin . . . One of the best things about Circus of Dreams is Walsh's memories not of the big beasts of literature, but of the smaller players - the editors and agents and clubmen and hacks and P.R. people, the various legends in their own lunchtimes. * New York Times *John Walsh's Circus of Dreams sent me reeling nostalgically back to the literary 1980s, where I may remain happily trapped for some time to come * HEAD TOPICS *Alternately fascinating and provocative -- John Sutherland * TLS *Circus of Dreams, the critic and journalist John Walsh's rambunctious and hugely entertaining history of the British literary scene in the 1980s, summons up something of the excitement, and the absurdity, of the period * Spectator World *

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Book SynopsisAn introduction to ancient myths and the critical discussions that surround them, this book dives into the stories of pre-modern culture, taking a comparative look at how they have shaped the West and modern storytelling as we have come to understand it today. It makes texts and scholarship from near Eastern, Classical and Celtic disciplines engaging and accessible, and traces narrative meaning through stories from ancient Mesopotamia to the BritishMedieval Period, offering compelling pathways into such writings as The Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis and Job, The Odyssey, The Mabinogi, The Life of St Cadoc and Sir Orfeo. Looking at each in detail, Myths and Ancient Stories also explores myth through a modern lens, probing at how, in this scientific age, it continues to inspire contemporary film, games and literary works such as those by, Margaret Atwood, Colm Tóibín, Madeleine Miller and Pat Barker. Imp

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Book Synopsis‘Immensely informative, wrapped in an engagingly casual tone, complemented by more than a dash of the bizarre. You’d be barking to miss it.’ Professor Michael Scott Can you tell your Odysseus from your Oedipus? In this unique introduction, Philip Womack leads his beloved lurcher Una (and us) on a fleet-footed odyssey through the classical world. From Aeneas to Cerberus to Polydorus, you’ll learn about the world of the Ancient Greeks and Romans and, with a bit of luck, you’ll be able to pass it on to your dog. But maybe best leave out that story of the hounds who tore their very own master limb from limb…Trade Review‘The strength of Womack’s book lies in the enthusiasm with which its author lays on the plate a vast range of material for dog and man… at any moment Brenda Hale, Donna Tartt, David Bowie, Molesworth, Stephen Fry or a reference to an obscure scholarly article… might leap from the page… There’s plenty here, then, to catch the attention and arouse the interest of the curious.’ * Literary Review *‘Engaging and funny and clever. Written with the verve of a novelist and the insights of a scholar. Illuminates the pleasures and relevance of the Classics today.’ -- Dr Harry Sidebottom, Oxford don and author of the bestselling Warrior of Rome series‘Philip’s whimsical tale of classical chats with his dog offers a new kind of introduction to the ancient world: immensely informative, wrapped in an engagingly casual tone, complemented by more than a dash of the bizarre. You’d be barking to miss it.’ -- Professor Michael Scott, Academic, Author and Broadcaster‘Mirabile dictu! Philip Womack and Una – his optima canis – are tremendous companions in their journey round the classical world. The ultimate vademecum…’ * Harry Mount, author of Amo, Amas, Amat… and All That *‘Una’s personality shines through and Womack’s enthusiasm is infectious.’ * Wunderdog *'Lively and informative.' -- Classics For All

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Book SynopsisIt is a truth universally acknowledged that most of us could use some guidance. Whether you’re looking to marry a man with several carriages to his name, are recovering from an illness caused by wet stockings or you’re unsure what colour ribbon is the best match for your outfit, Jane Austen’s wisdom is here to guide you through any problem. This deck of cards features insights from Austen’s wide world of characters. Just shuffle the deck and pull the card on top. With illustrations of her beloved characters and their most enlightened quotes, they’ll guide you through the day ahead and help you resolve your questions. Not sure you’ve made the right decision? “Better be without sense than misapply it as you do.” Unsure what to do with your afternoon? “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” Confused why you’re struggling to make friends? “Your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.” With 50 cards to pull from, this deck will give you the insights you need, whether your sister has eloped with your ex or you're in love with your step brother.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewJoseph Valente and Margot Gayle Backus's The Child Sex Scandal and Modern Irish Literature: Writing the Unspeakable digs fearlessly into a centurylong literary canon of abused Irish children, unmasking and unmaking the psychological operations that have allowed such abuse, as Fintan O'Toole writes in the book's preface, to long be Ireland's shameful "unknown known" (xiii). -- Renee Fox * Irish Literary Supplement *The Child Sex Scandal and Modern Irish Literature is a beautifully written and intellectually stimulating book that casts much needed light on the representation of the child sexual scandal in modern Irish literature. For anyone with the slightest interest in the intersection between literature, psychology, cultural theory and sociology and the light they can cast on Irish society, this book is a must read, provided that one understands that it is a highly academic study not intended for a general audience. It shows how in many respects the trauma associated with child abuse in Ireland is still at an early stage, and that healing will only come slowly. -- Eamon Maher * Criminal Law & Criminal Justice Review *Through intricate and rigorous close readings of literature, ranging from James Joyce to Anne Enright, and nuanced applications of psychoanalytic theory, Valente and Backus outline the way that Irish literature engages modern social and cultural discourse, as well as silence and abstraction, to identify sexual trauma in Ireland since the late nineteenth century. Just as they consistently suggest that intracommunity recognition of child sex scandal in Ireland is essential to recovering the social repression of trauma, they also offer academics a reminder of how we might save the Humanities from dissolution and despair: write, think, and witness together. . . . Put simply: we need more books like this in Irish Studies. -- Ellen Scheible * New Hibernia Review *The Child Sex Scandal and Modern Irish Literature should be required reading for students of Irish literature and history. . . . I would also recommend that The Child Sex Scandal and Modern Irish Literature: Writing the Unspeakable, be recommended reading for psychiatrists, therapists and counselors working with victims of child sex abuse and institutional abuse. As is often the case, writers can illuminate the path forward in understanding. -- Adrienne Leavy * Reading Ireland *Table of ContentsForewordIntroduction: The Enigmatic History of Imperiled Innocence1. "An Iridescence Difficult to Account for": Sexual Initiation in Joyce's Fiction of Development2. Between (Open) Secret and Enigma: Kate O'Brien, The Land of Spices, and the Stylistic Invention of Lesbian (In)visibility3. Country Girl: Groomed, Seduced, and Abandoned4. From the Pits and Ditches Where People Have Fallen: Sex Scandal and the Reinvention of the Irish Public Sphere in Keith Ridgway's The Long Falling5. Retrofitting Ireland's Architecture of Containment in Tana French's In the Woods6. "Roaring Inside Me": The Enigma of Sexual Violence in The GatheringEpilogue: What About Brendan?Bibliography of ImagesWorks CitedIndex

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