Literary studies: fiction Books

Book SynopsisThis collection provides an invaluable account of post-Soviet Russian literature in its historical, cultural and political contexts. An international team of leading commentators on contemporary Russia cover the most important trends, topics, authors and texts in Russian literature after Brodsky and Solzhenitsyn in a wide range of literary genres.Trade Review'The editors' stated goal was to offer 'the first attempt at an integral study of Russian literature after the breakup of the Soviet Union' … In this they have succeeded admirably. This collection offers a simultaneously readable and thoughtful assessment of approximately forty texts and forty writers and a compelling overview of broad literary trends and developments.' Margaret Ziolkowski, The Russian Review'This richly detailed compendium of essays will be of interest to scholars, students of contemporary Russian literature and culture, and pedagogues' Elizabeth Skomp, The Slavonic and East European ReviewTable of Contents1. The burden of freedom: Russian literature after Communism Evgeny Dobrenko and Mark Lipovetsky; 2. Recycling of the Soviet Evgeny Dobrenko; 3. (Post)ideological novel Serguei Alex. Oushakine; 4. Historical novel Kevin M. F. Platt; 5. Dystopias and catastrophe tales after Chernobyl Eliot Borenstein; 6. Magical historicism Alexander Etkind; 7. Petropoetics Ilya Kalinin; 8. Postmodernist novel Mark Lipovetsky; 9. Narrating trauma Helena Goscilo; 10. (Auto)biographical prose Marina Balina; 11. The legacy of the Underground Poets Catherine Ciepiela; 12. New lyrics Stephanie Sandler; 13. Narrative poetry Ilya Kukulin; 14. New drama Boris Wolfson; Works cited.

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Book SynopsisA rare colour-enhanced example of Oriental Romanticism and psychotropic drug use in late 19th century American fiction.

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Book SynopsisToby Widdicombe is Professor of English at the University of Alaska Anchorage, USA. His previous books include Simply Shakespeare (2001).Trade ReviewThe book examines a range of themes and content across Tolkien’s work and life and brings them together in a tidy package. Widdicombe has done a fine job across the book as a whole. * Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) *J.R.R. Tolkien: A Guide for the Perplexed helps dispel the confusion many students feel when first studying Tolkien’s secondary world. This engagingly written and insightful volume will prove a useful resource in classrooms. -- William Fliss, Tolkien Archivist, Marquette University, United StatesTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: Tolkien’s Life and Art Chapter 2: Tolkien’s Legendarium Chapter 3: Tolkien and His Languages Chapter 4: Tolkien on Time Chapter 5: Tolkien on Peoples Chapter 6: Tolkien’s Themes Afterword Appendix A: Tolkien’s Sources Appendix B: Films of the Legendarium Appendix C: The Scholarship on Tolkien References

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Book SynopsisThis illustrated catalog was published to accompany exhibitions at the Grolier Club and the Stanford University Libraries in 2010. This catalog includes introductory essays about the life and work of the Shropshire novelist and poet, Mary Webb (1881-1927), as well as synopses of her novels. Webb's work is explored in depth through over 180 items, many of which are Webb's original manuscripts and typescripts. Included as a second volume is a special edition of Webb's hitherto unpublished juvenile work "Clematisa & Percival", printed letterpress on imported mould-made paper, with six full color tip-ins of artwork by William E. Bishop created specially for this publication.Table of ContentsVol. 1 Essays and catalogue.Vol. 2 Clematisa & Percival

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Book SynopsisThe volume fills a gap in scholarship about Imre Kertesz, whose work to date is largely unknown in the English-speaking world. The papers' authors are scholars from the US, Canada, the UK, Hungary, Germany, and New Zealand. In addition to the papers, the volume contains a bibliography of Kertesz's works including translations, and a bibliography of studies in several languages about his work.

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Book SynopsisThis book will reveal the real Jane: bitchy, gossipy, badly behaved at times as well as show the side we all love: the writer, sister, true romantic.

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Book SynopsisAn urgent volume of essays engages the Gothic to advance important perspectives on our geological era What can the Gothic teach us about our current geological era? More than just spooky, moonlit castles and morbid graveyards, the Gothic represents a vibrant, emergent perspective on the Anthropocene. In this volume, more than a dozen scholars move beyond longstanding perspectives on the Anthropocene—such as science fiction and apocalyptic narratives—to show that the Gothic offers a unique (and dark) interpretation of events like climate change, diminished ecosystems, and mass extinction.Embracing pop cultural phenomena like True Detective, Jaws, and Twin Peaks, as well as topics from the New Weird and prehistoric shark fiction to ruin porn and the “monstroscene,” Dark Scenes from Damaged Earth demonstrates the continuing vitality of the Gothic while opening important new paths of inquiry. These essays map a genealogy of the Gothic while providing fresh perspectives on the ongoing climate chaos, the North/South divide, issues of racialization, dark ecology, questions surrounding environmental justice, and much more.Contributors: Fred Botting, Kingston U; Timothy Clark, U of Durham; Rebecca Duncan, Linnaeus U; Michael Fuchs, U of Oldenburg, Germany; Esthie Hugo, U of Warwick; Dawn Keetley, Lehigh U; Laura R. Kremmel, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Timothy Morton, Rice U; Barry Murnane, U of Oxford; Jennifer Schell, U of Alaska Fairbanks; Lisa M. Vetere, Monmouth U; Sara Wasson, Lancaster U; Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Central Michigan U.Trade Review"All of the essays connect the subjective potency of the texts under discussion — the affects and moods that they inspire in the reader or viewer — to the ways that such works also give us a deeper understanding of the ongoing ecological transactions that are putting our very existence at risk. Dark Scenes from Damaged Earth both reclaims the gothic as an urgently relevant mode of fiction-making and suggests that aesthetic approaches are able to bring us a kind of understanding that scientific studies on their own could not."—Los Angeles Review of Books"It is impossible for me to do complete justice to this book in a review, but I will say that the sixteen essays included in it are all illuminating, thoughtful, and interesting."—Gothic WandererTable of ContentsContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Gothic in the AnthropocenePart I. Anthropocene1. The AnthropoceneJeffrey Andrew Weinstock2. De-extinction: A Gothic Masternarrative for the AnthropoceneMichael Fuchs3. Lovecraft vs. VanderMeer: Posthuman Horror (and Hope?) in the Zone of ExceptionRune Graulund4. Monstrous Megalodons of the Anthropocene: Extinction and Adaptation in Prehistoric Shark Fiction, 1974–2018Jennifer Schell5. A Violence “Just below the Skin”: Atmospheric Terror and Racial Ecologies from the African AnthropoceneEsthie HugoPart II. Plantationocene6. Horrors of the Horticultural: Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland and the Landscapes of the AnthropoceneLisa M. Vetere7. True Detective’s Folk GothicDawn Keetley8. Beyond the Slaughterhouse: Anthropocene, Animals, and GothicJustin D. EdwardsPart III. Capitalocene9. Gothic in the Capitalocene: World-Ecological Crisis, Decolonial Horror, and the South African PostcolonyRebecca Duncan10. Overpopulation: The Human as InhumanTimothy Clark11. Digging Up Dirt: Reading the Anthropocene through German RomanticismBarry Murnane12. Got a Light? The Dark Currents of Energy in Twin Peaks: The ReturnTimothy Morton and Rune GraulundPart IV. Chthulucene13. The Anthropocene Within: Love and Extinction in M. R. Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts and The Boy on the BridgeJohan Höglund14. Rot and Recycle: Gothic Eco-burialLaura R. Kremmel15. Erotics and Annihilation: Caitlín R. Kiernan, Queering the Weird, and Challenges to the “Anthropocene”Sara Wasson16. MonstroceneFred BottingContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisGeek-culture expert Ryan Britt takes us behind the pages and scenes of the science-fiction phenomenon Dune, charting the series' life from cult sci-fi novels to some of the most visionary movies of all time.   Using original, deep-access reporting, extensive research, and insightful commentary, The Spice Must Flow brings the true popularity of Dune out into the light for the very first time. With original interviews with the beloved actors and directors behind the films—including Timothée Chalamet, Kyle Maclachlan, Denis Villeneuve, Patrick Stewart, Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Newman, and many more— The Spice Must Flow also examines the far-reaching influence of Dune on art, music, politics, and, most notably, its status as the first ecological science-fiction story specifically concerned with climate change.   Britt skillfully and entertainingly guides readers through the history of how the Dune

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Book SynopsisIlluminating the central struggle in The Lord of the Rings to deepen understanding of the whole of Tolkien's legendariumIn this remarkable work of close reading and analysis, Thomas P. Hillman gets to the heart of the tension between pity and the desire for power in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. As the book traces the entangled story of the One Ring and its effects, we come to understand Tolkien's central paradox: while pity is necessary for destroying the Ring, it cannot save the Ring-bearer from the Ring's lies and corruption.In composing The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien explored the power of the Ring and the seeming powerlessness of pity. All the themes his mythology had come to encompass—death and immortality, fate and free will, divine justice and the problem of evil, power and war—took on a new dimension in the journey of Frodo Baggins. Hillman's attention to specific etymologies and patterns of words used in the text, complemented by his judicious use of Tolkien's letters, earlier drafts of the novels, and Tolkien's essays, leads to illuminating and original insights. Instead of turning his interpretation to allegory or apologetics, Hillman demonstrates how the story works metaphorically, allowing Tolkien to embrace both Catholic views and pagan mythology.With this fresh understanding of familiar material, Pity, Power, and Tolkien's Ring will ignite new discussions and deeper appreciation among Tolkien readers and scholars alike.Trade Review"Tom Hillman brings compassion—and a wealth of knowledge—to this analysis of Tolkien's use of pity in The Lord of the Rings. Scholars, students, and fans will learn from it." —Verlyn Flieger, author of Splintered Light and A Question of Time "Thomas Hillman gives the finest sustained close reading that The Lord of the Rings has ever received. Hillman examines how pity, as a concept and sentiment, manifests itself in the actions of Frodo and others as they struggle with the uncanny, malevolent lure of the One Ring." —Nicholas Birns, author of The Literary Role of History in the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien "Hillman's study of Tolkien is both timely and timeless. Timely, because events in our world seem to be mirroring what Tolkien saw around him as he wrote and revised his masterpiece. Timeless, because Hillman's insights, despite being entirely original, are the kinds of observations that make you think 'Of course! How did I not think of that?' and forever change your understanding of a work you thought you knew."—Michael D. C. Drout, Wheaton College, Massachusetts

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Book SynopsisWhile so many literary artists of earlier eras fall away, F. Scott Fitzgerald retains a hold on us. There is something inscrutable in him, a fact he recognized himself and which New Yorker writer Arthur Krystal takes head-on in a biography that gives us the life but leaves the minutiae behind in search of a more penetrating analysis.

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Book SynopsisCelebrate the King of Horror’s 75th birthday with Stephen King, which explores the connections between Stephen King’s life and his body of work.Trade Review"Holy smokes, what an awesome book…It’s a must read for any fan." * Being Fictional *"...noted King chronicler Bev Vincent’s spent years delving into the undoubtedly haunted halls of King’s archives, unearthing letters, notes, outlines and photos that shed light on the novelist’s inspirations and frustrations. The resulting encyclopedic account of the novelist’s life and career, with pitstops in such terrifying towns as Castle Rock and Derry, is a (trick or) treat for all of us Constant Readers." -- Marcus Errico * Yahoo! *"Frankly, it’s a beautiful book, designed with character and creepiness that enhance the experience without becoming a gimmick or nuisance to reading." * Horror Obsessive *"Vincent consistently displays that same knack for expertly tucked-away nuggets amidst a more conventional narrative paved on book publications and career milestones. Vincent writes about King in a direct and simple style that allows King, often quoted verbatim, to rise to the fore. The volume, ‘‘published on the occasion of Stephen King’s seventy-fifth birthday,’’ transcends the simple marketing tool or hagiographic indulgence it might have been by combining studious knowledge with accessibility and insight." -- Alvaro Zinos-Amaro * Locus Mag *"Less than a dozen pages in and I knew this was everything I had hoped for. Bev Vincent has found a way to celebrate King’s complete body of work in a way that feels both academic and casual." * Derry Public Radio - Constant Readers *"This is a great reference book that the casual reader of King’s books will learn a lot from and in which, even we King nerds that read everything he has written still find new things." * Lilja's Library *"The almost conversational tone of the book is engaging and accessible, with extensive footnotes, credits, and appendices to extend readers’ experience with the topic." * Library Journal *"Bev Vincent did an amazing job putting this book together. It has everything you need to know about Stephen King. If you are about to delve into Stephen King, I recommend you start with Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work Life, and Influences by Bev Vincent." * Sandbox World *"...takes fans on an in-depth look at exactly what it is that makes the King of Horror tick. Vincent knows his material and delivers the sort of depth and detail that many ‘behind the scenes’ books promise, but rarely deliver." * FilmJuice *"When it comes to expounding on King’s work, Vincent knows his stuff, through and through. Whether writing about King’s radio station or time with the Rock-Bottom Remainders, Vincent is curious in his approach and thorough in his results." -- Michael Berry * Portland Press Herald *"It’s a blast to open the book at random and dive in, and Vincent ensures every King text receives its just due." * TheFilmStage.com *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 THE FUTURE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN (1950–1969) INTERLUDE: THE POETRY OF STEPHEN KING CHAPTER 2 THE DOUBLEDAY YEARS (1970s) INTERLUDE: STEPHEN KING AS RICHARD BACHMAN INTERLUDE: WELCOME TO CASTLE ROCK CHAPTER 3 MIDAS TOUCH (1980s) INTERLUDE: THE DARK TOWER INTERLUDE: UNSEEN KING INTERLUDE: WELCOME TO DERRY CHAPTER 4 EXPERIMENTATION AND CHANGE (1990s) INTERLUDE: THE ACCIDENT CONTENTS CHAPTER 5 AFTER THE ACCIDENT (2000s) INTERLUDE: THE STEPHEN KING UNIVERSE CHAPTER 5 KING OF CRIME (2010 AND BEYOND) CONCLUSION THE TEST OF TIME SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX I BOOKS APPENDIX II SHORT STORIES AND NOVELLAS APPENDIX III ADAPTATIONS ENDNOTES IMAGE CREDITS ABOUT THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Book Synopsis2022 Eisner Award Winner for Best Academic/Scholarly Work Japanese comics, commonly known as manga, are a global sensation. Critics, scholars, and everyday readers have often viewed this artform through an Orientalist framework, treating manga as the exotic antithesis to American and European comics. In reality, the history of manga is deeply intertwined with Japan’s avid importation of Western technology and popular culture in the early twentieth century. Comics and the Origins of Manga reveals how popular U.S. comics characters like Jiggs and Maggie, the Katzenjammer Kids, Felix the Cat, and Popeye achieved immense fame in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s. Modern comics had earlier developed in the United States in response to new technologies like motion pictures and sound recording, which revolutionized visual storytelling by prompting the invention of devices like speed lines and speech balloons. As audiovisual entertainment like movies and record players spread through Japan, comics followed suit. Their immediate popularity quickly encouraged Japanese editors and cartoonists to enthusiastically embrace the foreign medium and make it their own, paving the way for manga as we know it today. By challenging the conventional wisdom that manga evolved from centuries of prior Japanese art and explaining why manga and other comics around the world share the same origin story, Comics and the Origins of Manga offers a new understanding of this increasingly influential artform.Trade ReviewNew Books Network: New Books in Japanese Studies interview with Eike Exner— New Books Network: New Books in Japanese Studies "Its innovative perspective lies above all in the precision of the documentation and the scrupulous study of the phenomena of translation and borrowing as well as in the history of the narrative and auditory device of the comic strip. For all these reasons, it is a book that stands out for its effects of transmission of both knowledge and sound effects!"— Neuvieme Art “I have been waiting many years to see something like Eike Exner’s Comics and the Origins of Manga. Modern Japanese comics, or 'manga,' have enjoyed huge success around the world in the last three decades. So much so that today some fans occasionally seem to think manga—perhaps even all comics—are really a purely Japanese invention. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. In his book, using primary sources from inside and outside Japan, Eike Exner does a wonderful job of cutting through both mist and myths and showing us another reality."— Frederik L. Schodt, author of Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga "Exner’s work is stunningly rigorous and detailed, surfacing a wealth of examples and specific moments of exchange."— Shawn Gilmore, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics “...a compelling investigation of an historical 'audio-visual' dialogue between the 'sound images' of comics and manga...this text becomes a meaningful revelation of the unique and multifarious histories of world print and comic cultures.”— Frenchy Lunning, editor of Mechademia "'Comics and The Origins of Manga charts the vital influence of US comic strips in Japan (as early as 1908) and to manga creators' incorporating balloons, sound effects and other audiovisual elements inside their panels."— Derf Backderf, author of Kent State "This is an excellent book that I enjoyed reading immensely. The topic is timely and important and the scholarship is meticulous and comprehensive."— Gennifer Weisenfeld, author of Imaging Disaster: Tokyo and the Visual Culture of Japan’s Great Earthquake of 1923 “Eike Exner has meticulously researched voluminous archival materials transnationally, analyzed them critically and carefully, and, in the process, challenged, contradicted, and corrected the history of manga’s origins. Without any reservation, a history-altering masterpiece!”— John A. Lent, founder/publisher/editor-in-chief, International Journal of Comic Art "Comics and the Origins of Manga is a fascinating, materialist account of the history shared between the Japanese and Euro-American comics traditions. With the rise of manga as a globally dominant idiom, the prewar development of the form has been of increasing interest to artists and researchers alike. Eike Exner’s thorough, elucidating scholarship tracks this history in an engaging manner in what will undoubtedly be an important English-language reference work on the subject for years to come. Highly recommended."— Adam Buttrick, cartoonist "Terrific book by Eike Exner - Comics and the Origins of Manga. A brisk-reading but deeply-researched study of the impact American comic strips had on the development of manga in the early decades of the 20th century. New from Rutgers University Press. 'I recommend it.' -me"— Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal editor "Through subtle formal analysis and groundbreaking archival research, Comics and the Origins of Manga makes a compelling argument for the strong influence of translated American comics on the development of modern Japanese manga.”— Henry Jenkins, author of Comics and Stuff "Really enjoyed this book. Fascinating examination of how early American comic strips influenced the develop of manga than is generally acknowledged. Highly recommended."— Chris Mautner, The Comics Journal writerTable of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note on Images Foreword Introduction Prologue: The Historical Origins and Changing Meaning of “Manga” up to 1923 Chapter One: “Popular in Society at Large:” the First Talking Manga Chapter Two: “Listen Vunce!” The Audiovisual Revolution in Graphic Narrative Chapter Three: When Krazy Kat Spoke Japanese: Japan’s Massive Importation of Foreign Audiovisual Comics Chapter Four: From Asō Yutaka to Tezuka Osamu: How Manga Made in Japan Adopted the Form of Audiovisual Comics Epilogue: The Myth of Manga as a “Traditional Mode of Expression” Brief Chronology List of Foreign Comics in Japan 1908-1945 List of Illustrations Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWho is Holmes? The world's most famous detective? A drug addict with a heart as cold as ice? A millstone around the neck of his creator? He's all of these things and much, much more. Sherlock Holmes was the brainchild of Portsmouth GP Arthur Conan Doyle. A writer of historical romantic fiction, Doyle became unhappy that the detective's enormous success eclipsed his more serious offerings. But after attempting to wipe him out at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, Doyle was faced with a vociferous backlash from the general public and eventually he had no choice but to bring his sleuth back from the grave to face more puzzling mysteries. While not strictly speaking 'canonical', Holmes' deerstalker, curved pipe and cries of 'Elementary, my dear Watson!' have been immortalised in countless stage, film, television and radio productions. An iconic fictional creation, inseparable from his partner-in-crime Dr John Watson, Sherlock Holmes has charmed and fascinated millions of people around the world since his first appearance over a century ago. He is one of English literature's finest creations.Trade ReviewMark Campbell on Conan Doyle's Dartmoor * Independent on Saturday *Mark Campbell on Sherlock Holmes' London Haunts * Independent on Saturday *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2014 Christian Gauss Award for excellence in literary scholarship from the Phi Beta Kappa Society Having excavated the world’s earliest novels in his previous book, literary historian Steven Moore explores in this sequel the remarkable flowering of the novel between the years 1600 and 1800—from Don Quixote to America’s first big novel, an homage to Cervantes entitled Modern Chivalry. This is the period of such classic novels as Tom Jones, Candide, and Dangerous Liaisons, but beyond the dozen or so recognized classics there are hundreds of other interesting novels that appeared then, known only to specialists: Spanish picaresques, French heroic romances, massive Chinese novels, Japanese graphic novels, eccentric English novels, and the earliest American novels. These minor novels are not only worthy of attention in their own right, but also provide the context needed to appreciate why the major novels were major breakthroughs. The novel experienced an explosive growth spurt during these centuries as novelists experimented with different forms and genres: epistolary novels, romances, Gothic thrillers, novels in verse, parodies, science fiction, episodic road trips, and family sagas, along with quirky, unclassifiable experiments in fiction that resemble contemporary, avant-garde works. As in his previous volume, Moore privileges the innovators and outriders, those who kept the novel novel. This sequel, like its predecessor, is a “zestfully encyclopedic, avidly opinionated, and dazzlingly fresh history of the most ‘elastic’ of literary forms” (Booklist).Trade ReviewIn this second volume of his ambitious study on the novel, Moore cheekily continues his deconstruction of classic works from the medium’s most formative centuries… Mischievous humor and a range of contemporary references are often the sugar to Moore’s dense analytical medicine: The 40-Year-Old Virgin comes up in the section on Don Quixote, Pat Benatar makes an appearance as well. Refusing to simply connect the dots between canonized works, Moore chooses instead to catalog the ‘hundreds of little-known novels that not only provide context for [a] dozen or so classics, but are interesting in their own right.’ It’s this rigorous aim that gives the book velocity. This is a must-read for those interested in studying the novel’s long evolution from less traditional angles. * Publishers Weekly *[Moore] reads everything he can, and his prodigious appetite for forgotten fiction, together with his eye-popping struggle to get through it all, becomes an entertaining running theme throughout the book. […] The advantages of Moore’s broad scope are obvious and real. He writes with gusto and acumen, and even when he takes against an author or work, he does so with engaging verve. […] There are countless illuminating retrievals in his Herculean chapters about fiction in France and Britain … and the book is a trove of unexpected discoveries throughout. Moore is especially good at drawing out the literary and material self-consciousness of much early fiction. […] Moore is right about the playful self-consciousness that suffuses so much pioneering fiction of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and his energetic study conveys the freshness of this fiction with wit and insight. -- Thomas Keymer * TLS *Critical insight is blended with summarized overviews of historical contexts and the plots of unfamiliar novels, thereby providing an accessible, comprehensive introduction for the general reader, as well as refreshing scholarly analysis for academic audiences. Moore’s richly informative work traces the complex and contested debates as to what constitutes the first American novel ... [His] work—styled as an ‘alternative’ history—is written in a lively, conversational tone, combining both comedy and critical acumen. * The Year's Work in English Studies *[A]s one reads deeper in The Novel: An Alternative History, 1600–1800 there is the frankly terrible realization that English-only readers have missed out on so much worthwhile writing from two hundred creative years. A new line of (alternative) classics could be drawn from this book and its predecessor, replacing the tired wares seen repeatedly in stores, especially at Christmas…If there is one daring enough to present a truly panoramic set of works from Ancient Egypt to early nineteenth-century America, the logical choice as general editor is at hand. -- Jeff Bursey * Musicandliterature.org *In the preceding first volume of his impossibly thorough and wilfully provocative overview, Moore argued convincingly for a revolutionary redefinition. Here, the scarily well-read Moore flexes even more of his astonishing critical muscle. -- Sergio De La Pava, author of A Naked Singularity * Metro *The immensity of Moore’s accomplishment with this volume can’t be understated: he packs 200 years of world literature into 1,000 pages.[...] Moore identifies the major examples of all the literary trends and genres for each language or region, then the inevitable sequels and imitators. The reader will have to keep a notebook handy in order to make a list of books to seek out as she moves through the text. [...] Moore’s work is exhaustive, but never exhausting, and his writing is witty, engaging, and accessible; he never gets bogged down with academic snoozery, and makes welcome use of slang and humor to punctuate his major points. The result is that the reader becomes just as excited about Moore’s project as Moore is, finding out about so many works, from novels you’re already read, to ones you know you should have read, and to the hopelessly obscure. [...] There are great lines on every page. [...] The Novel: An Alternative History, 1600-1800 catalogs and reviews more books than most people will read in a lifetime, works of immense importance not only to the history of the genre, but to human cultural history as well. Moore’s achievement is staggering. * Rain Taxi *A remarkable catalog of both traditional and ‘experimental’ novels from all around the world. -- Seth Satterlee, Publisher’s Weekly * PWxyz *The Novel: An Alternative History 1600-1800, spans two centuries of the world’s most popular literary form and introduces readers to an entirely new way of thinking about literature. […] Moore derives true pleasure out of re-creating worlds that would otherwise seem unreachable to modern readers. He uses his knowledge of literature to develop layered landscapes of specific times in history and deftly gives us the context to understand why authors were writing the things they were writing. […] If there is a flaw in The Novel: An Alternative History 1600-1800—if it can even be called a “flaw”—it’s unintentional, since it sometimes makes you feel both inadequate and mildly existential (when will I have time to read all these great works?). Yet readers can feel that Moore has empathy with this problem, as he seems to have struggled trying to decide what to include and what to leave out, as well. His passion for literature and the joy he receives from preserving its history are felt in every single page of this work. Volume three can’t come soon enough. -- Pop Matters * Jose Solis *Moore concentrates on the macro and explores the evolution of an amorphous artform using a constellation of lesser known works. -- Seth Satterlee, Publisher’s Weekly * Publisher's Weekly *Moore offers a second volume in his personal revaluation of the novel as a global phenomenon (the first volume – CH, Dec’10, 48-1895 – covered the years from ‘beginnings’ to 1600). And a doorstopper of a book it is. The book’s five chapters look at the European novel (books in Spanish, German, and Latin), the novel in French, the Eastern novel (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Tibetan, Persian, and Indian works), the novel in English (by anyone in the British Isles who wrote novels in English), and the American novel (a spare 42 pages). Moore’s tone is irreverent: he often takes traditionalists to task, pointing out prurient details of books in bald detail (Marquis de Sade gets more attention than Daniel Defoe). Moore is not a completist – his treatment of the pre-1800 English Gothic runs less than 20 pages, whereas Horror Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide, ed. By Marshall Tymn (CH, Jan’82), lists 300 titles that qualify for consideration. Moores’ greates talent is dusting off obscure works, placing them in the context of standard classics, and locating the most entertaining parts of whatever he considers. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division graduates, with supervision; general readers. -- M. J. Emery, Cottey College * CHOICE *Mentioned * Studies in English Literature *Moore writes ‘the deeper the reader plunges into Fanny Hill, the greater the returns’ (p. 748). One suspects the same can be said of his massive endeavour The Novel: An Alternative History. * The Year's Work in English Studies *Bloomsbury clearly believe in the award-winning Moore. They published his conversation-changing works The Novel: An Alternative History: Beginnings to 1600 (2010) and The Novel: An Alternative History: 1600-1800 (2013), works that upset many conservative critics with significant buy-in to out-of-date and never-quite-sensible paradigms on the origins of the novel. -- Jeff Bursey * Numéro Cinq *Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: The Early Modern European Novel -Spanish -German -Latin Chapter 2: The Early Modern French Novel Chapter 3: The Early Modern English Novel Chapter 4: The Early Modern Eastern Novel -Chinese -Korean -Japanese -Tibetan -Persian -Indian Chapter 5: The Early Modern American Novel Bibliography Chronological Index of Novels Discussed General Index

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Book SynopsisFrom The Hobbit to Harry Potter, how fantasy harnesses the cultural power of magic, medievalism, and childhood to re-enchant the modern world Why are so many people drawn to fantasy set in medieval, British-looking lands? This question has immediate significance for millions around the world: from fans of Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones to those who avoid fantasy because of the racist, sexist, and escapist tendencies they have found there. Drawing on the history and power of children’s fantasy literature, Re-Enchanted argues that magic, medievalism, and childhood hold the paradoxical ability to re-enchant modern life.Focusing on works by authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Susan Cooper, Philip Pullman, J. K. Rowling, and Nnedi Okorafor, Re-Enchanted uncovers a new genealogy for medievalist fantasy—one that reveals the genre to be as important to the history of English studies and literary modernism as it is to shaping beliefs across geographies and generations. Maria Sachiko Cecire follows children’s fantasy as it transforms over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—including the rise of diverse counternarratives and fantasy’s move into “high-brow” literary fiction. Grounded in a combination of archival scholarship and literary and cultural analysis, Re-Enchanted argues that medievalist fantasy has become a psychologized landscape for contemporary explorations of what it means to grow up, live well, and belong. The influential “Oxford School” of children’s fantasy connects to key issues throughout this book, from the legacies of empire and racial exclusion in children’s literature to what Christmas magic tells us about the roles of childhood and enchantment in Anglo-American culture.Re-Enchanted engages with critical debates around what constitutes high and low culture during moments of crisis in the humanities, political and affective uses of childhood and the mythological past, the anxieties of modernity, and the social impact of racially charged origin stories.Trade Review"Re-Enchanted is essential for the study of the fantastic. While other recent critical studies have focused on fantasy’s origins before 1900 or the genre’s place in the contemporary literary landscape, Maria Sachiko Cecire focuses the reader on the influence of the Oxford School fantasists, also known as the ‘Inklings,’ who mapped the world of story through perspectives influenced by their times. Thus, fantasy was left behind while the rest of the world changed. Re-Enchanted reminds us of the ways that English-language fantasy is, was, and can continue to be an instrument of empire. Engaging, thorough, and absolutely necessary."—Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, author of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games"Full of revelatory scholarship on J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Phillip Pullman, and their heirs, Re-Enchanted makes the case for scholarship itself at the heart of fantasy. No one will read The Lord of the Rings or His Dark Materials again without realizing just how much Oxford itself—its libraries and its landscape—scripted their imaginations and how its syllabi inspire, to this day, Harry Potter, The Magicians, and beyond."—Seth Lerer, author of Children's Literature: A Reader's History, from Aesop to Harry Potter"In the twenty-first century, fantasy has become a way of speaking, in fiction (adults or children's) and outside it. Here Maria Sachiko Cecire interrogates the Oxford roots of something that has become, like wallpaper, part of our world, and helps us to see the landscape of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, of Diana Wynne Jones and Philip Pullman, and understand how that landscape became universal, the ways it buoys us up and the ways that it fails us."—Neil Gaiman "Cecire calls upon readers to acknowledge the dangers of the Oxford School’s project while recognizing the cultural power its members harnessed. She encourages us to embrace and explore new ways of expanding the scope of the tropes of children’s fantasy to become more inclusive in the ways it reaches into the past to find magic in a difficult contemporary world."—Medievally Speaking"Effectively, Cecire proves that in terms of modern children’s fantasy literature, all roads lead to the Oxford School."—CHOICE"Cecire illustrates brilliantly how Tolkien and Lewis took the building blocks of medieval literature and historical linguistics and created alternative worlds."—Times Literary Supplement"An important and endlessly engaging book that will provoke much further thought and discussion."—Mythlore"A compelling case both for training our critical attention on medieval and medievalist literature and for expanding the texts we read, teach, study, and share."—The Medieval Review"Re-Enchanted reveals how magic mystifies ideologies, embedding antimodernist, nationalist, colonialist ideas in children’s fantasy, concealing them in an invisibility cloak of (white) childhood innocence. It’s an essential book for anyone who wants to unlearn the hidden assumptions of our own childhood reading and find better stories for the next generation. "—ALH Online Review

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Book SynopsisEdmund Gordon writes for a wide variety of publications, including the Guardian, Observer, London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, and Sunday Times. In 2012 he received a Jerwood Award for non-fiction from the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in London, and teaches literature and creative writing at King's College London. This is his first book.Trade ReviewSplendid…this is an exemplary piece of work…which will satisfy readers, and on which further investigation can rest with great confidence that nothing has been concealed and no pathway has been neglected. Everyone should read it. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *[A] gripping biography, brimming with new material… He has undertaken feats of scholarship and written an admirably clearsighted book… Gordon’s achievement, however, is tremendous. From baroque entanglements of material and controversy, he brings living contours into view… A quarter century on, this new biography should renew our readerly appetites for Carter. -- Alexandra Harris * Financial Times *This fascinating, highly readable biography will be extremely hard to beat. -- Christina Patterson * Sunday Times *[It] glints with well-placed detail and witty apercus, and it pays proper attention to what matters most, Angela Carter’s writing… Let’s hope that this thoughtful and engaging biography will introduce a generation of new readers to her work. -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Literary Review *[An] astute biography… Edmund Gordon has done an industrious and intelligent job. -- DJ Taylor * The Times *

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Book SynopsisIn his Discourses (1755), Rousseau argues that inequalities of rank, wealth, and power are the inevitable result of the civilizing process. If inequality is intolerable - and Rousseau shows with unparalledled eloquence how it robs us not only of our material but also of our psychological independence - then how can we recover the peaceful self-sufficiency of life in the state of nature? We cannot return to a simpler time, but measuring the costs of progress may help us to imagine alternatives to the corruption and oppressive conformity of modern society. Rousseau''s sweeping account of humanity''s social and political development epitomizes the innovative boldness of the Englightment, and it is one of the most provocative and influential works of the eighteenth century. This new translation includes all Rousseau''s own notes, and Patrick Coleman''s introduction builds on recent key scholarship, considering particularly the relationship between political and aesthetic thought. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Portico PrizeShortlisted for the Whitbread Biography of the YearHigh-spirited, witty and passionate, Elizabeth Gaskell wrote some of the most enduring novels of the Victorian age, including Mary Barton, North and South and Wives and Daughters. This biography traces Elizabeth''s youth in rural Knutsford, her married years in the tension-ridden city of Manchester and her wide network of friends in London, Europe and America. Standing as a figure caught up in the religious and political radicalism of nineteenth century Britain, the book looks at how Elizabeth observed, from her Manchester home, the brutal but transforming impact of industry, enjoying a social and family life, but distracted by her need to write down the truth of what she saw. In this widely acclaimed biography, Elizabeth Gaskell emerges as an artist of unrecognized complexity, shrewdly observing the political, religious and feminist arguments of nineteenth c

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Book SynopsisIt''s time to pick up your fedora and embark on a philosophical journey through Discworld!Terry Pratchett is world-famous for the narrative verve and surreal humour of his novels. But now meet another Terry Pratchett - a man of serious metaphysical ideas and sophisticated philosophical insights. In Philosophy and Terry Pratchett thirteen professional philosophers survey such key philosophical issues as personal identity, the nature of destiny, the value of individuality, the meaning of existentialism, the reality of universals and the existence of alternative realities. In considering these and many other equally fascinating themes, close reference is made to more than 35 Discworld novels as well as to the ideas of some of history''s greatest philosophers including Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein and Rawls.During your journey, you will be surprised by numerous provocative conclusions including the startling claim that the existence of Table of ContentsIntroduction; James B. South PART I: SELF-PERCEPTION, NARRATIVE, AND IDENTITY 1. A Golem is not Born, but Rather Becomes, a Woman: Gender on the Disc; Jacob M. Held 2. 'Nothing Like a Bit of Destiny to Get the Old Plot Rolling:' A Philosophical Reading of Wyrd Sisters ; James B. South 3. 'Feigning to Feign:' Pratchett and the Maskerade; Andrew Rayment 4. 'Knowing things that other people don't know is a form of magic:' Lessons in Headology and Critical Thinking from The Lancre Witch; Tuomas W. Manninen PART II: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 5. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy on the Discworld; Kevin Guilfoy 6. Plato, the Witch and the Cave: Granny Weatherwax and the Moral Problem of Paternalism; Dietrich Schotte 7. Equality and Difference: Just because the Disc is flat, doesn't make it a Level Playing Field for All; Ben Saunders PART III: ETHICS AND GOOD LIFE 8. Millennium Hand and Shrimp: On the Importance of Being in the Right Trouser Leg of Time; Susanne E. Foster 9. Categorically Not Cackling: The Will, Moral Fictions and Witchcraft; Jennifer Jill Fellows 10. The Care of the Reaper Man: Death, the Auditors, and the Importance of Individuality; Erica L. Neely 11. 'YES, SUSAN, THERE IS A HOGFATHER:' Hogfather and the Existentialism of Søren Kierkegaard; J. Keeping PART IV: LOGIC AND METAPHYSICS 12. On the Possibility of the Discworld; Martin Vacek 13. Pratchett's The Last Continent and the Act of Creation; Jay Ruud

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Book SynopsisVirgina Woolf’s collection of writings on visual arts offer a whole new perspective on the revolutionary author. Despite wide interest in Woolf's writings, her circle, and her relationship with the visual arts, there is no accessible edition or selection of essays dedicated to her writings on art. This newest edition in David Zwirner Books’s ekphrasis series collects such essays including “Walter Sickert: A Conversation” (1934), “Pictures” (1925), and “Pictures and Portraits” (1920). These formally inventive texts examine the connection between the literary writer and the visual artist and are innovative in their treatment of ideas about color and modern art as experienced in picture galleries. In these essays, Woolf looks at the complex and interdependent relationship between the artist and society. She also provides sharp and astute commentary on specific works of art and the relationship between art and writing. An introduction by Claudia Tobin situates the essays within their cultural contexts.

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Book SynopsisWhat is the best way to tell a story? In first-person peripheral, or third-person focalised? Unfolding in the present, or as events in the past? Where is the camera? What is the lens? Where is the action? In this concise little book, educator Amy Jones describes the different ways that novelists and scriptwriters tell their stories. Packed with examples and insights, this is an essential reference guide for writers of all ages and disciplines. It's not the story, it's how you tell it!Trade ReviewWooden Books are: "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Book SynopsisAftab's life falls apart as he turns forty, his wife leaves him with their child. He escapes to his childhood town, hoping for a fresh start and a chance to reclaim lost love. Navtej Sarna's book explores missed opportunities and imperfect relationships with deep emotional insight.

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Book SynopsisRekha Shetty's book "Innovate! 90 Days to Transform Your Business" stresses consistent innovation for profitability. It offers a 90-day plan to foster an innovation culture using Indian concepts like Nava rasa, encouraging creative thinking and driving organizational change.

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