Literary studies: fiction Books

Book SynopsisThese three tales, unpublished for over a century (and in one case for nearly two centuries), are a fictional exploration of Otherness and the intercultural set in the New World, either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

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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.

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Book SynopsisWhen Russel B. Nye and Martin Gardner teamed up to bring out a new edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, theirs was the first critical analysis of L. Frank Baum American classic.

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Book SynopsisSet against the backdrop of a contemporary reservation that has had its own losses to the dominant culture, this novel introduces Native Amrican identity conflicts through the lives and circumstances of its major characters.

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Book SynopsisA collection of 37 contemporary personal essays and memoirs about Michigan. Sometimes funny, sometimes moving, the common theme of these works is the deep affection for Michigan shared by all the writers.

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Book SynopsisA guide to contemporary criticism regarding the work (and life) of Ernest Hemingway. It features several essays that discuss Hemingway's life, including the first, which focuses on his own wounding in World War I. It also includes essays that have become 'instant' classics and those that focus attention on The Old Man and the Sea.

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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

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Book SynopsisUsing jazz as the key metaphor, Porter refocuses old interpretations of Ellison by placing jazz in the foreground and by emphasizing, especially as revealed in his essays, the power of Ellison's thought and cultural perception.Trade ReviewI suspect that the one body of music which expresses the United States - which expresses this continent - is jazz and blues. - Ralph Ellison; ""Jazz Country is an appropriate and even inspired entry into the world of Ellison's writing. It explores the interplay between Ellison's passionate Love or 'appropriation' of jazz and blues and his ideas about many other important issues, including his own ideal standards in the writing of American fiction and his analysis of the broad implications of American culture itself."" - Arnold Rampersad, Stanford University; ""Ralph Ellison based his ideal of the Renaissance man, American style, on the jazz musicians he had known. In Jazz Country, Horace Porter excavates Ellison's writings on jazz for a view of the artist we have never before seen in such sharp focus."" - Diane Middlebrook, author of Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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Book SynopsisHow the otherworldly worlds created by the author of the Southern Reach Trilogy speak to—and even affect—our own If ever a moment and a writer were made for each other, that time is now and Jeff VanderMeer is that writer. Reaching more and more readers as his fantastic fiction delves deeper and deeper into the true weirdness of our day, VanderMeer presents a unique opportunity to explore the cultural frictions and fault lines in today’s—and tomorrow’s— literary landscape. In the first book-length study of this provocative writer, Benjamin J. Robertson focuses on the three major series that have propelled VanderMeer to prominence (his Vennis fictions, Ambergris novels, and Southern Reach Trilogy) as well as his recent stand-alone novel Borne. Most salient for Robertson is how VanderMeer grapples with the transformation of human meaning and being in the contemporary moment. None of This Is Normal reveals how VanderMeer creates fictions that directly address our Anthropocene epoch, in which humanity must reckon with the unprecedented nature of its impact on the environment and with the consequent obsolescence of its methods of representing itself in this altered world. In Robertson’s reading it becomes startlingly clear that certain fiction, especially when willing to abandon humanist assumptions about history, has the power to not simply show us a world “out there” but to actively participate in that world. As realist fiction and even science fiction conventionally reduce the scale and complexity of the Anthropocene to human-sized dimensions, None of This Is Normal shows how VanderMeer’s work conjures what Robertson calls a “fantastic materiality”: a reality that stands apart from us as a model of thinking, irreducible to our own.Trade Review"None of This Is Normal is the first book-length study of the weird fiction of Jeff VanderMeer. Benjamin J. Robertson not only highlights the beauty and power of VanderMeer's fiction, but also shows how this writing is central to any attempt to think through the plight of humanity in what has come to be called the Anthropocene."—Steven Shaviro, author of The Universe of Things: On Speculative Realism"This spirited book disturbs the new normal of the Anthropocene by way of the ‘New Weird’ in Jeff VanderMeer's fiction. At once a meditation on fantastic materiality and a step toward life after aftermath, this first dedicated study of VanderMeer tells a new story about humans and nonhumans both."—Wai Chee Dimock, Yale University"None of This Is Normal offers readers a rich, extended conversation between VanderMeer and Robertson, pointing out how crucial literary texts are to theorizings of themselves." —American Literary HistoryTable of ContentsIntroduction: All of This Is Normal1. Ambergris Rules: Genre and Materiality in the Anthropocene2. Let Me Tell You about the City: The Veniss Milieu and the Problem of Setting3. No One Makes It Out, There May Be a Way: Ambergris as Words and World4. There Is Nothing but Border. There Is No Border.: Area X and the Weird PlanetConclusion: Life after AftermathAfterwordJeff VanderMeerNotes

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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

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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.

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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)

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Book SynopsisThis study examines the roots of the distinctive form of writing known as journalism - whether called literary journalism or creative non-fiction - and argues that within America it can be traced at least as far back as the late-19th century.

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Book SynopsisBetween the two world wars, American publishing entered a ""golden age"" characterized by an explosion of new publishers, authors, audiences, distribution strategies, and marketing techniques. The period was distinguished by a diverse literary culture, ranging from modern cultural rebels to working-class laborers, political radicals, and progressive housewives. In ""America the Middlebrow"", Jaime Harker focuses on one neglected mode of authorship in the interwar period - women's middlebrow authorship and its intersection with progressive politics. With the rise of middlebrow institutions and readers came the need for the creation of the new category of authorship. Harker contends that these new writers appropriated and adapted a larger tradition of women's activism and literary activity to their own needs and practices. Like sentimental women writers and readers of the 1850s, these authors saw fiction as a means of reforming and transforming society. Like their Progressive Era forebears, they replaced religious icons with nationalistic images of progress and pragmatic ideology. In the interwar period, this mode of authorship was informed by Deweyan pragmatist aesthetics, which insisted that art provided vicarious experience that could help create humane, democratic societies. Drawing on letters from publishers, editors, agents, and authors, ""America the Middlebrow"" traces four key moments in this distinctive culture of letters through the careers of Dorothy Canfield, Jessie Fauset, Pearl Buck, and Josephine Herbst. Both an exploration of a virtually invisible culture of letters and a challenge to monolithic paradigms of modernism, the book offers fresh insight into the ongoing tradition of political domestic fiction that flourished between the wars.Trade ReviewPart cultural/intellectual history and part literary history and criticism, this book is interesting and useful.... The writing is clear and accessible, and the book will be of use not only to literary scholars, but also to cultural historians of the early twentieth century. - Trysh Travis, University of Florida

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Book SynopsisThe heartbreaking story of two Acadian lovers separated during the expulsion of the French settlers from Nova Scotia.

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley pulled himself away from a flurry of other projects to devote himself to translating Plato's Symposium. Besides being one of the very great lyric poets of Romanticism, Shelley was an accomplished Hellenist, and had a natural sympathy for Plato's way of seeing the world. The result of his labor was a translation of Plato's principal work on love that is, in both clarity and felicity of expression, unmatched by any contemporary translation. Much of what the dialogue offers to today's reader - namely, its invitation to see erotic experience as the privileged locus of our contact with the sacred and the divine - is lost in translation by failures of tone more than by inaccuracies or simple infelicities. The elevation and sophistication of Shelley's prose makes his translation a much better English vehicle for Plato's writing than the rather chatty and colloquial translations current today. Plato's speeches on love need an English idiom in which myth is at home, and in which humour rises to urbanity rather than descending to mere wit and joke. With Shelley, we get a translation of a great literary masterpiece by a writer who is himself a literary master, and his mastery is of exactly the type required by Plato's text. This translation came at the height of Shelley's powers, mirroring in language and conception some of his finest works, and so is itself a precious document in the history of Romanticism, for which the re-appropriation of Plato is second in importance only to the massive influence of Shakespeare. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, her husband's literary executor, upon publication of (a somewhat expurgated version of) the dialogue, boasted that "Shelley resembled Plato; both taking more delight in the abstract and the ideal than in the special and the tangible. This did not result from imitation; for it was not till Shelley resided in Italy that he made Plato his study. He then translated his Symposium and Ion; and the English language boasts of no more brilliant composition than Plato's Praise of Love translated by Shelley." If this goes too far, it goes at least in the right direction. David K. O'Connor, in his introduction and footnotes, provides the historical and philosophic framework to appreciate best the importance of the dialogue and translation.Table of Contentsintroduction, notes, Stephanus numbers, index

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Book SynopsisSinclair Lewis, celebrated author of "Babbitt and Main Street", wrote more than twenty novels in the course of his prolific career, most of which went through several editions over the years. This is the definitive descriptive bibliography of the Lewis catalog, now available with a new biographical essay and dozens of additional entries. A full chapter is devoted to each novel, including closeup photos of covers and spines as well as comprehensive information about original publishers, prices, print runs, and bindings. Stephen R. Pastore's book will be an invaluable collector's and scholar's guide to the identification of original Lewis volumes.

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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.

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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.

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Book Synopsis In this book, Stephen R. L. Clark, a philosopher with a lifelong "addiction" to science fiction, explores G. K. Chesterton's ideas and arguments in their historical context and evaluates them philosophically. He addresses Chesterton's sense that the way things are is not how they must have been or need be in the future and his willingness to face up to the apparent effects of the nihilism he detected in the science and politics of his day. Clark offers a detailed study of some of Chesterton's works that have been identified by science fiction writers and critics as seminal influences. He attempts to deal with some of Chesterton's theories that have been found offensive or "positively wicked" by later writers and critics, including his arguments against female suffrage and in praise of war, his medievalist leanings, and his contemptuous rejection of the Darwinian evolutionary theory. Table of ContentsPreface / ix Introduction / 3 Part I: What’s Wrong with Science Fiction? / 9 1. The Case against Science Fiction / 11 2. In Defense of Science Fiction / 18 Part II: The Texts / 39 3. The Napoleon of Notting Hill / 41 4. The Man Who Was Thursday / 50 5. The Ball and the Cross / 55 6. The Flying Inn / 65 7. The Distributist Rebellion / 73 8. The Return of Don Quixote / 76 Part III: The Themes / 83 9. Nationalists and Jews / 85 10. Women and Men / 97 11. Medievalism, War, and Men’s Ideals / 104 12. Distributism and Anarchy / 115 13. Darwinism, Scientific and Social / 124 14. Animals and the Royal Animal / 144 15. Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Virtue / 161 16. Miracles and Religion / 174 Conclusion: Thinking Backward / 187 Notes / 201 Index / 241

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Book SynopsisThis is an exhibition catalogue at the Grolier Club, September 16 - November 22, 2008. The theme of loss is expressed or implied in much of Virginia Woolf's fiction and non-fiction, and one that resonates with the story of her own life, from her childhood, through her loss of family, and of friends, and of security in two World Wars, to her struggles with mental illness and her eventual suicide. And yet Virginia Woolf was, by all accounts, a lively and engaging woman, full of warmth, humor, maternal feeling (for her sister's children, as she had none of her own), passion, and exultation. She had a prodigiously active career, and she stood at the center of a large group of notable, engaged figures, many of them public intellectuals at the forefront of their generation, who were connected to her (and to each other) by bonds of family, affinity, shared artistic and social enterprise and, above all, affection. This group, and their friends, produced mountains of books, hundreds of square feet of paintings, and reams of press. The selection of material in this recent Grolier Club exhibition and its accompanyning catalogue documents the mutual enrichment of their life and work, and the resonance of Virginia Woolf's greatest literary work with the story of her life and the lives of those who were dear to her. Much of the material is reproduced here for the first time. Items from William Beekman's collection of Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury span her life and career, and include photographs, letters, association copies, artwork, and ephemera. From Barbara Dobkin's collection of feminist history are a number of items from Virginia's adolescent library as well as material documenting her relationship with Vita Sackville-West. The Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College provided many early images - drawn from Leslie Stephen's photo albums - as well as copiously annotated proof material and samples from Virginia's important correspondence with Lytton Strachey. It is designed by Jerry Kelly, and printed in an edition of 1500 copies.

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Book SynopsisAmerican Unexceptionalism examines a constellation of post-9/11 novels that revolve around white middle-class male suburbanites, thus following a tradition established by writers such as John Updike and John Cheever. Focusing closely on recent works by Richard Ford, Chang-Rae Lee, Jonathan Franzen, Philip Roth, Anne Tyler, Gish Jen, A. M. Homes, and others, Kathy Knapp demonstrates that these authors revisit this well-trod turf and revive the familiar everyman character in order to reconsider and reshape American middle-class experience in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and their ongoing aftermath.The novels in question all take place in the sprawling terrain that stretches out beyond the Twin Towers - the postwar suburbs that since the end of World War II have served, like the Twin Towers themselves, as a powerful advertisement of dominance to people around the globe, by projecting an image of prosperity and family values. These suburban tales and their everyman protagonists grapple, however indirectly, with the implications of the apparent decline of the economic, geopolitical, and moral authority of the United States. In the context of perceived decay and diminishing influence, these novels actively counteract the narrative of American exceptionalism frequently peddled in the wake of 9/11.If suburban fiction has historically been faulted for its limited vision, this newest iteration has developed a depth of field that self-consciously folds the personal into the political, encompasses the have-nots along with the haves, and takes in the past when it imagines the future, all in order to forge a community of readers who are now accountable to the larger world. American Unexceptionalism traces the trajectory by which recent suburban fiction overturns the values of individualism, private property ownership, and competition that originally provided its foundation. In doing so, the novels examined here offer readers new and flexible ways to imagine being and belonging in a setting no longer characterised by stasis, but by flux.

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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.

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Book SynopsisFor more than 75 years, Catwoman has forged her own path in a clear-cut world of stalwart heroes, diabolical villains and damsels in distress. Sometimes a thief, sometimes a vigilante, sometimes neither and sometimes both, the mercurial Catwoman gleefully defies classification. Her relentless independence across comic books, television and film appearances set her apart from the rest of the superhero world. When female characters were limited to little more than romantic roles, Catwoman used her feminine wiles to manipulate Batman and escape justice at every turn. When male villains dominated Gotham on the small screen, Catwoman entered the mix and outshone them all. When female-led comics were few and far between, Catwoman headlined her own series for over 20 years. True to her nature, Catwoman stole the show everywhere she appeared, regardless of the medium. But her unique path had its downsides as well. Her existence on the periphery of the superhero world made her expendable, and she was prone to lengthy absences. Her villainous origins also made her susceptible to sexualized and degrading depictions from her primarily male creators in ways that most conventional heroines didn't face. Exploring the many incarnations of this cultural icon offers a new perspective on the superhero genre and showcases the fierce resiliency that has made Catwoman a fan favorite for decades.Trade Review"Catwoman is the best known and longest running femme fatale in the comics world, with a history behind her creation as sensationally sordid as the feline temptress herself. Tim Hanley, with his uncanny mind for digging out hidden trivia of popular comic characters brings out a side of Catwomen few know, with frank honesty of all her virtues and flaws. This book perfectly distills the complicated 70+ year history of DC's bad girl with a heart of gold. An engaging, entertaining and vastly enjoyable history!" Hope Nicholson, author, The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen"Feed your kitty now, because once you start reading, you won't be able to stop. Tim's words are as mesmerizing as Catwoman herself." Adrienne Barbeau, actress and voice of Catwoman in Batman: The Animated Series, and author of There Are Worse Things I Could Do"Tim Hanley has done it again! His comprehensive history of Catwoman is as engaging and enlightening as his masterworks on Wonder Woman and Lois Lane. As in his previous books, Hanley walks us from Catwoman's on-paper origin through her myriad film and TV incarnations to her modern place in comic books, pulling on cultural and political threads to reveal what makes the world's most famous femme fatale a truly unique feminist hero. Catwoman has outlasted the male artists and writers who have perpetually denied her agency and projected their sexual fantasies onto her. In Hanley, she finds a writer who finally succeeds in honoring her voice." Heather Hogan, senior editor, Autostraddle"Source notes, a bibliography, and an index enhance this scrutiny worthy of a literary scholar - or a devoted comic book connoisseur! The Many Lives of Catwoman is a "must-read" for Catwoman fans, highly recommended." Midwest Book Review"Comic book fan or not, The Many Lives of Catwoman offers an interesting look at society's perception of women over the decades through a fictional avatar used by writers and artists to work through their own issues, misogynistic or otherwise." PopMatters"Featuring trademark obstacles, unappreciated talent, and a bittersweet ending for Finger, Hanley's meticulously researched work sinks its teeth into meaty, historically significant subjects, including female gender stereotypes and homoeroticism." Booklist Online"Hanley's writing is comprehensive and straightforward, and fans and newbies alike will take great pleasure in reading about Catwoman's journey." Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisCharles Dickens travelled to North America twice, in 1842 and twenty-five years later in 1867--68, and on both trips Massachusetts was part of his itinerary. Although many aspects of his U.S. travels disappointed him, Massachusetts was the one state that met and even exceeded Dickens's expectations for “the republic of [his] imagination.” From the mills of Lowell to the Perkins School for the Blind, it offered an alternate vision of America that influenced his future writings, while the deep and lasting friendships he formed with Bostonians gave him enduring ties to the commonwealth. This volume provides insight from leading scholars who have begun to reassess the significance of Massachusetts in the author's life and work. The collection begins with a broad biographical and historical overview taken from the full-length narrative of the award-winning exhibition Dickens and Massachusetts: A Tale of Power and Transformation, which attracted thousands of visitors while on display in Lowell. Abundant images from the exhibition, many of them difficult to find elsewhere, enhance the story of Dickens's relationship with the vibrant cultural and intellectual life of Massachusetts. The second section includes essays that consider the importance of Dickens's many connections to the commonwealth.In addition to the volume editors, contributors include Chelsea Bray, Iain Crawford, Andre DeCuir, Natalie McKnight, Lillian Nayder, and Kit Polga.

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Book SynopsisThe German Pícaro and Modernity reads the re-emergence of the picaresque narrative in twentieth-century German-language writing as an expression of modernity and its social imaginaries. Malkmus argues that the picaresque, whose origins date back to the Spanish Renaissance and the Baroque Age, re-emerged as a reflection both of Germany's explosive modernizing processes between 1880 and 1930 and of the most barbarous implosion of modern civilization under National Socialism. Another reason for the fertility of this literary form at that particular cultural moment is rooted in the complexities of German-Jewish relations and the history of Jewish assimilation in central Europe. A considerable number of authors who used the picaresque form in the twentieth century are from a Jewish background, and Malkmus demonstrates how the picaresque narrative template also offers a medium for German-Jewish self-reflection. In highlighting these connections, he contributes not only to scholarship in European literature, but also but also to our understanding of major social, economic and political issues at stake in modernityTrade Review"In this bold and intelligent new volume, Bernhard Malkmus uses the pícaro figure to explore fundamental questions of the constitution of the subject in modernity. The book presents a set of original and searching new readings of texts, both canonical and less familiar, with considerable implications for the understanding of the conditions of modern culture, especially—but not only—in their German form." -- Andrew J. Webber, Professor of Modern German and Comparative Culture, Head of the Department of German and Dutch, University of Cambridge, UK"Socialized into the German cultural tradition, but equally familiar with the literatures of the Iberian Peninsula, Bernhard Malkmus, in his book The German Pícaro and Modernity, made me aware of and fully developed a thought that had previously (but only vaguely) crossed my mind. This is the thought of whether a specific—and quite ironically: a specifically deep—connection could exist between the figure of the 'Pícaro' and what we have come to identify as 'the German mind.' A connection where the 'Pícaro'—not unlike certain tones in the legacy of Romantic literature—embodied and articulated what a culture so intensely invested in metaphysical depth has never taken the freedom to think." -- Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Albert Guérard Professor in Literature, Professor of French and Italian and Comparative Literature, Stanford University, USA"German literature is often supposed to be serious, strenuous, even ponderous. With Bernhard Malkmus' study on the German pícaro, we step right into a totally different landscape of German literature: alert, playful, entertaining and elegant. The refinement comes from the change of view Malkmus is proposing. The hero of this exciting book is old-fashioned and progressive at the same time; deriving from the pícaro in the Spanish Renaissance, he enters modernity as a trickster who finds himself both inside and outside of the social system. With his mastery of mimicry and simulation, the trickster challenges historical facts as well as moral virtues. Writers such as Robert Walser, Franz Kafka, and Thomas Mann employed their trickster-protagonists to confront the world as it is with the ironic playfulness of chance, dream, and emotions. Even in the most desperate chapters of German history, Malkmus finds proofs for the resistance of the picaresque. His book is an impressive demonstration of the art of story-telling, and a plea for the power of fantasy." -- Alexander Honold, Professor of German Literature, Basel University, Switzerland.This is not a work for the generalist or fainthearted; this is a useful tool for those already familiar with the literature. -- Choice Magazine...demonstrates that although the picaro belongs to certain times, it is also a figure of ambivalent transcendence, celebrating resilience and its satisfactions over solemnity and its imperatives. - Benjamin Robinson, Indiana University Bloomington -- Monatshefte, Vol. 104, No.3, 2012Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Boxing (In) Life Stories Chapter One The Spanish Picaresque Tradition and Its European Repercussions Chapter Two "Students Who Have Lost the Holy Writ": Franz Kafka's Der Verschollene Chapter Three Students Who Have Lost Their Teachers: Robert Walser's Jakob von Gunten Picaresque Topoi I Tertium Datur: Between Autonomy and Self-Preservation Chapter Four The Confidence Man as Shape-Shifter: Thomas Mann's Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull Picaresque Topoi II Third Space: A Stage for the Modern Pícaro Chapter Five The Shape-Shifter as Underdog: Edgar Hilsenrath's Der Nazi und der Friseur Picaresque Topoi III Third Agents: The Inclusion of the Excluded Chapter Six The Eternal Recurrence of the Picaresque Body: Günter Grass' Die Blechtrommel Conclusion Drumming (Out) Life Stories Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisOver the last decade William Giraldi has established himself as a charismatic and uncompromising literary essayist, “a literature-besotted Midas of prose” (Cynthia Ozick). Now, American Audacity gathers a selection of his most powerful considerations of American writers and themes—a “gorgeous fury of language and sensibility” (Walter Kirn)—including an introductory call to arms for twenty-first-century American literature, and a new appreciation of James Baldwin’s genius for nonfiction. With potent insights into the storied tradition of American letters, and written with a “commitment to the dynamism and dimensions of language,” American Audacity considers giants from the past (Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Harper Lee, Denis Johnson), some of our most well-known living critics and novelists (Harold Bloom, Stanley Fish, Katie Roiphe, Cormac McCarthy, Allan Gurganus, Elizabeth Spencer), as well as those cultural-literary themes that have concerned Giraldi as an American novelist (bestsellers, the “problem” of Catholic fiction, the art of hate mail, and his viral essay on bibliophilia). Demanding that literature be audacious, and urgent in its convictions, American Audacity is itself an act of intellectual daring, a compendium shot through with Giraldi’s “emboldened and emboldening critical voice” (Sven Birkerts). At a time when literature is threatened by ceaseless electronic bombardment, Giraldi argues that literature “must do what literature has always done: facilitate those silent spaces, remain steadfastly itself in its employment of slowness, interiority, grace, and in its marshaling of aesthetic sophistication and complexity.” American Audacity is ultimately an assertion of intelligence and discernment from a maker of “perfectly paced prose” (The New Yorker), a book that reaffirms the pleasure and wisdom of the deepest literary values.Trade Review"In a wide-ranging and provocative collection of essays… novelist and memoirist Giraldi examines an array of American writers, praising those who successfully marry style and substance… [A] graceful case for the value of good writing." -- Publishers Weekly"[William] Giraldi is a literature-besotted Midas of prose: within its own purpose, every sentence gleams. And beyond this, whatever the shape of his subject, the soul of his subject is the strenuous daring of art. Nearly alone in his generation, he is willing to invoke Matthew Arnold, and on a single page can call forth Cesare Pavese, Conrad, Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Emily Dickinson!" -- Cynthia Ozick"A gorgeous fury of language and sensibility, Giraldi’s indispensable paean to American literature clears the head and stimulates the nerves. He reminds us that the written word, when deployed with genius, is always dangerous, and he does so in dynamic prose that sparks and swishes like a downed power line." -- Walter Kirn, author of Blood Will Out and Up in the Air"In one of the essays in his American Audacity, William Giraldi describes an eminent fellow critic as ‘thrillingly authoritative, wholly convinced, giddy with aptitude.’ I read this as an instance of inadvertent self-characterization. We have been waiting some time for an emboldened and emboldening critical voice and here it is." -- Sven Birkerts, author of The Gutenberg Elegies and Changing the Subject: Art and Attention in the Internet Age"A rich mine of splendid essays.... Giraldi correctly sees himself as part of a tradition. In this way he resembles Harold Bloom, Edmund Wilson, and his beloved Lionel Trilling... Giraldi is at his best when examining intra-traditions of prose authors like the Catholic writers who emerged in the middle of the last century... [and] provides probably the best assessment ever written on [Denis] Johnson’s precarious collection [Jesus’ Son] and its magnetizing influence on younger writers." -- San Francisco Daily Journal"Giraldi’s encounters with writers and critics are invariably vigorous, fresh, and enriched by a voice entirely his own, attuned to language and alive to the pulse of art. This is an exemplary gallery of critical portraits." -- Morris Dickstein, author of Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression and Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties

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Book SynopsisCharles E. Robinson, Professor Emeritus of English at The University of Delaware, definitively transformed study of the novel Frankenstein with his foundational volume The Frankenstein Notebooks and, in nineteenth century studies more broadly, brought heightened attention to the nuances of writing and editing. Frankenstein and STEAM consolidates the generative legacy of his later work on the novel's broad relation to topics in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). Seven chapters written by leading and emerging scholars pay homage to Robinson's later perspectives of the novel and a concluding postscript contains remembrances by his colleagues and students. This volume not only makes explicit the question of what it means to be human, a question Robinson invited students and colleagues to examine throughout his career, but it also illustrates the depth of the field and diversity of those who have been inspired by Robinson's work. Frankenstein and STEAM offers direction for continuing scholarship on the intersections of literature, science, and technology.Published by the University of Delaware Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Robin Hammerman 1 Frankenstein, Frankenstein, and the Dream of Science Susan J. Wolfson 2 Frankenstein Meets the FAANG Five: Figures of Monstrous Technology in Digital Media Discourse Mark A. McCutcheon 3 “the history of gods”: Singularity and Gender in Ex Machina Lisa Crafton 4 “My food is not that of man”: Food as Posthuman Phenomenon Siobhan Watters 5 Reading Frankenstein’s Ecological Legacy Lisbeth Chapin 6 Playing Devil’s Advocate: Defending the Criminal Justice System in Frankenstein L. Adam Mekler 7 Teaching Frankenstein as Pastiche, Parody, and Adaptation in the General Education Classroom Brian Bates Postscript: Remembrances of Charles E. Robinson Robin Hammerman Notes on Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisCurious readers and fans of monsters and the macabre, get ready to bulk up your TBR piles! Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann has curated the best selection of modern horror books, including plenty of deep cuts. Indulge your heart’s darkest desires to be terrified, unsettled, disgusted, and heartbroken with stories that span everything from paranormal hauntings and creepy death cults to small-town terrors and apocalyptic disasters. Each recommendation includes a full synopsis as well as a quick overview of the book’s themes, style, and tone so you can narrow down your next read at a glance. Featuring a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman and five brand-new essays from rising voices in the genre, this illustrated reader’s guide is perfect for anyone who dares to delve into the dark.

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Book SynopsisFor nearly a century, British expatriate Charles Joseph Finger (1867-1941) was best known as an award-winning author of children's literature. In Shared Secrets, Elizabeth Findley Shores relates Finger's untold story, exploring the secrets that connected the author to an international community of twentieth-century queer literati.As a young man, Finger reveled in the easy homosociality of his London polytechnical school, where he launched a student literary society in the mold of the city's private men's clubs. Throughout his life, as he wandered from England to Patagonia to the United States, he tried to recreate similarly open spaces-such as Gayeta, his artists' commune in Arkansas. But it was through his idiosyncratic magazine All's Well that he constructed his most successful social network, writing articles filled with coded signals and winking asides for the inner circle.Capitalizing on the publishing opportunities of the day, Finger used every means available to express his twin loves-literature and men. He produced an enormous body of work, and his short, semiautobiographical fiction won some critical acclaim. Ironically, the children's book he wrote to support his arcadian lifestyle won a Newbery Medal, ushering him into the public eye and ending his development as an author of serious queer literature.Shared Secrets is both the story of Finger's remarkable, adventurous life and a rare look at a community of gay writers and artists who helped shaped twentieth-century American culture, even as they artfully concealed their own identities.Trade ReviewFor those who may recognize Charles J. Finger only as a name from a list of early Newbery Medal winners, this scrupulously researched biography by Elizabeth Findley Shores will be a revelation. Shared Secrets places the peripatetic author of Tales from Silver Lands—who described himself as ‘one of the odd type, blood brother to other literary wanderers’—in the company of Jack London and other writers whose lives (and parallel lives) loomed as large as their works. Shores illuminates the complexities and coding of the late-Victorian and early twentieth-century queer world, presenting her subject as fully, triumphantly human." —William B. Jones, author of Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History"An engaging, well-written, and important biography of a figure largely neglected in literary studies, despite his stature, influence, and enormous collection of works." —Michael P. Bibler, author of Cotton’s Queer Relations: Same-Sex Intimacy and the Literature of the Southern Plantation, 1936–1968

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Book SynopsisSamuel Johnson’s life was situated within a rich social and intellectual community of friendships—and antagonisms. Community and Solitude is a collection of ten essays that explore relationships between Johnson and several of his main contemporaries—including James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Frances Burney, Robert Chambers, Oliver Goldsmith, Bennet Langton, Arthur Murphy, Richard Savage, Anna Seward, and Thomas Warton—and analyzes some of the literary productions emanating from the pressures within those relationships. In their detailed and careful examination of particular works situated within complex social and personal contexts, the essays in this volume offer a “thick” and illuminating description of Johnson’s world that also engages with larger cultural and aesthetic issues, such as intertextuality, literary celebrity, narrative, the nature of criticism, race, slavery, and sensibility.Contributors: Christopher Catanese, James Caudle, Marilyn Francus, Christine Jackson-Holzberg, Claudia Thomas Kairoff, Elizabeth Lambert, Anthony W. Lee, James E. May, John Radner, and Lance Wilcox. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.Trade Review"This volume of essays advances the field not only because it focuses on a new topic but also because of the patient and imaginative analysis in the various essays. The audience here extends beyond Johnsonians because so many other figures of interest are included, from Frances Burney, Burke, Warton, Seward, and Arthur Murphy to Goldsmith and of course Boswell." -- Steven Lynn * University of South Carolina *"An invaluable, erudite, thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to the study of Samuel Johnson's life, philosophy, and literary work, Community and Solitude: New Essays on Johnson's Circle is an extraordinary body of informative and deftly scripted scholarship." * Midwest Book Review *"The scholarship is of a consistently high level, and the prose is clear and well edited. Community and Solitude provides a salutary reminder that authorship is not always the solitary activity that many people assume. Recommend." * Choice *"This collection of ten essays begins with three solid essays, all making good use of correspondence." * Eighteenth-Century Intelligencer *"Lee, as editor, sets out to counterbalance Johnson’s need for solitude to accomplish his literary works with his at times almost desperate search for company to alleviate his periods of despair and disillusion. How could someone with such a sociable character and love of conversation succeed in creating such a corpus of work that within its pages we can find epithets suitable for most occasions in life?" * The New Rambler *"These essays, well presented in this volume by Bucknell University Press, bring context, color, and an array of information that should prove of value to students and scholars of Johnson’s expansive circle." * Eighteenth-Century Studies *"The book uses...discussions to provide an engaging illustration of time, place, and character for a wide audience. For scholars who know Boswell’s biography and eighteenth-century London well, the book offers primarily a useful synthesis of biographies and cultural history." * Eighteenth-Century Fiction *"As a monograph designed for considering the historical interconnectedness in readings of literature, history, and culture, Community and Solitude, part of Bucknell University Press's Transits series, accomplishes its goal with welcome fidelity." * The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats *"This volume of essays advances the field not only because it focuses on a new topic but also because of the patient and imaginative analysis in the various essays. The audience here extends beyond Johnsonians because so many other figures of interest are included, from Frances Burney, Burke, Warton, Seward, and Arthur Murphy to Goldsmith and of course Boswell." -- Steven Lynn * University of South Carolina *"An invaluable, erudite, thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to the study of Samuel Johnson's life, philosophy, and literary work, Community and Solitude: New Essays on Johnson's Circle is an extraordinary body of informative and deftly scripted scholarship." * Midwest Book Review *"The scholarship is of a consistently high level, and the prose is clear and well edited. Community and Solitude provides a salutary reminder that authorship is not always the solitary activity that many people assume. Recommend." * Choice *"This collection of ten essays begins with three solid essays, all making good use of correspondence." * Eighteenth-Century Intelligencer *"Lee, as editor, sets out to counterbalance Johnson’s need for solitude to accomplish his literary works with his at times almost desperate search for company to alleviate his periods of despair and disillusion. How could someone with such a sociable character and love of conversation succeed in creating such a corpus of work that within its pages we can find epithets suitable for most occasions in life?" * The New Rambler *"These essays, well presented in this volume by Bucknell University Press, bring context, color, and an array of information that should prove of value to students and scholars of Johnson’s expansive circle." * Eighteenth-Century Studies *"The book uses...discussions to provide an engaging illustration of time, place, and character for a wide audience. For scholars who know Boswell’s biography and eighteenth-century London well, the book offers primarily a useful synthesis of biographies and cultural history." * Eighteenth-Century Fiction *"As a monograph designed for considering the historical interconnectedness in readings of literature, history, and culture, Community and Solitude, part of Bucknell University Press's Transits series, accomplishes its goal with welcome fidelity." * The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats *Table of Contents List of Tables… vAbbreviations … vi Introduction ... 1Part I. Personal Relationships: Letters and Conversation ... 11 One Connecting with Three “Young Dogs”: Johnson’s Early Letters to Robert Chambers, Bennet Langton, and James Boswell ... 12John Radner Two James Elphinston and Samuel Johnson: Contact, Irritations, and an “Argonautic” Letter ... 44Christine Jackson-Holzberg Three The Case of the Missing Hottentot: John Dun’s Conversation with Samuel Johnson in Tour to the Hebrides as Reported by Boswell and Dun ... 79James CaudlePart II. Literary Relationships: Major Texts and Topics ... 118 Four Oliver Goldsmith’s Revisions to The Traveller ... 119James E. May Five “Down with her, Burney!”: Johnson, Burney, and the Politics of Literary Celebrity ... 165Marilyn Francus Six In the First Circle: The Four Narrators of the Life of Savage ... 205Lance Wilcox Seven “Under the shade of exalted merit”: Arthur Murphy’s A Poetical Epistle to Mr. Samuel Johnson, A.M. ... 236Anthony W. Lee Eight Johnson, Burke, Boswell, and the Slavery Debate ... 258Elizabeth Lambert Nine Samuel Johnson and Anna Seward: Solitude and Sensibility ... 295Claudia Thomas Kairoff Ten Johnson, Warton, and the Popular Reader ... 331Christopher CataneseAcknowledgments... 358Bibliography ... 360Index ... 389About the Contributors ... 390

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Book SynopsisIn its early transition to democracy following Franco’s death in 1975, Spain rapidly embraced neoliberal practices and policies, some of which directly impacted cultural production. In a few short years, the country commercialized its art and literary markets, investing in “cultural tourism” as a tool for economic growth and urban renewal. The artist novel began to proliferate for the first time in a century, but these novels—about artists and art historians—have received little critical attention beyond the descriptive. In Between Market and Myth, Vater studies select authors—Julio Llamazares, Ángeles Caso, Clara Usón, Almudena Grandes, Nieves Herrero, Paloma Díaz-Mas, Lourdes Ortiz, and Enrique Vila-Matas—whose largely realist novels portray a clash between the myth of artistic freedom and artists’ willing recruitment or cooptation by market forces or political influence. Today, in an era of rising globalization, the artist novel proves ideal for examining authors' ambivalent notions of creative practice when political patronage and private sector investment complicate belief in artistic autonomy. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press. Trade Review"Between Market and Myth covers a fascinating topic which allows for the exploration of questions central to the cultural production of the period and of the changing, at times contradictory, role of the artist. The topic is exciting and timely, and Vater presents a provocative frame for the discussion." -- Elizabeth Drumm * author of Painting on Stage: Visual Art in Twentieth-Century Spanish Theater *"The book makes a compelling case for the effects that neoliberalism has on cultural capital and supports its convincing argument with an all-encompassing literary analysis that masterfully interprets the primary texts in their historical and geographical context." * Hispania *"Is the value of an artist and her product intrinsic or extrinsic to society? Katie Vater’s intriguing study engages this question through an analysis of several Spanish literary works produced between 1992 and 2014." * Bulletin of Spanish Studies *"Between Market and Myth covers a fascinating topic which allows for the exploration of questions central to the cultural production of the period and of the changing, at times contradictory, role of the artist. The topic is exciting and timely, and Vater presents a provocative frame for the discussion." -- Elizabeth Drumm * author of Painting on Stage: Visual Art in Twentieth-Century Spanish Theater *"The book makes a compelling case for the effects that neoliberalism has on cultural capital and supports its convincing argument with an all-encompassing literary analysis that masterfully interprets the primary texts in their historical and geographical context." * Hispania *"Is the value of an artist and her product intrinsic or extrinsic to society? Katie Vater’s intriguing study engages this question through an analysis of several Spanish literary works produced between 1992 and 2014." * Bulletin of Spanish Studies *Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1 The Weight of Fame: Memory in Two Contemporary Künstlerromane by Ángeles Caso and Julio Llamazares 2 The Postfeminist Turn in the Artist Novel by Women: The Case of Almudena Grandes, Clara Usón, and Nieves Herrero 3 The Art Historian as Neoliberal Subject in Lourdes Ortiz’s Las manos de Velázquez and Paloma Díaz-Mas’s El sueño de Venecia 4 Affiliation Anxiety: Avant-Garde Identity at dOCUMENTA(13) in Enrique Vila-Matas’s Kassel no invita la lógica Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWriting Lives in the Eighteenth Century is a collection of essays on memoir, biography, and autobiography during a formative period for the genre. The essays revolve around recognized male and female figures—returning to the Boswell and Burney circle—but present arguments that dismantle traditional privileging of biographical modes. The contributors reconsider the processes of hero making in the beginning phases of a culture of celebrity. Employing the methodology William Godwin outlined for novelists of taking material “from all sources, experience, report, and the records of human affairs,” each contributor examines within the contexts of their time and historical traditions the anxieties and imperatives of the auto/biographer as she or he shapes material into a legacy. New work on Frances Burney D’Arblay’s son, Alexander, as revealed through letters; on Isabelle de Charriere; on Hester Thrale Piozzi; and on Alicia LeFanu and Frances Burney’s realignment of family biography extend current conversations about eighteenth century biography and autobiography. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press. Trade Review"Rich and thought-provoking, Writing Lives in the Eighteenth Century offers fresh perspectives on figures at the centre of studies of eighteenth-century life writing, including James Boswell and Frances Burney, and engages them in a fascinating dialogue with less prominent writers, such as Isabelle de Charrière and Alicia LeFanu. The essays are deeply knowledgeable, elegantly written, and pose important questions for studies of the genre. Collectively, they will be of significant value to scholars of eighteenth-century literature and life writing." -- Amy Culley * author of British Women’s Life Writing, 1760-1840: Friendship, Community, and Collaboration *"Writing Lives in the Eighteenth Century offers a rich and expansive collection of essays by accomplished scholars, demonstrating how underserved the topic of life writing has been in the field that, arguably, invented its modern form." -- Laura Rosenthal * author of Nightwalkers: Prostitute Narratives from the Eighteenth Century *"Rich and thought-provoking, Writing Lives in the Eighteenth Century offers fresh perspectives on figures at the centre of studies of eighteenth-century life writing, including James Boswell and Frances Burney, and engages them in a fascinating dialogue with less prominent writers, such as Isabelle de Charrière and Alicia LeFanu. The essays are deeply knowledgeable, elegantly written, and pose important questions for studies of the genre. Collectively, they will be of significant value to scholars of eighteenth-century literature and life writing." -- Amy Culley * author of British Women’s Life Writing, 1760-1840: Friendship, Community, and Collaboration *"Writing Lives in the Eighteenth Century offers a rich and expansive collection of essays by accomplished scholars, demonstrating how underserved the topic of life writing has been in the field that, arguably, invented its modern form." -- Laura Rosenthal * author of Nightwalkers: Prostitute Narratives from the Eighteenth Century *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Art of Writing Lives Tanya Caldwell Chapter 1: Dr. Johnson’s Apology for the Married Life of Hester Thrale’: Hester Lynch Piozzi’s Letters to and from the Late Samuel Johnson LLD Lisa Berglund Chapter 2: The Education of Alexander d’Arblay: “The Idol of the World” Peter Sabor Chapter 3: Trying to Set the Record Straight: Alicia LeFanu, Frances Burney D’Arblay, and the Limits of Family Biography Marilyn Francus Chapter 4: The Life of Isabelle de Charrière: ‘Written by Herself’ Victoria Warren Chapter 5: Clashes of conversations in James Boswell’s Hebrides and Life of Johnson and ‘My Firm Regard to Authenticity’ James J. Caudle Chpater 6: Charles Burney’s Handel Reconsidered Todd Gilman Acknowledgements Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index

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