Literary companions, book reviews and guides Books
Academic Studies Press Babel' in Context: A Study in Cultural Identity
Book SynopsisIsaak Babel (1894-1940) is arguably one of the greatest modern short story writers of the early twentieth century. Yet his life and work are shrouded in the mystery of who Babel was—an Odessa Jew who wrote in Russian, who came from one of the most vibrant centres of east European Jewish culture and all his life loved Yiddish and the stories of Sholom Aleichem.This is the first book in English to study the intertextuality of Babel’s work. It looks at Babel’s cultural identity as a case study in the contradictions and tensions of literary influence, personal loyalties, and ideological constraint. The complex and often ambivalent relations between the two cultures inevitably raise controversial issues that touch on the reception of Babel and other Jewish intellectuals in Russian literature, as well as the “Jewishness” of their work. Trade Review"Writing about Isaak Babel' is no easy matter. The subtlety and complexity of his prose style, his tendency to mythologize his own biography and his slippery relationship with Soviet power all require the deftest and most delicate of treatments, despite - or perhaps because of - the often shocking frankness of his subject matter. Few scholars have done as much to illuminate Babel"s life and works as Efraim Sicher. The introduction and seven chapters ... that make up Babel' in Context: A Study in Cultural Identity examine him from a variety of distinct, yet complementary perspectives, producing something more akin to a fragmented modernist portrait than a full psychological study in the realist mode." - The Slavonic and East European Review
£82.79
Academic Studies Press “I am a phenomenon quite out of the ordinary”:
Book SynopsisIn addition to his numerous works in prose and poetry for both children and adults, Daniil Kharms, (1905-42), one of the founders of Russia's “lost literature of the absurd,” wrote notebooks and a diary for most of his adult life. Published for the first time in recent years in Russian, these notebooks provide an intimate look at the daily life and struggles of one of the central figures of the literary avant-garde in Post-Revolutionary Leningrad. While Kharms's stories have been translated and published in English, these diaries represents an invaluable source for English-language readers who having already discovered Kharms in translation desire to learn about the life and times of an avant-garde writer in the first decades of Soviet power. Trade Review“[Kharms’s notebooks] are generously sampled and gracefully translated by Anemone (The New School) and Scotto (Mount Holyoke College). . . . Not only have they succeeded in producing a vivid, often poignant portrait of Kharms, they offer a host of new texts in English—many as funny, violent, and profoundly existential as any seen before. . . . Highly recommended.” —M. Kasper (emeritus, Amherst College) in CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, August 2013 “Gives the best sense of any book in English of Kharms both within his context and as a deeply fascinating individual whose work can’t be ... explained away by the circumstances of its creation. . . . A huge addition to the Kharms canon in English. . . . Dozens of entries translated here for the first time that are just as great, as weird and delightful and mysterious, as his better-known works.” —Chris Cumming, review published on BOMBlog, August 1, 2013“Anemone and Scotto do an outstanding job in conveying the texture of Kharms’s writing. . . . The notebooks, diaries, and letters presented in ‘I am a Phenomenon’ show the breadth of Kharms’s interests, in literature, music, art, philosophy, psychology, mathematics, religion . . . the book documents Kharms’s hopes, doubts, frustrations, and physical and psychic pains about work and life. . . . Anemone and Scotto have done an excellent job. They state, ‘We believe that we have remained true to the spirit of the notebooks’ (p. 43). Absolutely!” —Ellen Chances, Princeton University. Review published in The Russian Review, January 2014 (Vol. 73, No. 1)
£95.39
West Virginia University Press Beowulf and the Grendel-Kin: Politics and Poetry
Book Synopsis
£33.71
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisThe Los Angeles Review of Books launched in April of 2011 as a humble Tumblr, with a 2600-word essay by Ben Ehrenreich entitled "The Death of the Book." The gesture was meant to be provocative, and to ask a genuine question: Was the book dying? Was the internet killing it? Or were we simply entering a new era, a new publishing ecosystem, where different media could coexist? The LARB website currently publishes a minimum of two rigorously edited pieces a day, and we've cultivated a stable of regular contributors, both eminent (Jane Smiley, Mike Davis, Jonathan Lethem) and emerging (Jenny Hendrix, Colin Dickey, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah). We've found our way to a certain tone that readers expect and enjoy: looser and more eclectic than our namesakes the New York and London Review of Books, grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience, far from the New York publishing hothouse atmosphere but not myopically focused on L.A. either. The new LARB print quarterly builds on the best aspects of our flagship online magazine. The long form literary and cultural arts review is alive and well, and now, has a new home in Los Angeles.
£10.43
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisThe Los Angeles Review of Books launched in April of 2011 as a humble Tumblr, with a 2600-word essay by Ben Ehrenreich entitled "The Death of the Book." The gesture was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but we meant it to be provocative, and to ask a genuine question: Was the book dying? Was the internet killing it? Or were we simply entering a new era, a new publishing ecosystem, where different media could coexist? Since then, we've been enormously gratified by the response that LARB has generated from readers, writers, academics, editors, publishers. We are a community of writers, critics, journalists, artists, filmmakers, and scholars dedicated to promoting and disseminating the best that is thought and written, with an enduring commitment to the intellectual rigor, the incisiveness, and the power of the written word.Today, we've created a new institution for writers and readers that is unlike anything else on the web. Our new LARB Quarterly Journal reflects the best that this institution has to bring to readers all over the world. One question these people have continually asked us, though, is: When are you going to put out a print edition? Even though we've been (and remain) committed to the internet as both a space of conversation and a place of commerce, we've always wanted to have something physical, tangible, to be able to show for our work. We never really believed that books would die, or magazines either. The LARB website currently publishes a minimum of two rigorously edited pieces a day, and we've cultivated a stable of regular contributors, both eminent (Jane Smiley, Mike Davis, Jonathan Lethem) and emerging (Jenny Hendrix, Colin Dickey, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah). We've found our way to a certain tone that readers expect and enjoy: looser and more eclectic than our namesakes the New York and London Review of Books, grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience, far from the New York publishing hothouse atmosphere but not myopically focused on L.A. either. The new LARB print quarterly will build on the best aspects of the current website. As we do now, we'll publish book reviews that strive to do something more than recommend or discourage a purchase; we're most interested in pieces that push the form of the book review into other genres, such as memoir, polemic, or short story. We are excited to explore the possibilities of this new format, and feel confident that the audience we've attracted over the past two years on the web will follow us. We know that our peers at Harper's, Bookforum, n+1, The Believer, and the New York and London Review of Books -- all of whom have expressed support and goodwill for this latest venture -- welcome a new voice from the West, as will subscribers. The long form literary and cultural arts review is alive and well, and now, has a new home in Los Angeles.Table of ContentsARTICLE/REVIEW: Jacob Mikanowski, "Papyralysis" Chris Kraus, "The Cult of Freedom" ESSAY: Laurie Pepper, "Gettin' Together: Conversations with Art Pepper" POEM: Maurice Manning, "My Aunt Fanny" ARTICLE/REVIEW: Ander Monson, "American Renaissance" ARTICLE: Daniel Olivas, "Two Questions for Rudolfo Anaya" ARTICLE/REVIEW: Maria Bustillos, "Coloring Outside the Lines" SHORT: Tom Bissell, "The Five Stages of Art" ARTICLE/REVIEW: Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, "Aliens" POEM: Douglas Kearney, "Father-To-Be Takes Himself for a Walk" ARTIST PROFILE: Barbara T. Smith SHORT: Alex Espinoza, "The Night Stalker" ESSAY: Ariana Kelly, "To the Lighthouse" POEM: Hoa Nguyen, "O Tree (Borassus)" ARTICLE/REVIEW: Alex Kitnick, "Note to Self: On Claes Oldenburg" ARTICLE/REVIEW: Marjorie Perloff, "A Man Who Has Come Through: On D.H. Lawrence" POEM: Muesser Yeniay, "A Bird Nest in Gezi Park" ESSAY: Robert Pranzatelli, "Unspoiled Monster: On Truman Capote" ESSAY: Eliah Bures, "Rest in Peace: World War I and Living Memory" SHORT: Rigoberto Gonzalez, "Death" ARTICLE/REVIEW: Ben Mauk, "Flatland: On Javier Marias"
£10.51
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisLaunched in 2011 as online magazine to revive the great American tradition of the long-form literary and cultural arts review, the Los Angeles Review of Books has established itself as a new institution for writers and readers unlike anything else. A nonprofit, multimedia literary and cultural arts magazine, LARB combines serious book review with the evolving technologies of the web. The LARB Quarterly Journal reflects the best that this institution has to bring to readers all over the world. Cultivating a stable of regular contributors, both eminent (Jane Smiley, Mike Davis, Jonathan Lethem) and emerging (Jenny Hendrix, Colin Dickey, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah), LARB achieves a certain tone that readers expect and enjoy: looser and more eclectic than other journals, grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience, far from the New York publishing hothouse atmosphere but not myopically focused on Los Angeles either. The LARB Quarterly Journal builds on the best aspects of the online magazine and proves that long-form literary and cultural arts review is alive and well.Table of Contents5 Catholic Girls /// Judy Chicurel 20 Beth's Uncle /// Aimee Bender 23 A Stranger in Siem Reap /// Evan James 26 New Moon /// Carl Adamshick 28 The Sirens /// Robin Kirman 34 My Only Uncle /// Mona Simpson 37 The Big Sleep #2 /// Martha Ronk 38 T he E vergreen D ream /// Alice Bolin 48 Artist Portfolio: Henry Taylor /// Jonathan Griffin 64 "Of the Making of Many Books There is No End": Remembering Michael Kammen, the Professor of Paradox /// Douglas Greenberg 80 Missing Father /// Diana Abu-Jaber 83 If You Peeked and Saw Gaza /// Sesshu Foster 84 Aunties /// Rabih Alameddine 86 A Girl's Guide to Sexual Purity /// Carmen Maria Machado 98 The Big Sleep #3 /// Martha Ronk 100 My Nieces /// Daniel Handler 103 John Rechy: An Interview /// John-Manuel Andriote and Tom Lutz 116 Two Uncles /// Lily Tuck 118 Writing in Cafes: A Personal History /// Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft 124 Uncle Wes /// Michelle Huneven 127 The Big Sleep #4 /// Martha Ronk 128 Musical Strings Infinitely Resonate /// Ravi Mangla 132 Comic Poems /// Gary Jackson
£10.49
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisThe Los Angeles Review of Books launched as online-only magazine in April 2011 to revive the great American tradition of the long form literary and cultural arts review. Today, we've created a new institution for writers and readers unlike anything else on the web. The LARB Quarterly Journal is our flagship print edition of the magazine, reflecting the best that this institution has to bring to readers all over the world. We've cultivated a stable of regular contributors, both eminent (Jane Smiley, Mike Davis, Jonathan Lethem) and emerging (Jenny Hendrix, Colin Dickey, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah). We've found our way to a certain tone that readers expect and enjoy: looser and more eclectic than other journals, grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience, far from the New York publishing hothouse atmosphere but not myopically focused on L.A. either. The LARB Quarterly Journal builds on the best aspects of our flagship online magazine. The long form literary and cultural arts review is alive and well, and now, has a new home in Los Angeles.
£10.46
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisLos Angeles Review of Books is an independent, nonprofit, multimedia literary and cultural arts magazine that combines the great American tradition of the serious book review with the evolving technologies of online publishing. LARB has quickly established itself as a thriving institution for writers and readers. The LARB Quarterly Journal, a signature print edition, reflects the best that this institution brings to a national and international readership. The magazine cultivates a stable of regular and ongoing contributors, both eminent and emerging, to cover all topics and genres, from politics to fiction, from television to poetry, and much more. LARB specializes in a looser and more eclectic approach than other journals: grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience; headquartered in Los Angeles, but home to writers and artists from all over the world, the LARB Quarterly Journal brings the pioneering spirit of the online magazine into print and proves that longform literary and cultural arts review is alive and well.
£10.47
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisLos Angeles Review of Books is an independent, nonprofit, multimedia literary and cultural arts magazine that combines the great American tradition of the serious book review with the evolving technologies of online publishing. LARB has quickly established itself as a thriving institution for writers and readers. The LARB Quarterly Journal, a signature print edition, reflects the best that this institution brings to a national and international readership. The magazine cultivates a stable of regular and ongoing contributors, both eminent and emerging, to cover all topics and genres, from politics to fiction, from television to poetry, and much more. LARB specializes in a looser and more eclectic approach than other journals: grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience; headquartered in Los Angeles, but home to writers and artists from all over the world, the LARB Quarterly Journal brings the pioneering spirit of the online magazine into print and proves that long-form literary and cultural arts review is alive and well.
£10.47
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisThe Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal "No Crisis" issue considers the state of critical thinking and writing -- literary interpretation, art history, and cultural studies -- in the 21st century. The last several years have been an era of crisis for the academic humanities, traditionally the home of the interpretive disciplines. Across the system of education in the United States there are, in fact, many crises. For our part, we see the crisis as the effect of economic and administrative decisions, not a failure of ideas. So, we asked a group of eminent critics to choose a recent critical text and to write about why it matters: not to coolly evaluate it but to stand and think with a critic whose writing they value. The essays produced are works of criticism in themselves; in them, and with "No Crisis," we hope to show that the art of criticism is flourishing, rich with intellectual power and sustaining beauty, in hard times.
£10.53
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal
Book SynopsisThe LARB Quarterly Journal fiction issue features short fiction from award-winning writers, including Peter Gadol and John Rechy. It also includes new work from novelist Rebecca Chace and short story writer Paul Mandelbaum. This issue also includes non-fiction from award-winning essayist Ingrid Rojas Contreras. The LARB Quarterly Journal is a testament to the fact that print is thriving, as readers continue to have a profound appetite for curated, edited, smart and fun opinion, written by the best writers and thinkers of our time. These carefully selected articles, poems, interviews and essays appeal to readers with wide-ranging interests and a love for the literary. The new issue of the LARB Quarterly Journal includes: * Feature essays by Rebecca Chace, Ellen Collett, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Liska Jacobs, Max Nelson, Jeremy N. Smith, and Angela Woodward * Original poetry by Josh Bell, Traci Brimhall, Willa Carroll, Nathalie Handal, Morgan Parker, and Diane Seuss * Short-takes by Sally Ashton, Karen E. Bender, Sven Birkerts, Dionisia Morales, Ben Pack, Robert Anthony Siegel, Ira Sukrungruang, Kim Young The journal also includes an Artist Portfolio and profile of Miljohn Ruperto and Rini Yun Keagy.
£10.47
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal:
Book SynopsisThe spring issue of the LA Review of Books Journal is dedicated to the concept of Genius — how do we know what it is? How do we define it? How do we understand it and what role does it play in our culture? We have asked writers, scholars, critics, and artists to weigh in on the complicated concept. This issue is meant to challenge the idea of Genius — who after all, decides what genius is? — but also engage with it and try to unravel its complexities. We have grants that carry the title; we have people widely acknowledged as geniuses; we have organizations that can bestow that term to its members, and yet it’s still a mysterious, impenetrable concept, that we both suspect and revere. The issue is looking to tackle that straight on, while also including work by the writers and artists we consider worthy of the name, in all of its variations. The issue will also include a series of definitions of “Genius”, formatted like the dictionary, where artists, playwrights, poets and critics try to define the slippery term and tell us what the word means to them.
£10.53
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal:
Book SynopsisLos Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. Since its founding in 2011, LARB has quickly established itself as a thriving institution for writers and readers. TheLARB Quarterly Journal, a signature print edition, reflects the best that this institution brings to a national and international readership. The print magazine cultivates a stable of regular and ongoing contributors, both eminent and emerging, to cover all topics and genres, from politics to fiction, film to poetry, and much more.LARB specializes in a looser and more eclectic approach than other journals: grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience. Headquartered in Los Angeles, but home to writers and artists from all over the world, theLARB Quarterly Journal brings the pioneering spirit of the online magazine into print and and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.
£9.75
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal:
Book SynopsisLos Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. Since its founding in 2011, LARB has quickly established itself as a thriving institution for writers and readers. TheLARB Quarterly Journal, a signature print edition, reflects the best that this institution brings to a national and international readership. The print magazine cultivates a stable of regular and ongoing contributors, both eminent and emerging, to cover all topics and genres, from politics to fiction, film to poetry, and much more.LARB specializes in a looser and more eclectic approach than other journals: grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience. Headquartered in Los Angeles, but home to writers and artists from all over the world, theLARB Quarterly Journal brings the pioneering spirit of the online magazine into print and and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.
£10.49
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books: Weather Issue: No.
Book SynopsisLos Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. Since its founding in 2011, LARB has quickly established itself as a thriving institution for writers and readers. TheLARB Quarterly Journal, a signature print edition, reflects the best that this institution brings to a national and international readership. The print magazine cultivates a stable of regular and ongoing contributors, both eminent and emerging, to cover all topics and genres, from politics to fiction, film to poetry, and much more.LARB specializes in a looser and more eclectic approach than other journals: grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience. Headquartered in Los Angeles, but home to writers and artists from all over the world, theLARB Quarterly Journal brings the pioneering spirit of the online magazine into print and and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.
£9.75
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books: Catharsis Issue: No.
Book SynopsisLos Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. Since its founding in 2011, LARB has quickly established itself as a thriving institution for writers and readers. The LARB Quarterly Journal, a signature print edition, reflects the best that this institution brings to a national and international readership. The print magazine cultivates a stable of regular and ongoing contributors, both eminent and emerging, to cover all topics and genres, from politics to fiction, film to poetry, and much more. LARB specializes in a looser and more eclectic approach than other journals: grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience. Headquartered in Los Angeles, but home to writers and artists from all over the world, the LARB Quarterly Journal brings the pioneering spirit of the online magazine into print and and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.
£9.75
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal:
Book SynopsisThe Spring 2020 issue of the Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal is dedicated to Pop, a term as disputable as it is ubiquitous. The parameters of pop depend on what they exclude: pop culture may be popular, but it is also what high culture and subcultures are not. This issue will examine the pop category as a product of artistic elitism and as a site of social construction. Who is pop for? What is a general audience and what makes for widespread appeal? What happens when a product of popular culture is embraced ironically or elevated as a so-bad-it’s-good guilty pleasure? This issue will ask what it means to be a member of this vast audience, to personally identify with art that asks millions of others to do the same — or to reject pop, question it, and stay in the margins. Whatever our relationship to it, pop permeates nearly every facet of our lives, including, and of particular significance to this issue, our own creative output. But just how passive is our consumption? This issue will reevaluate pop for the streaming age, the social media age, and the age of a reality star president.
£7.99
Los Angeles Review of Books Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal:
Book SynopsisLos Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. Since its founding in 2011, LARB has quickly established itself as a thriving institution for writers and readers. TheLARB Quarterly Journal, a signature print edition, reflects the best that this institution brings to a national and international readership. The print magazine cultivates a stable of regular and ongoing contributors, both eminent and emerging, to cover all topics and genres, from politics to fiction, film to poetry, and much more.LARB specializes in a looser and more eclectic approach than other journals: grounded in literature but open to all varieties of cultural experience. Headquartered in Los Angeles, but home to writers and artists from all over the world, theLARB Quarterly Journal brings the pioneering spirit of the online magazine into print and and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.
£7.99
Deep Vellum Publishing Reading Quirks
Book SynopsisWho hasn’t peeked over the shoulder of the person reading next to them on the subway, curious about the book in their hands? Who doesn’t secretly love skipping the party to stay home and read? Who hasn’t daydreamed of catching the eye of a future significant other as you discover from across the room that you’re reading the same book? If you’re a reader, you know you’ve been there, and probably in so many other weird places as well, right? That’s what happens with readers, they have these strange traits, these particular ways, that separate them from the rest. Reading Quirks explores, in 72 lighthearted four-frame cartoons, all these weird things readers do, from the existential dilemma of picking your next read to the frustrations of watching an overzealous dog-earer in action. The series was written and created by a bookstore in Dallas, The Wild Detectives, originally as a social media campaign—a way to connect with other readers over a shared understanding of what it means to be crazy about books. Laura Pacheco’s adorable illustrations introduce a cast of endearing characters, whose flaws and obsessions range from disarming good nature to mischievous playfulness. Reading Quirks is a witty and light-hearted ode to the immense pleasure of reading and its resulting byproduct: neurosis.Trade Review"A charming paean to the not-yet-bygone act of reading books—both lighthearted and wonderfully reverent, this lovely book is a fantastic gift for all your favorite book-reading nerds. (And if you're one of them, don't deny yourself.)” –Merritt Tierce, author of Love Me Back and writer for Orange is the New Black "Finding books to gift the bookworm/bookdragon in your life can be difficult. Have they already read it? Do they already own it but can't remember it because it's buried in a crowded bookshelf or in one of their many towering piles (or hidden in the trunk of their car so their partner won't realize just how much money they've spent...no? Just me?)? If this describes you or someone you even remotely care about, then Reading Quirks is a must buy and must read. The adorable book themed vignettes will call to any lover of books, who will recognize themselves immediately in the pages." - Kate Towery, Fountain Books "A bible for the fellowship of readers worldwide… Every page will make you laugh, cry for a finished book, and feel again the company of all the other human beings on this planet who know the importance of pockets big enough to fit paperbacks, that the hardest part of a breakup is losing her half of the books, and that a broken ankle is only an opportunity to read without interruption. Funny, warm, and full of keen wit, Reading Quirks provides solace in these all-too-bookless times.” –Louisa Hall, author of Speak and Trinity “A lighthearted collection of cartoons about the kinds of strange little habits common among those who love to read.”-Dan Singer, Dallas Morning News
£15.30
University of Nevada Press Unnatural Ecopoetics: Unlikely Spaces in
Book SynopsisWhat constitutes an environment in American literature is an issue that has undergone much debate across environmental humanities in the last decade. In the field, some have argued that environments are markedly natural or wild sites while others contend literary spaces can be both wild and urban, or even cultural. Yet, few of the works produced to date have addressed the pronounced influence the author of a text has on a literary environment. Despite exciting work on materiality and culture in conceptions of environments, critics have not yet fully examined the contributions of poetry’s language, form, and self-awareness in rethinking what constitutes an environment. By approaching environments in a new way, Nolan closes this gap and recognizes how contemporary poets employ self-reflexive commentary and formal experimentation in order to create new natural/cultural environments on the page. She proposes a radical new direction for ecopoetics and deploys it in relation to four major American poets. Working from literal to textual spaces through the contemporary poetry of A.R. Ammons’s Garbage, Lyn Hejinian’s My Life, Susan Howe’s The Midnight, and Kenneth Goldsmith’s Seven American Deaths and Disasters, the book presents applications of unnatural ecopoetics in poetic environments, ones that do not engage with traditional ideas of nature and would otherwise remain outside the scope of ecocritical and ecopoetic studies. Nolan proposes a new practical approach for reading poetic language. Ecocriticism is a very fluid and evolving discipline, and Nolan’s pioneering new book pushes the boundaries of second-wave ecopoetics—the fundamental issue being what is nature/natural, and how does poetic language, particularly self-conscious contemporary poetic agency, contribute to and complicate that question.Trade ReviewNolan’s book develops out of new materialist innovations transcending traditional ecopoetical interpretations of poetry. Her dazzling close readings are exciting to behold. They create a web of convincing matter that shore up her masterful take and development of this exciting field."" - Susan Morrison, Professor of English, Texas State University, San Marcos""A product of the built environments of greater Los Angeles whose ecopoetic ideas have been tempered by years of living in the Great Basin Desert on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Nolan thoroughly understands the natureculture continuum, while also recognizing and valuing the meaning of natural forces that exceed and constrain the human. She offers an ecumenical view of what an ‘environment’ is and how ‘this new era of ecopoetical theory’ enables readers to appreciate the materiality of texts and the textuality of the physical world."" - From the Foreword by Scott Slovic
£36.71
University of Nevada Press Under the Western Sky: Essays on the Fiction and
Book SynopsisThis original collection of essays by experts in the field weave together the first comprehensive examination of Nevada-born Willy Vlautin’s novels and songs, as well as featuring 11 works of art that accompany his albums and books.Brutally honest, raw, gritty, down to earth, compassionate and affecting, Willy Vlautin’s writing evokes a power in not only theme, but in methodology. Vlautin’s novels, The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete and The Free (2006-2014) chart the dispossessed lives of young people struggling to survive in difficult economic times and in regions of the U.S. West and Pacific Northwest traditionally viewed as affluent and abundant. Yet as his work shows, are actually highly stratified and deprived.Likewise, Vlauntin’s songs, penned as lead singer of the Americana band Richmond Fontaine chart a related territory of blue-collar landscapes of the American West and Northwest with a strong emphasis on narrative and affective soundscapes evocative of the similar worlds defined in his novels.Featuring an interview with Vlautin himself, this edited collection aims to develop the first serious, critical consideration of the important novels and songs of Willy Vlautin by exploring relations between region, music, and writing through the lens of critical regionality and other interdisciplinary, cultural, and theoretical methodologies. In so doing, it will situate his work within its regional frame of the American New West, and particularly the city of Reno, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest, whilst showing how he addresses wider cultural and global issues such as economic change, immigration shifts, gender inequality, and the loss of traditional mythic identities.The essays take different positions in relation to considerations of both novels and music, looking for links and relations across genres, always mindful of their specificity. Under the Western Sky shows how although apparently rooted in place, Vlautin’s work traces diverse lines of contemporary cultural enquiry, engaging in an effective and troubling examination of regional haunting.Trade ReviewBringing a sophisticated set of contemporary lenses to bear upon the musical and novel-writing career of Willy Vlautin, Under the Western Sky makes a strong case for Vlautin as a resonant voice in a new kind of West a considerable distance from earlier regional mythologies. In fact, Vlautin emerges as not only a representative, but a central figure whose fictions and songs evoke a series of landscapes - urban, rural, desert - characterized by marginalization, failure, and transience in many forms. Vlautin emerges as a literary son of Raymond Carver, but one who writes in his own voice and for whom music forms a profound and intimate complement to the fiction."" - Alan Weltzien, University of Montana Western
£28.46
Editorial A Contracorriente Homenaje a Jaime Concha: Releyendo a contraluz
Book SynopsisEste libro es el primero en rendirle un homenaje al gran critico chileno, Jaime Concha. Reune reflexiones personales de unos amigos academicos; ensayos sobre su docencia en Concepcion y su obra en general; estudios inspirados en los libros de Concha sobre Huidobro, Mistral y Neruda; capitulos dedicados al deber de la critica y la narrativa sobre la dictadura chilena; estudios incisivos de ex estudiantes de la Universidad de California en San Diego quienes son ahora son academicos; y la conferencia magistral que Concha diera en un simposio-homenaje en Santiago de Chile en 2015. La obra critica de Concha, entonces, sirve de pretexto para meditaciones, puente con estudios relacionados a su obra, y punto de arranque para estudios innovadores e independientes.
£23.96
Apollo Publishers How to Drink Like a Writer: Recipes for the
Book SynopsisPairing 100 famous authors, poets, and playwrights from the Victorian age to today with recipes for their iconic drinks of choice, How to Drink Like a Writer is the perfect guide to getting lit(erary) for madcap mixologists, book club bartenders, and cocktail enthusiasts. Do you long to trade notes on postmodernism over whiskey and jazz with Haruki Murakami? Have you dreamed of sharing martinis with Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton after poetry class? Maybe a mojito—a real one, like they serve at La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana—is all you need to summon the mesmerizing power of Hemingway's prose. Writer’s block? Summon the brilliant musings of Truman Capote with a screwdriver—or, “my orange drink,” as he called it—or a magical world like J.K. Rowling’s with a perfect gin and tonic. With 100 spirited drink recipes and special sections dedicated to writerly haunts like the Algonquin of the New Yorker set and Kerouac’s Vesuvio Cafe, pointers for hosting your own literary salon, and author-approved hangover cures, all accompanied by original illustrations of ingredients, finished cocktails, classic drinks, and favorite food pairings, How to Drink Like a Writer is sure to inspire, invoke, and inebriate—whether you are courting the muse, or nursing a hangover. Sure, becoming a famous author takes dedication, innate talent, and sometimes nepotism. But it also takes vodka, gin, tequila, and whiskey.Trade Review“There’s something for everyone in this book, no matter what you like to drink or how much time you’re willing to devote to crafting the perfect cocktail.” —Mental Floss “A witty literary dive into the favored libations of scribblers.” —Wine and Whiskey Globe “There’s guaranteed to be a soon-to-be favorite drink for you within these pages.” —Woman's Day “In this book, you will learn everything you need to know about the personal relationship between all-time reputed authors and their liquid courage. . . . Prepare to visit some of the most famous writerly haunts . . . and to become part of this eclectic, phenomenal bunch of misfits every time you fix a cocktail.” —New York for Beginners “Everyone knows Ernest Hemingway leaves a namesake daiquiri as a legacy but do you know how to make Edgar Allan Poe’s family recipe for eggnog? Or how Jack Kerouac took his margarita? You will after you read this book.” —Forbes “If you’re ready to break new ground with some of the greatest of all time, and enjoy some delicious cocktails in the process, it’s time to crack open this recipe book and start mixing up the secret ingredient to your next masterpiece.” —SPY.com "A fun read for those who like books and an occasional sip." —Cleveland.com
£999.99
University of Nevada Press Make Waves: Water in Contemporary Literature and
Book SynopsisFrom ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology to modern times, water has symbolized life, wisdom, fertility, purity, and death. Water also sustains and nourishes, irrigates our crops, keeps us clean and healthy, and contributes to our energy needs. Increased energy demands, coupled with the effects of climate change, have put a strain on our fresh water supply and water resources. Individuals and communities around the globe increasingly face droughts, floods, water pollution, water scarcity, and even water wars. We tend to address and solve these concerns through scientific and technological innovations, but social and cultural analyses and solutions are needed as well.In this edited collection, contributors tackle current water issues in the era of climate change using a wide variety of recent literature and film. At its core, this collection demonstrates that water is an immense reservoir of artistic potential and an agent of historical and cultural exchange. Creating familiar and relatable contexts for their water dilemmas, authors and directors of contemporary literary texts and films present compelling stories of our relationships to water, water health, ecosystems, and conservation. They also explore how global water problems affect local communities around the world and intersect with social and cultural aspects such as health, citizenship, class, gender, race, and ethnicity.This transformative work highlights the cultural significance of water—the source of life and a powerful symbol in numerous cultures. It also raises awareness about global water debates and crises.Trade ReviewThis edited book underscores how water is a creatively transformative symbol through which we synthesize environmental concerns and a source of cultural and political tensions exacerbated by climate change." - Chris Travis, Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature, Elmhurst College"The collection is highly accessible. It gives a view of the representation of water from a variety of perspectives and introduces readers to likely unfamiliar texts—the Stanza Stones art/poetry installation or the Niger Delta poets—while providing unique new interpretations and/or insight into more familiar texts such as Chinatown or The Milagro Beanfield War." - Scott DeVries, author of Creature DiscomfortTable of Contents Introduction Part 1: Water Natures: Culture, Identity, and Creativity Chapter 1. Liquidity Incorporated: Economic Tides and Fluid Data in Hito Steyerl's Liquidity, Inc. Christina Gerhardt and Jaimey Hamilton Faris Chapter 2. Material States of Poetry: The Stanza Stones Emma Trott Chapter 3. Preying on Water: Hunting Spiritual and Environmental Rebirth on the Kentucky River in Selected Essays from Wendell Berry's The Long-Legged House Andrew S. Andermatt Chapter 4. "Let everything that binds fall": The Significance of Water in David Vann's Fiction Sofia Ahlberg Chapter 5. Water-blind: Erosion and (Re)Generation in Colm Tóibín's The Heather Blazing Julienne H. Empric Part 2: Water Cultures: Nations, Borders, and Water Wars Chapter 6. A Clash of Water Cultures in John Nichols' The Milagro Beanfield War Susan J. Tyburski Chapter 7. Watershed Ethics and Dam Politics: Mapping Biopolitics, Race, and Resistance in Sleep Dealer and Watershed Tracey Daniels-Lerberg Chapter 8. Thomas King Tells a Different Story: Dams, Rivers, and Indigenous Literary Hydromythology Rebecca Lynne Fullan Chapter 9. Shifting Tides: A Literary Exploration of the Colorado River Delta Paul Formisano Chapter 10. Poetry and Revolution on the Brink of Ecological Disaster: Ernesto Cardenal and the Interoceanic Canal in Nicaragua Jeremy G. Larochelle Chapter 11. "Bad for the glass": Chinatown's Skewed Rendition of the California Water Wars Robert Niemi Chapter 12. The Cinematic Portrayal of Water Wars in Bolivia and Ecuador Laura Hatry Part 3: Arid and Awash: High Pollution, High Energy Demands, and High Waters Chapter 13. Troubled Waters: Unveiling Industrial Negligence in Three Deepwater Horizon Films Ila Tyagi Chapter 14. The River as Character in Niger Delta Poetry Idom T. Inyabri Chapter 15. Water and Mental Health in Three British Climate Fiction Novels Giulia Miller Chapter 16. There Will Be Blood: Water Futures in Paolo Bacigalupi's The Water Knife and Claire Vaye Watkins' Gold Fame Citrus Paula Anca Farca Concluding Remarks About the Contributors
£28.46
Clemson University Digital Press The Beats: A Teaching Companion
Book Synopsis
£104.02
Simon & Schuster Great Short Books: A Year of Reading--Briefly
Book SynopsisThis entertaining guide to some of the best short novels of all time, from a bestselling historian, is the ?perfect gift for busy bibliophiles? (BookPage).Experience the joys of literature with this this ?exciting guide to all that the world of fiction has to offer? (The New York Times Book Review): a compulsively readable, deeply engaging discussion of great short novels. A journey into fiction designed with our contemporary attention spans in mind, Great Short Books suggests fifty-eight excellent short novels, all under 200 pages?easily readable in a week or less?a fresh approach to a fun, fascinating year of reading. From hard-boiled fiction to magical realism, the 18th century to the present day, Great Short Books spans genres, cultures, countries, and time to present an enchanting and diverse selection of acclaimed and canonical novels. From works in translation like Yu Miri?s Tokyo Ueno Station and Marguerite Duras?s The Lover to popular, acclaimed authors like Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, this compilation is a celebration of classics from the historic to contemporary?plus a few bestsellers, including Stephen King and Colson Whitehead. Each entry includes the novel?s opening lines, a spoiler-free plot summary, a ?why you should read it? section, and suggestions for what to read next. ?An entertaining journey with a fun, knowledgeable guide? (Booklist), this eclectic collection is a fun and practical book for any passionate reader hoping to broaden their literary IQ?or anyone who wants to find an effortless reentry into reading.
£18.05
Philipp Reclam Jun Verlag GmbH Ruber
Book Synopsis
£6.64
Schwabe Verlagsgruppe AG Geschichten
Book Synopsis
£79.80
Schwabe Verlagsgruppe AG Rezeptionsdokumente Zum Literarischen Schaffen
Book Synopsis
£152.00
Walking Tree Publication Tolkien Through Russian Eyes
£20.38
Silkworm Books / Trasvin Publications LP The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen
Book SynopsisSiam's folk epic of love, war, and tragedyThe Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen is one of the most famous works of old Thai literature. The plot is a love story, set against a background of war, and ending in high tragedy. This folk epic was first developed in oral form for popular performance with lashings of romance, adventure, violence, farce, and magic. It was later adopted by the Siamese court and written down, with two kings contributing. This first-ever translation is based on Prince Damrong’s standard edition of 1917-18, with over a hundred passages recovered from earlier versions.The English translation is written in lively prose, completely annotated, with over four hundred original line drawings and an afterword explaining the work’s historical background, social context, and poetic style. The main volume presents the entire poem in translation. The companion volume contains alternative chapters and extensions, Prince Damrong’s prefaces, and reference lists of Thai terms. The volumes are available separately or as a slipcased set.According to the leading Thai linguist William Gedney, "If all other information on traditional Thai culture were to be lost, the whole complex could be reconstructed from this marvelous text."Trade ReviewThailand's only wholly homegrown literary classic…is, in Western terms, a dozen Shakespeare plays rolled into one, with a rich vein of Arthurian romance to boot. The end result of countless live and unusually improvisational performances at temple fairs and in royal courts, 'Khun Chang Khun Phaen' entails comedy, tragedy, love, sex, war, magic, honour, infamy, gallantry, and treachery. And that, as untold millions of Thais have seen in the course of nearly four centuries, is entertainment. * The Nation *The KCKP of 2010 is probably as complete a corpus as what the prince would have envisioned years ago. Moreover, Baker and Pasuk have combed through every possible existing version of the classic tale in Thai and provided an impressive array of alternative versions to the standard text edited by Prince Damrong in 1917/18. Their afterword also offers a critical comprehensive look at the unique history of KCKP, how it evolved from the oral tradition circulated among commoners to become one of the greatest works espoused by the Siamese court, and also at the context of Thai literature and the social and geopolitical landscapes key to understanding the saga. * Bangkok Post *The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen is Thailand's version of Romea and Juliet mixed up with Robin Hood…. The dialogue is passionate, moving, even funny-as co-translators Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit have demonstrated. -- BBC News * Bangkok *
£34.00
