Literary studies: fiction Books
Random House USA Inc Ellison R Invisible Man
Book SynopsisSelected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadInvisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of the Brotherhood, and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot''s Th
£21.60
Random House USA Inc My Mortal Enemy
Book Synopsis
£11.70
Random House USA Inc Caramelo Vintage Contemporaries
Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Every year, Ceyala “Lala” Reyes' family—aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, and Lala's six older brothers—packs up three cars and, in a wild ride, drive from Chicago to the Little Grandfather and Awful Grandmother's house in Mexico City for the summer. From the celebrated bestselling author of The House on Mango Street and winner of the 2019 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 YearsStruggling to find a voice above the boom of her brothers and to understand her place on this side of the border and that, Lala is a shrewd observer of family life. But when she starts telling the Awful Grandmother's life story, seeking clues to how she got to be so awful, grandmother accuses Lala of exaggerating. Soon, a multigenerational family narrative turns into a whirlwind exploration of storytelling
£12.29
Random House USA Inc The Vintage Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction
Book Synopsis
£16.20
University of Queensland Pr (Australia) Rainforest Narratives The Work of Janette Turner
Book Synopsis
£30.35
Irish Academic Press Ltd Elizabeth Bowen Visions and Revisions Irish
Book Synopsis
£63.79
Irish Academic Press Ltd Sen OFaolain Literature Inheritance and the 1930s
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£70.00
Schiffer Publishing Ltd The Thrill of Repulsion
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£20.69
Johns Hopkins University Press Talmudic Stories Narrative Art Composition and
Book SynopsisThe book features an appendix including the original Hebrew/Aramaic texts for the reader's reference.Trade ReviewThis book offers the best set of literary readings of Talmudic materials in English, and the best English introduction to the issues such readings entail, that this reviewer has seen. Choice This book goes well beyond the explanation of difficult Talmudic stories. It presents, indeed, an entirely innovative theory. Rubenstein's argument is not only important, but also, I think, persuasive. This book should not be allowed to go unnoticed: in a well-trodden field like Talmudic studies one rarely gets the feeling that a major breakthrough has been achieved. -- Sacha Stern Journal of Jewish Studies Rubenstein has produced a fascinating volume... Anyone who reads this book will find important new insights. -- Gary G. Porton Shofar This is a mature work, in which the author invested much labor and thought. The thoroughness, methodical diversity, and scholarly discretion can serve as a model of the demanding standards that are to be expected from serious research into rabbinic literature. -- Eliezer Segal Journal of the American Academy of Religion It analyzes several notable rabbinic stories in a fresh and detailed manner. -- Carol Bakhos Journal of Biblical Literature A distinctive and nuanced analysis of six narratives from the Babylonian Talmud... I would recommend this excellent book to Rubenstein's intended audience as well as anyone who is interested in the literary analysis of religious narratives... Rubenstein's analyses are careful and thorough, and he argues his points well. In addition, Talmudic Stories opens up a host of new challenges. -- Jonathan Schofer Hebrew Studies This work establishes Rubenstein as the leading scholar of narrative in the Babylonian Talmud. -- Marc Bregman Religious Studies ReviewTable of ContentsContents: Introduction *Torah, Shame, and "The Oven of Akhnai" (Bava Mesia 59a-59b) * Elisha ben Abuya: Torah and the Sinful Sage (Hagiga 15a-15b) * Torah and the Mundane Life: The Education of R. Shimon bar Yohai (Shabbat 33b-34a) * Rabbinic Authority and the Destruction of Jerusalem (Gittin 55b-56b) * Torah, Lineage, and the Academic Hierarchy (Horayot 13b-14a) * Torah, Gentiles, and Eschatology (Avoda Zara 2a-3b) * Conclusion
£63.00
Johns Hopkins University Press The Science of Doctor Who
Book Synopsiscosmologist and is ideal beach reading for anyone who loves science and watches the show-no matter which planet the beach is on.Trade ReviewDo you have to be a Doctor Who fan to read this book? No, but it helps. And if you aren't when you begin, you will probably be one by the end. -- Charlene Brusso SF Site This exploration of the long-running TV series delivers on its promise to answer the kinds of questions raised by the best of science fiction. The book takes readers on a satisfying romp through labs around the world where the show's fantastical ideas are explained and, in some cases, shown moving closer to reality. -- Erika Engelhaupt Science News 2010 Anyone who enjoys reading popular science magazines should get a kick out of The Science of Doctor Who. -- Cathy Green SFRevu 2010 It had to happen that someone would write The Science of Doctor Who, and we're all very fortunate that Paul Parsons was the one who did it... If you only read one Science of XYZ book this year, make it this one. -- Don Sakers Analog Science Fiction and Fact 2010 Parsons has written an engaging work accessible to lay audiences and interesting even to those not fanatical about the long-running BBC series... Accessible and entertaining, this is suitable for public and academic libraries and possibly also high school collections. Library Journal 2010 Parsons, a scientist and journalist, is an unabashed fan of Doctor Who and does a good job of making the convoluted plots and characters decipherable, even to non-aficionados, and of explaining the research and science, often cutting edge, that has even a change of making the plots possible... Useful as popular reading and in courses covering the science of science fiction. Choice 2010Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsThe Eleven DoctorsPart I: Doctor in the Tardis1. Who Is the Doctor?2. Time and Relative Dimension in Space, or Tardis3. Into the Vortex4. Regeneration5. One Giant Leap for DIY6. Partners in TimePart II: Aliens of London and Beyond7. Other Worlds8. Carnival of Monsters9. The Cybermen10. The Daleks11. The Slitheen12. The Autons13. The Silurians and the Sea Devils14. The Sontarans15. Martians, Go Home!16. The Krynoid17. Stupid Apes18. Exile to Earth19. The Human Empire20. Invasion EarthPart III: Robot Dogs, Psychic Paper, and Other Celestial Toys21. Scanning for Alien Tech22. Just What the Doctor Ordered23. K-9 and Company24. Psychic Paper25. Space-flight26. Space Stations and Moonbases27. Bombs, Bullets, and Death Rays28. Force Fields29. The MatrixPart IV: Mission to the Unknown30. Event One31. The Eye of Harmony and Other Black Holes32. Journeys through E-Space33. Strange Stars and Mirror Planets34. The More Things Change35. The End of TimeEpilogueList fo Episodes by DoctorFurther ReadingIndex
£27.55
Henry Holt & Company Inc A Sea of Words Lexicon and Companion for Patrick
Book SynopsisThis comprehensive lexicon provides definitions of nautical terms, historical entries describing the people and political events that shaped the period, and detailed explanations of the scientific, medical, and biblical references that appear in the novels of Patrick O'Brian.
£17.38
Northwestern University Press Tell Me a Story Narrative and Intelligence
Book SynopsisIn this study by an expert on learning and computers, the author argues that artificial intelligence must be based on real human intelligence.Table of Contents Knowledge is stories where stories come from and why we tell them understanding other people's stories indexing stories shaping memory story skeletons knowing the stories of your culture stories and intelligence.
£22.36
New Directions Publishing Corporation The Beetle Leg
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£12.34
New Directions Publishing Corporation Well to the Woods No More Novel 0682 New
Book SynopsisTrade Review"When we read this type of novel we accomplish something we can never do in our daily lives. We actually succeed in penetrating into the consciousness of another and sometimes into the inner worlds of several persons. " -- Leon Edel
£12.34
Random House USA Inc Superman The HighFlying History of Americas Most
Book SynopsisThe first full-fledged history not just of the Man of Steel but of the creators, designers, owners, and performers who made him the icon he is today, from the New York Times bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy“A story as American as Superman himself.”—The Washington Post Legions of fans from Boston to Buenos Aires can recite the story of the child born Kal-El, scion of the doomed planet Krypton, who was rocketed to Earth as an infant, raised by humble Kansas farmers, and rechristened Clark Kent. Known to law-abiders and evildoers alike as Superman, he was destined to become the invincible champion of all that is good and just—and a star in every medium from comic books and comic strips to radio, TV, and film. But behind the high-flying legend lies a true-to-life saga every bit as compelling, one that begins not in the far reaches of outer space but in the mi
£15.30
The University Press of Kentucky The History of Sir George Ellison
Book SynopsisIn this sequel, Scott addresses issues of slavery, marriage, education, law and social justice, class pretensions, and the position of women in society, consistently emphasizing the importance, for both genders and all classes and ages, of devoting one's life to meaningful work.
£32.00
University Press of Kentucky Ralph Ellison and the Raft of Hope A Political
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£32.00
The University Press of Kentucky American Racist
Book SynopsisLike the majority of Dixon's films, The Fall of a Nation has been lost, but had it survived, it might well have taken its place alongside The Birth of a Nation as a masterwork of silent film.
£34.20
The University Press of Kentucky Benjamin Franklins Humor
Book SynopsisHumor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. Dedicated to the uniquely appealing and enduring humor of Benjamin Franklin, Zall lovingly samples Franklin's apologues on the necessity of living reasonably even when life's circumstances may seem absurd.Trade ReviewThe growth in Franklin's control of his comic sense is gradually revealed as Zall traces his wit from his youth to his old age. - ROBERT MIDDLEKAUFF, AUTHOR OF The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789
£27.00
The University Press of Kentucky The Marxist and the Movies A Biography of Paul
Book SynopsisThrough firsthand accounts from Jarrico himself and interviews with those closest to him, as well as congressional records and statements from those on both sides of the Red Scare, Ceplair provides an intimate view of Paul Jarrico's life, set in historical and cultural context.Table of ContentsThe Folktale and Its Contributions The Beginnings of Brief Narrative in Spain Gonzalo de Berceo The Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X el Sabio
£40.46
The University Press of Kentucky A Political Companion to Henry David Thoreau
Book SynopsisWith a resurgence of interest in recent years, A Political Companion to Henry David Thoreau is the first volume focused exclusively on Thoreau's ethical and political thought.Jack Turner illuminates the unexamined aspects of Thoreau's political life and writings.
£80.25
University of Exeter Press La Quete du Ble Exeter French Texts
Book SynopsisRemy Cazals provides a critical edition of this little-known text accompanied by a biography of its author, who became inflamed by the passions of the Revolution, and who was guillotined in 1794.Trade Review Table of Contents
£29.99
University of Exeter Press The West Country As A Literary Invention Putting
Book SynopsisIs the 'West Country' on the map or in the mind? Is it the south-west peninsula of Britain or a semi-mythical country offering a home for those in pursuit of the romance of wrecking, smuggling and a rural Golden Age? This book investigates these questions in the context of the relationship between place and writing.Trade Review “Trezise convincingly demonstrates with clarity and in painstaking detail that certain authors were highly influential in creating the perception of a West Country that has held sway since Victorian times and in contributing to a sense of region and place . . . a bonus is provided in the numerous entertaining and informative digressions from the central purpose of the book.” (The Devon Historian, Vol. 63, Oct 2001) “This book is a valuable contribution to topoliterary studies and the social history of the region.” (The Totnes Historian, No. 4, 2001/02) “Eight meaty chapters . . . a tour de force of scholarly research . . . I do seriously recommend this book.” (The Sabine Baring-Gould Appreciation Society Newsletter, No 35, 2001) “An exhaustive account . . . probably the most comprehensive single account of the development of the cinema in the nineteenth century.” (Sight and Sound, February 2001) “At last we have a well-crafted critical volume which considers the construction of the “West Country” in literature . . . His research is very thorough in each of the writers considered—so much so that this work is likely to be the definitive regional assessment of these works for some time to come . . . Throughout this brilliant volume Trezise has reassessed many of the classic texts and writers whom we associate with the region. This book has been long overdue. Its research and readability—not to mention its innovation in dealing with a neglected literary landscape—make it one of the essential purchases of the new millennium.” (Cornish History Network Newsletter, December 2000, Issue 9) “A penetrating and challenging examination of the effect of certain landscapes on several writers of eminence and significance, and of the subsequent (and often unforeseen and unintended) effect of these writers on the very landscapes of which they write . . . Simon Trezise’s book will cause us to re-examine some old and favourite authors in a new light.” (Western Morning News, Nov 7, 2000) “The literary and topographical range of this study is comprehensive. Six essays, each devoted to a West Country author, take us from Thomas Hardy at Egdon Heath to Virginia Woolf contemplating the Godrevy Lighthouse . . . Sabine Baring-Gould is summarized as “the amanuensis of West Country people”, and on the evidence of this book, the same could be said of Simon Trezise.” (Times Literary Supplement, December 1, 2000) “Fascinating . . . this is a densely-packed book, animated by enthusiasm and buttressed by meticulous research.” (New Welsh Review, Spring 2001, No 52, 82-3) Table of ContentsContents: Keywords - region, topography, provincial, landscape, chronotope; Parson Hawker's Inventions - Trelawney, Cruel Coppinger and the Cornish King Arthur; Westward Ho! or Charles Kingsley's inventions - Elizabethans viewed through Victorian spectacles; tales from the telling house - the many authors of Lorna Doone; from the West Country into Wessex - Thomas Hardy; Sabine Baring-Gould - novels and folk songs of Devon and Cornwall; conclusion - from the Victorians to the 20th century.
£27.54
University of Exeter Press Contes Americains LAbenaki Zimeo Les Deux Amis
Book SynopsisThese three tales, unpublished for over a century (and in one case for nearly two centuries), are a fictional exploration of Otherness and the intercultural set in the New World, either among native Americans (Abenakis, Iroquois) or runaway slaves in Jamaica befriended by Quakers.Trade Review 'A worthwhile addition to this useful series.' (Modern Language Review, Issue 95 no. 2, 2000) Table of ContentsFrontispice: "Titre-planche" du Traite de la couleur de la peau humaine de Claude-Nicolas Le Cat, Amsterdam, 1765 Introduction Portrait (anonyme) de Saint-Lambert L'Abenaki Carte de l'Amerique septentrionale, 1743 Zimeo Les Deux Amis: conte iroquois Chutes du Niagara, Hennepin, 1698, Davies, 1768 Poemes en prose Un ecrivain genereux Note technique Bibliographie selective Dessin de Pessin Contes Americains; L'Abenkai Zimeo Les Deux Amis: Conte Iroquois Annexes A Commentaire sur le frontispice B Extraits des Incas de Marmontel C Note de Saint-Lambert a un vers des Saisons D Saint-Lambert, Reflexions sur... l'etat des Negres E Extraits des Lettres iroquoises de Maubert de Gouvest F Memoire (anonyme) sur les Iroquois suivi d'extraits du journal de Bougainville G Preceptes de Saint-Lambert sur l'amitie
£30.10
University of Exeter Press Short French Fiction Essays on the Short Story in
Book SynopsisThis volume provides new insights into some of the best examples of this form of writing in the twentieth century and also includes a chapter which explores ways in which the genre is evolving as the century draws to a close.Trade Review “This volume is to be recommended both for the new readings of a number of key texts and for the highly pertinent account it provides of the evolving aesthetics of short fiction in France.” (Modern Language Review, Vol. 95, No. 3, 2000) Table of ContentsContents: Jean-Paul Sartre - "L'Enfance d'un chef", William Bell; Marcel Ayme - "La Carte", Christopher Lloyd; Albert Camus - "La Pierre qui pousse", David Walker; Margaret Yourcenar - "La Lait de la mort", Sally Wallis; Simone de Beauvoir - "La Femme rompue", Ray Davison; Michel Tournier - "Les Suaires de Veronique", Rachel Edwards; Marguerite Duras - "La Mort du jeune aviateur anglais", James Williams; contemporary short French fiction - from the "nouvelle" to the "nouvellistique", Johnnie Gratton.
£101.04
Verso Books Late Imperial Romance Haymarket
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£13.00
WW Norton & Co Portrait of a Novel
Book SynopsisA revelatory biography of the American master as told through the lens of his greatest novel.Trade Review"...he [Gorra] has written the kind of patient, sensitive, acute study that gifted teachers should write but rarely do." -- London Review of Books"Michael Gorra...has pulled off an astounding feat...in this impressive study...Gorra goes anywhere that strikes his fancy, and the result is splendid: a book to reread in years to come, a model for what criticism can do when happily married to biography." -- Literary Review
£22.79
WW Norton & Co George Orwell A Life in Letters
Book SynopsisAppearing for the first time in one volume, these trenchant letters tell the eloquent narrative of Orwell’s life in his own words.Trade Review"[A] judiciously chosen selection of some of the most interesting of [his] casual writings…. The result is a much more rounded image of Orwell and his circle…" -- New York Times Book Review"Starred review. Orwell’s keen insight and acerbic wit reverberate throughout these selected letters, culled from more than 10 volumes to offer a comprehensive view of his life and personality…An unusually gratifying read for Orwell enthusiasts and casual readers alike." -- Publishers Weekly"It is the portable Orwell, the condensed autobiography that Orwell never wrote…All [the letters] remain fresh, illuminating the complex paradox that was George Orwell." -- Daily Telegraph"Starred review. Orwell the man truly emerges in these revealing letters; this essential companion volume to the Diaries will be devoured by legions of Orwell fans." -- Library Journal"Beautifully edited…One of the glories of this volume is that it shows Orwell in the round, complete with all his human idiosyncracies and contradictions. [Peter Davison’s] attention to detail is nothing short of heroic…This is the authentic Orwell voice: wonderfully clear and fresh and forthright." -- Mail on Sunday"This new edition of Orwell’s letters is imperative for anyone who wishes to earn a larger understanding of the twentieth century’s most potent essayist." -- William Giraldi - The New Republic"Any Orwell admirer will be grateful for Davison’s industry in carving out manageable chunks from the millions of words Orwell wrote, and for all except the most fanatical, this will be plenty. There are pleasures and surprises on every page." -- Andrew Ferguson - The American Spectator"[Orwell’s] critique of the political and economic systems that create and justify poverty and his personal courage in the face of threats to freedom and injustice remain as relevant and inspirational for us today as they were in the years leading to and following World War II…. The George Orwell that Davison presents to us is an appealing one: indefatigable writer, generous friend, champion of the poor and oppressed, avid gardener and outdoorsman…. If Davison’s compilation of Orwell’s letters, which help fill out our understanding of this oft-caricatured writer, can draw readers more deeply into the life and catalogue of George Orwell, then he will have accomplished an important objective." -- James Lang - America: The National Catholic Weekly"In distilling the 1,700 letters written by Orwell, Davison set himself two goals: the letters should illustrate his life and hopes, and “each should be of interest in its own right.” This volume admirably fulfills this twofold mission; it is a tribute to Davison’s decades-long scholarship on Orwell’s life." -- Daniel P. King - World Literature Today
£26.59
Inner Traditions Bear and Company HerBak
Book SynopsisIn these fictional accounts, Ancient Egypt is made accessible, revealed through the eyes of young Her-Bak, candidate for initiation into the Inner Temple.
£18.99
The New York Review of Books, Inc The Quest For Corvo An Experiment in Biography
Book SynopsisOne day in 1925 a friend asked A. J. A. Symons if he had read Fr. Rolfe's Hadrian the Seventh. He hadn't, but soon did, and found himself entranced by the novel -- 'a masterpiece'-- and no less fascinated by the mysterious person of its all-but-forgotten creator. The Quest for Corvo is a hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of the strange Frederick Rolfe, self-appointed Baron Corvo, an artist, writer, and frustrated aspirant to the priesthood with a bottomless talent for self-destruction. But this singular work, subtitled 'an experiment in biography,' is also a remarkable self-portrait, a study of the obsession and sympathy that inspires the biographer's art.
£16.19
The Library of America London Novels and Stories
Book SynopsisThis Library of America volume of Jack London’s best-known work is filled with thrilling action, an intuitive feeling for animal life, and a sense of justice that often works itself out through violence. London enjoyed phenomenal popularity in his own time (which included the depressions of the 1890s and the beginnings of World War One), and he remains one of the most widely read of all American writers. The Call of the Wild (1903), perhaps the best novel ever written about animals, traces a dog’s sudden entry into the wild and the education necessary for his survival in the ways of the wolf pack. Like many of London’s stories, this one is inspired by the early deprivations of his own pathetically short life: the primitive conditions of life as an oyster pirate in San Francisco; the restless existence of a hobo; the isolation of a prison inmate; the exertion of a laborer in the Oakland slums; and the frustration of a failed prospector for gold in t
£36.00
The Library of America Novellas and Other Writings Madame de Treymes
Book SynopsisCollected in this Library of America volume are no fewer than six of the works of Edith Wharton: novels, novellas, and her renowned autobiography, A Backward Glance. Together they represent nearly a quarter century in the productive life of one of the most accomplished and admired of American writers.Madame de Treymes (1907) is set in fashionable Paris society, where a once free-spirited American woman is trying to extricate herself, with the help of a fellow countryman, from her marriage to an aristocratic Frenchman. Such a village is the scene of Ethan Frome (1911), a tale of marital entrapment even more relentless. Ethan’s unhappy marriage and his desperate love for his wife’s cousin Mattie drive him to an act of shattering violence. The magnificent coda is a classic of American realistic fiction.Set in the same region of the Berkshires, Wharton called Summer (1917) “the Hot Etha
£33.75
Otago University Press A Strange Beautiful Excitement
Book SynopsisHow does a city make a writer? Described by Fiona Kidman as a ravishing, immersing read, A Strange Beautiful Excitement is a wild ride through the Wellington of Katherine Mansfields childhood. From the grubby, wind-blasted streets of Thorndon to the hushed green valley of Karori, author Redmer Yska, himself raised in Karori, retraces Mansfields old ground: the sights, sounds and smells of the rickety colonial capital, as experienced by the budding writer. Along the way his encounters and dogged research -- into her Beauchamp ancestry, the social landscape, the festering, deadly surroundings -- lead him (and us) to reevaluate long-held conclusions about the writers shaping years. They also lead to a thrilling discovery. This haunting and beautifully vivid book combines fact and fiction, biography and memoir, as Yska rediscovers Mansfields Wellington, unearthing her childhood as he goes, shining a new lamp on old territory.
£27.42
Random House USA Inc Sisters of the Earth
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£16.16
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Novel Characters
Book SynopsisNovel Characters offers a fascinating and in-depth history of the novelistic character from the birth of the novel in Don Quixote, through the great canonical works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the most influential international novels of the present day An original study which offers a unique approach to thinking about and discussing character Makes extensive reference to both traditional and more recent and specialized academic studies of the novel Provides a critical vocabulary for understanding how the novelistic conception of character has changed over time. Examines a broad range of novels, cultures, and periods Promotes discussion of how different cultures and times think about human identity, and how the concept of what a character is has changed over time Table of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgments. 1 Introduction: Novel Characters. Where Do the Novel's Characters Come From? Surprising Characters. Novel Types. I Wholes. 2 Originals. Quixote: Or the Originality of Imitators. Original Claims and Final Reckonings. The English Original. Conversations with an Original. And Now for Our Heroines. 3 Individuals. Persuasions. Women of Character. Aristocrats and Commoners. The Incomparables. II Fractions. 4 Selves/Identities. Me and Mine. Visualizing the Self. All in All. The Final Me. Identities. III Compounds. 5 Native Cosmopolitans. Native Cosmopolitans. Stereotypes and Mimic Men. The New Man and the Native Cosmopolitan. Index.
£29.95
Johns Hopkins University Press Thrill of the Chaste
Book SynopsisBy asking questions about authenticity, cultural appropriation, and commodification, Thrill of the Chaste considers Amish fiction's effects on Amish and non-Amish audiences alike.Trade ReviewThe promise of the cover is borne out by the content: an engaging analysis of 'bonnet rippers' and their audience. -- Marilyn Dahl Shelf Awareness Weaver-Zercher's book is a fascinating read, that raises some questions about this increasingly popular genre, but also tries to add complexity to our understandings of how Amish fiction functions. Femonite Thrill of the Chaste is an entertaining read... [Weaver-Zercher's] light, engaging voice makes her ideas accessible. I found myself caught up in her rich, often humorous descriptions... Weaver-Zercher redeems the genre and its readers. -- Melanie Springer Mock Mennonite World Review The unusual subject of Amish romance is treated engagingly in this crossover book... Highly recommended. Choice Weaver-Zercher's book-length exploration is not only a groundbreaking contribution to an area that deserves more study, but also an excellent read, as all-consuming and hard to put down for this scholar of American literature and popular culture as Amish romance novels are for their devoted fans. Mennonite Quarterly Review Thrill of the Chaste is a well-written, well-researched, and very readable study of this fast growing fictional subgenre, and Weaver-Zercher sheds much light on the importance of these texts for understanding contemporary American culture... A major contribution to literary analysis, this book will fascinate all who have wondered about the Amish and why so many people want to read about them. -- Karen M. Johnson-Weiner Yearbook of German-American Studies Weaver-Zercher has made a significant contribution to the field with a very comprehensive and scholarly approach to the "bonnet fiction" phenomenon of the 21st century... Thrill of the Chaste is of interest to anyone working with reader-response theories, the uses and functions of popular literature, and the commodification of culture and cultural products. Weaver-Zercher's book is importantly about the history and evolution of the genre; however, the most significant contribution that the book makes is its examination and evaluation of the publishing industry that is both meeting and creating demand for the genre. -- Lorie Sauble-Otto Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature Articulate, relevant and beautifully written... [ Thrill of the Chaste] is very accessible to those who will give themselves to it. Those who choose to read it will undoubtedly find themselves more discriminating readers. -- Pauline Stevick Brethren in Christ History and Life In this comprehensive book, Valerie Weaver-Zercher explores the recent phenomenon of Amish "bonnet fiction"... In well-written, engaging prose, Weaver-Zercher argues convincingly that this genre is production-drive in nature. -- Beth E Graybill Nova Religio Timely and engaging... Thrill of the Chaste is an eminently readable book... This is a welcome text for a number of fields; we will, indeed, be writing about it for some time. -- Robert Zacharias Conrad Grebel Review Weaver-Zercher's energetic and witty study reaches beyond an examination of the popularity of Amish fiction for individual readers. -- Dawn LLwellyn Journal of Contemporary ReligionTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. Slap a Bonnet on the Cover2. The DNA of Amish Romance Novels3. An Evangelical and an Amishman Walk into a Barn4. Taking the Amish to Market5. Is Amishness Next to Godliness?6. An Amish Country Getaway7. Virgin Mothers8. Amish Reading Amish9. Something Borrowed, Something True10. Happily Ever AfterBibliographyIndex
£29.22
Poisoned Pen Press The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books
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£23.96
Atria Books Books to Die for
Book Synopsis
£18.05
Cambridge Scholars Publishing Reflections on Poetry and the World: Walking
Book SynopsisThis collection brings together 40 years of essays about poetry and literature written by Emily Grosholz. The first section includes essays about some of her favorite poets and thinkers in the United States, England, France and Germany. The second section brings poetry into relation with ethics, politics and practical deliberation, and the third considers it alongside science and imagination. The last section is an homage to The Hudson Review, for whom she has served as an Advisory Editor for many years. As a philosopher, Emily Grosholz has written and thought about feminism, racism, and mathematics and science, which has led her to admire all the more the distinct wisdom of poetry. These essays show how poetry reorganized language and memory, eros and experience, and time and place, and how and why it deepens our understanding of life.Trade Review“Since meeting her, I have been dazzled by the combination of poetry, philosophy and mathematics in Emily Grosholz’s thought and writing, particularly in her poems. And those poems are not stiff academic exercises, but true poetry.”Ruth FainlightPoet“Emily Grosholz’s essays are like being in your best friend’s open touring car with a hamper in the back. And the landscape is the most interesting people of our age. We see each mind-landscape in her mellow Mediterranean light of insight, accepting, registering, presenting, pointing so well that explanation is hardly needed. This is Grosholz’s middle way—or as she would say, middle term—between the dazzling inhuman light of her philosophy of science and the intimate glow of her poetry. It’s the vision of a sane, good human being with a mammoth intellect and a half-hidden puckish sense of humor.”Frederick TurnerPoet“This collection is a magnificent testament to Emily Grosholz’s range and depth. She moves effortlessly across disciplines, from mathematics and science, to literature and social issues, sweeping up an extraordinary chorus of thinkers, and illuminating all she touches with lucidity, erudition, and grace.”Philip KitcherPhilosopher and poet
£52.07
Rowman & Littlefield Never a Sidekick
Book SynopsisExplores the history of Batgirlfrom her groundbreaking comics debut to her disappointing live-action appearances and beyond.For over sixty years, every woman who took on the mantle of Batgirl has been a powerful, independent heroine, belying the sidekick status the name implies. Betty Kane, the original Bat-Girl, was a hero for young girls at a time when the genre was leaving them behind. Barbara Gordon embodied the values of the women's liberation movement and became a powerful figure in disability representation. Cassandra Cain was a woman of color in the traditionally monochromatic DC Comics universe. Stephanie Brown was a perpetual outsider, a voice for those who never belonged but kept trying regardless.Exploring the history of the Batgirls and their unconventional fans, Batgirl and Beyond: The Dynamic History of the Heroines of Gotham City showcases the turbulent evolution of the superhero industry and its female heroines, as well as the importance of the legions of fans who pushed the genre forward to become more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming to all. Tim Hanley traces how each Batgirl dealt with a litany of mistreatment from a publisher who didn't understand their distinct appeal and didn't care to learn. From erasure to benchings to grievous injury and even death, Batgirl has been subject to the genre's worst excessesand she has not fared much better on television or in movies. However, Batgirl always comes back stronger and more resilient, and has remained a staple in the DC universe for decades. A must-read for fans new and old, Batgirl and Beyond is a tribute to an iconic character and a call to action for media to better embrace and represent female heroes.
£34.82
Broadview Press Ltd Richard Coeur de Lion
Book SynopsisThe Middle English romance of Richard Coeur de Lion transforms the historical Richard I of England—a Frenchman by upbringing, who spent only four months of his reign in England and who once joked that he would sell London to finance his Crusade if he could only find a buyer—into an aggressively English king. This act of historical revision involves the invention of several fantastic elements that give Richard the superhuman force necessary to unite the English nation and elevate it above all others. Springing from a supernatural birth and endowed with exceptional strength and an insatiable and transgressive appetite, Richard embodies a vision of triumphant Englishness that humiliates and decimates England’s foes, whether they be French, German, or Muslim. Katherine Terrell’s faithful but poetic new modern English translation is fully annotated. Appendices include materials on cannibalism, the Crusades, and English national myths.Trade Review“Richard Coeur de Lion stands out in the Middle English romance tradition for its union of historical details of the Third Crusade with fantastical elements, including royal cannibalism, a flying demonic mother, and almost magical feats of technology. Katherine H. Terrell’s translation is well crafted and clear, while her abundant selections from historical chronicles and documents in the appendices open up the twelfth-century context of Richard’s reign to the reader. This volume is an excellent addition to courses on medieval studies, history of the Crusades, romance, and fantasy literature through the ages. It also sheds light on women’s history, through the romance’s elaborate yet oblique treatment of the historical Richard’s powerful mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.” — Suzanne Conklin Akbari, University of Toronto“Terrell’s edition offers the first complete modern English translation of Richard Coeur de Lion. This provocative Middle English romance reimagines the events of the Third Crusade and provides valuable insight into fourteenth-century identity formation contingent on crusading involvements and religious competition. The fictive account, which presents a King Richard I of England who engages in crusader cannibalism, invites students and scholars to explore the historical exigencies of premodern religious warfare as well as to examine the management and production of a royal, proto-national image. Terrell’s meticulous and elegant translation will provide undergraduate students and general readers with a welcome entrance into this complex poem. Richard Coeur de Lion in translation will certainly find its place in university classrooms alongside other fourteenth-century Middle English crusade romances such as Boyarin’s Siege of Jerusalem, and canonical works such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale.” — Suzanne M. Yeager, Fordham UniversityTable of Contents Appendix A: The Middle English Richard Coer de Lyon 1. Cassodorien’s marriage 2. First episode of cannibalism 3. Richard’s message to Saladin 4. King Richard at Jaffa Appendix B: Calls to Crusade 1. Pope Urban II’s Call for a Crusade (1095) 2. Pope Gregory VIII’s Call for a Crusade (1187) Appendix C: Cannibalism 1. Crusader Cannibalism a. letter from leaders of crusade to Pope Urban II (1099) b. Gesta Francorum (c.1100) c. Raymond d’Aguilers (c. 1102) d. Fulcher of Chartres (c. 1106) e. Guibert of Nogent (c. 1109) f. Ralph of Caen (c. 1118) g. William of Malmesbury (c. 1127) h. Oderic Vitalis (c. 1142) i. William of Tyre (c. 1184) j. Chanson d’Antioch (c. 1200) 2. Religious Cannibalism a. Robert Mannyng, Handlyng Synne (early 14th c.) b. On the Feast of Corpus Christi (late 14th c.) 3. Literary Cannibalism a. Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1138) b. The Alliterative Morte Arthur (late 14th c.) Appendix D: Richard I and the Third Crusade 1. Richard’s Character a. Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi (c. 1220) 2.Richard in Sicily a. Roger of Howden: Siege of Messina (c. 1200) b. Roger of Howden: Richard does penance (c. 1200) 3. Richard at Acre a. Letter from Richard (1191) b. Richard of Devizes (c. 1192) c. Two accounts of the killing of hostages 1. Bah?’ al-D?n Ibn Shadd?d (c. 1198-1215) 2. Ambroise (c. 1194-99) 4. Richard at Jaffa a. Letter of Richard I (1 October, 1191) b. Richard of Devizes (c. 1192) c. Gift of a horse: Conquest of Jerusalem (mid-13th c.) Appendix E: National and Family Legends 1. Demonic Ancestry: Gerald of Wales (c. 1216-23) 2. Eleanor of Aquitaine a. John of Salisbury (c. 1164) b. Walter Map (1181-92) c. William of Tyre (1184) d. Richard of Devizes (c. 1192) e. Gerald of Wales (c. 1216-23) f. A Thirteenth-Century Minstrel’s Chronicle (c. 1260) g. French Chronicle of London (early 14th c.) 3. Englishmen with Tails a. Richard of Devizes (c. 1192) b. Layamon’s Brut (c. 1205)
£21.95
Graywolf Press,U.S. Early Morning: Remembering My Father, the Poet
Book Synopsis
£19.80
Pelican Publishing Co Evangeline: A Novel
Book SynopsisThe heartbreaking story of two Acadian lovers separated during the expulsion of the French settlers from Nova Scotia.
£7.59
Autonomedia Learning What Love Means
Book Synopsis
£14.39
The New York Review of Books, Inc American Humor: A Study of the National Character
Book SynopsisStepping out of the darkness, the American emerges upon the stage of history as a new character, as puzzling to himself as to others. American Humor, Constance Rourke''s pioneering 'study of the national character,' singles out the archetypal figures of the Yankee peddler, the backwoodsman, and the blackface minstrel to illuminate the fundamental role of popular culture in fashioning a distinctive American sensibility. A memorable performance in its own right, American Humor crackles with the jibes and jokes of generations while presenting a striking picture of a vagabond nation in perpetual self-pursuit. Davy Crockett and Henry James, Jim Crow and Emily Dickinson rub shoulders in a work that inspired such later critics as Pauline Kael and Lester Bangs and which still has much to say about the America of Bob Dylan and Thomas Pynchon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
£16.96
Bloomsbury USA Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor
Book Synopsis
£18.45
The Library of America Philip K. Dick: Five Novels of the 1960s & 70s
Book SynopsisJonathan Lethem, editor "The most outré science fiction writer of the 20th century has finally entered the canon," exclaimed Wired Magazine upon The Library of America's May 2007 publication of Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960s, edited by Jonathan Lethem. Now comes a companion volume collecting five novels that offer a breathtaking overview of the range of this science-fiction master. Philip K. Dick (1928-82) was a writer of incandescent imagination who made and unmade world-systems with ferocious rapidity and unbridled speculative daring. "The floor joists of the universe," he once wrote, "are visible in my novels." Martian Time-Slip (1964) unfolds on a parched and thinly colonized Red Planet where schizophrenia is a contagion and the unscrupulous seek to profit from a troubled child's time-fracturing visions. Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb (1965) chronicles the deeply-interwoven stories of a multi-racial community of survivors, including the scientist who may have been responsible for World War III. Famous, among other reasons, for a therapy session involving a talking taxicab, Now Wait for Last Year (1966) explores the effects of JJ-180, a hallucinogen that alters not only perception, but reality. In Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974), a television star seeks to unravel a mystery that has left him stripped of his identity. A Scanner Darkly (1977), the basis for the 2006 film, envisions a drug-addled world in which a narcotics officer's tenuous hold on sanity is strained by his new surveillance assignment: himself. Mixing metaphysics and madness, phantasmagoric visions of a post-nuclear world and invading extraterrestrial authoritarians, and all-too-real evocations of the drugged-out America of the 70s, Dick's work remains exhilarating and unsettling in equal measure.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
£32.00
University of Iowa Press Wrong: A Critical Biography of Dennis Cooper
Book SynopsisDennis Cooper is one of the most inventive and prolific artists of our time. Working in a variety of forms and media since he first exploded onto the scene in the early 1970s, he has been a punk poet, a queercore novelist, a transgressive blogger, an indie filmmaker - each successive incarnation more ingenious and surprising than the last. Cooper's unflinching determination to probe the obscure, often violent recesses of the human psyche have seen him compared with literary outlaws like Rimbaud, Genet, and the Marquis de Sade.In this, the first book-length study of Cooper's life and work, Diarmuid Hester shows that such comparisons hardly scratch the surface. A lively retrospective appraisal of Cooper's fifty-year career, Wrong tracks the emergence of Cooper's singular style alongside his participation in a number of American subcultural movements like New York School poetry, punk rock, and radical queercore music and zines. Using extensive archival research, close readings of texts, and new interviews with Cooper and his contemporaries, Hester weaves a complex and often thrilling biographical narrative that attests to Cooper's status as a leading figure of the American post War avant-garde.
£32.25
