Literature: history and criticism Books

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn illustrated edition of Gertrude Stein''s most well-known work, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, bursting with the bright, sophisticated, and fanciful images of artist Maira KalmanConsidered one of the richest and most irreverent biographies in history, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas was written by Gertrude Stein in the style and voice of her life partner, Alice B. Toklas. Published in 1933 and narrated by Alice, this autobiography begins with her initial move to France in 1907, the day after which she meets Gertrude, sparking a relationship that lasts for nearly four decades. Recounting the vibrant and literary life the two make for themselves among the Parisian avant-garde, Alice opens the doors to the prominent salons they held in their home at rue de Fleurus, hosting fellow expatriate American writers such as Ernest Hemingway, T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound as well as artists Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Man Ray, and speaks of the twilight of the Paris belle epoque. In this edition, the wildly talented Maira Kalman brings this glittering Parisian world to life, and celebrates Stein and Toklas in vivid color. Her whimsical and inimitable illustrations complement the wit and humor of Stein’s narrative, and elevate the exciting intrigues of these famous women and their friends. Inviting readers to experience this book in a completely new way, the illustrated edition of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas will prompt a contemporary reading of this cherished and singular classic.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn accessible exploration of how diverse cultures have explained humanity’s origins through narratives about the natural environmentTrade Review“Anthony Aveni has produced an absolutely amazing survey that fully documents Creation stories from multiple civilizations. His achievement is staggering, the fruit of decades of research.”—Simon Mitton, University of Cambridge "Tony Aveni has given us a unique survey of origin stories in many ancient societies written with eloquent skill. This important book will appeal to experts and general readers alike."—Brian Fagan, author of Fishing: How the Sea Fed Civilization“TonyAveni shares imaginative stories of violent struggles to create an orderly universe, of our landscapes' emerging, transforming and metamorphosing, in humanity’s timeless search for meaning and purpose: an anthological gem!”—Ian Mursell, co-founder and director of Mexicolore “Whether there was first darkness on the face of the deep, a void of nothing between fire and ice, or an optically opaque primordial chaos, Anthony Aveni takes us on a worldwide expedition illuminating the mysteries of Creation.”—Dr. E.C. Krupp, Director, Griffith Observatory “In this fascinating book Anthony Aveni turns his forensic gaze to the ultimate question of existence: where do we come from? Exploring creation stories from across the world, this book opens new perspectives on our relationship with time and space.”—Nicholas Campion, author of Astrology and Cosmology in the World’s Religions

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2013. "An impressive team of experts introduces the book's 10 pieces and thoroughly annotates them. . . . This book nicely puts the philosopher's work into an expanded context for nonspecialists."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)"This engaging volume ... is the result of painstaking research and meticulous translation by a team of international scholars. . . . Essential."--Choice"English-speaking readers can now hear the subleties of a Beauvoir clearly engaged in the pursuit of defining the purpose and value of literature in her time."--H-France Review"This collection of previously untranslated pieces by Simone de Beauvoir makes available for the first time in English a variety of literary writings that are also of philosophical interest. As with previous volumes in the Beauvoir Series, "The Useless Mouths" and Other Literary Writings breaks new ground, and it will become indispensible to Beauvoir scholars."--Claudia Card, author of Confronting Evils: Terrorism, Torture, Genocide"This collection of Beauvoir's literary works not only presents us with further evidence of the importance of Beauvoir's existentialist literary style but also gives new insight into her thinking about aesthetics, existentialism, intersubjectivity, aging, and her relationship with Sartre. In addition, here we see some of her most incisive engagements with her critics and critics of existentialism more generally."--Kelly Oliver, author of Animal Lessons: How They Teach Us to Be HumanTable of ContentsForeword to the Beauvoir Series ix Sylvie Le Bon de BeauvoirAcknowledgments xiIntroduction 1 Margaret A. Simons1. The Useless Mouths (A Play) 9 Introduction by Liz Stanley and Catherine Naji2. Short Articles on Literature 89 Introduction by Elizabeth Fallaize3. Existentialist Theater 125 Introduction by Dennis A. Gilbert4. A Story I Used to Tell Myself 151 Introduction by Ursula Tidd5. Preface to La Batarde by Violette Leduc 165 Introduction by Alison S. Fell6. What Can Literature Do? 189 Introduction by Laura Hengehold7. Misunderstanding in Moscow 211 Introduction by Terry Keefe8. My Experience as a Writer 275 Introduction by Elizabeth Fallaize9 Short Prefaces to Literary Works 303 Introduction by Eleanore Holveck10. Notes for a Novel 327 Introduction by Meryl AltmanContributors 379Index 385

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis extensive selection of Tanikawa Shuntaro's poetry reflects the full depth and breadth of his work, from his appearance as a fresh new voice to the mastery of his later poetry. It traces his artistic development and his shift in focus from man's cosmic destiny to the pathos of everyday life and a more internalized struggle with the nature of human expression. Lovers of poetry will find the experience exhilarating. The only such collection in English, this volume will prove indispensable to students and scholars of Japanese literature, as it opens a valuable new perspective on postware Japanese literature. The Introduction clarifies the social and artistic background of Tanikawa's extraordinary work and career, illuminating major themes as his poetry evolves over time.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWho is this Gatsby anyhow?" Answering that question, voiced by one of the book's characters, is fundamental to teaching F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Although there is no simple answer, classroom analysis of this classic American novel can lead to a rich exploration of the colorful yet contradictory period Fitzgerald dubbed the Jazz Age. The novel also prompts considerations of novelistic technique, specifically point of view, characterization, and narrative structure.This volume aims to give instructors of The Great Gatsby multiple tools and strategies for teaching the novel and for introducing students to the culture of the 1920s. Part 1, "Materials," reviews the novel's composition history and the scholarly resources related to the novel. In part 2, "Approaches," contributors demonstrate a range of frameworks that usefully inform teaching, from the new historicism to feminist and gender studies to narrative theory. They also examine the novel's complex artistry, variety of motifs and symbol patterns, and cultural and social influences, such as the era's changing racial attitudes, the rise of a new suburban culture, and the dichotomy of East versus West in America.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAesthetic Life is a study of modern Japan, engaging the fields of art history, literature, and cultural studies, seeking to understand how the “beautiful woman” (bijin) emerged as a symbol of Japanese culture during the Meiji period (1868–1912).Trade ReviewPossibly the most conceptually innovative and ambitious book on Meiji aesthetics and art to have been published in English in recent years…Without doubt, a major scholarly contribution to the understanding of Meiji culture. It sets a high benchmark for all future studies on the subject of modern Japanese aesthetics…Lippit has reenergized the subject of beauty as an important topic that has far-reaching cultural, social, and even political implications. -- Noriko Murai * Monumenta Nipponica *Aesthetic Life is the result of extended and extensive scholarly research into the formation of the image of the bijin in modern Japanese art. -- Janice Brown * Pacific Affairs *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisJean Epstein, the great unknown amongst the pioneers of independent filmmaking, was also an essential figure in the invention of modern cinema-both as a theorist and as an artist. For the first time, a selection of Epstein's writings on film are published in German in this volume. Nicole Brenez' essay on Epstein contextualizes his achievements.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA collection of haiku by Japanese women, this volume includes translations of 400 haiku written by 20 poets from the 17th century (Basho's school) to the second half of the 20th. For each poet there is a brief biographical and critical headnote, followed by 20 haiku.Table of ContentsIntroduction Den Sutejo (1633-1698) Kawai Chigetsu (1634?-1718) Shiba Sonome (1664-1726) Chiyojo (1703-1775) Enomoto Seifu (1732-1815) Tagami Kikusha (1753-1826) Takeshita Shizunojo (1887-1951) Sugita Hisajo (1890-1946) Hashimoto Takako (1899-1963) Mitsuhashi Takajo (1899-1972) Ishibashi Hideno (1909-1947) Katsura Nobuko (b. 1914) Yoshino Yoshiko (b. 1915) Tsuda Kiyoko (b. 1920) Inahata Teiko (b. 1931) Uda Kiyoko (b. 1935) Kuroda Momoko (b. 1938) Tsuji Momoko (b. 1945) Katayama Yumiko (b. 1952) Mayuzumi Madoka (b. 1965)

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrançois Mauriac''s masterpiece and one of the greatest Catholic novels, Thérèse Desqueyroux is the haunting story of an unhappily married young woman whose desperation drives her to thoughts of murder. Mauriac paints an unforgettable portrait of spiritual isolation and despair, but he also dramatizes the complex realities of forgiveness, grace, and redemption. Set in the countryside outside Bordeaux, in a region of overwhelming heat and sudden storms, the novel''s landscape reflects the inner world of Thérèse, a figure who has captured the imaginations of readers for generations.Raymond N. MacKenzie''s translation of Thérèse Desqueyroux, the first since 1947, captures the poetic lyricism of Mauriac''s prose as well as the intensity of his stream-of-consciousness narrative. MacKenzie also provides notes and a biographical and interpretive introduction to help readers better appreciate the mastery of François Mauriac, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952. This volume alTrade ReviewAimed at the American English ear, MacKenzie's syntax restores the Jazz Age punch of Mauriac's original. Thanks to MacKenzie's introduction, notes, and translated first draft of Mauriac's text ('Conscience'), Therese's sexuality is also restored, making her once again an ambivalent 'new woman' [la garçonne] of the 1920s and a scandalous protagonist for a 'Catholic novel.' As a result, the interwar 'Catholic revival' [renouveau catholique] also recovers its punch with Mauriac's challenge to bourgeois Catholicism. With new eyes and ears, another generation of readers can now wade with Therese Desqueyroux into 'the human river.' -- Stephen Schloesser, author of Jazz Age Catholicism: Mystic Modernism in Postwar Paris, 1919-1933An invaluable volume for those exploring Mauriac or his place in the French Catholic renaissance. MacKenzie's fresh, highly readable translation of Mauraic's disturbing masterpiece includes translator's notes and an excellent introduction. His inclusion of Mauriac's first draft permits rare insights into the startling evolution of the eponymous heroine. -- William Bush, Professor Emeritus of French Literature at the University of Western Ontario, CanadaIt is safe to say that Francois Mauriac's Thérèse Desqueyroux has achieved the most coveted form of 'immortality' that any writer could hope for: inclusion on countless university and secondary school reading lists for both courses and exams. Only a few French novels share this distinction. Thus, Professor MacKenzie's excellent translation is well timed, for Thérèse, a great novel by any criterion, will be read by many throughout the rest of the new century. The Gerard Hopkins translation, competent and reliable in its day, nonetheless shows signs of wear. The English language, particularly in North America, has evolved considerably in the intervening three quarters of a century since its publication, and a fresh new translation in today's idiom is most welcome. This bright new translation is a valuable addition to Mauriac studies, and will add to the luster of Mauriac's reputation in the English-speaking world. Thanks to Professor MacKenzie, a new generation of readers in the English-speaking world will be able to have a direct, lively and utterly reliable interaction with Mauriac 's great novel. -- David O'Connell, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Georgia State UniversityTable of ContentsPart 1 Foreword Part 2 Introduction Part 3 Thérèse Desqueyroux 4 Conscience, The Divine Instinct

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1956, Anne Sexton was admitted into a mental hospital for post-partum depression, where she met Dr. Martin Orne, a young psychiatrist who treated her for the next eight years. In that time Sexton would blossom into a world-famous poet, best known for her confessional poems dealing with personal subjects not often represented in poetry at that time: mental illness, depression, suicide, sex, abortion, women''s bodies, and the ordinary lives of mothers and housewives. Orne audiotaped the last three years of her therapy to facilitate her ability to remember their sessions. The final six months of these tapes are the focus of this book.In An Accident of Hope, Dawn Skorczewski links the content of the therapy with poetry excerpts, offering a rare perspective on the artist''s experience and creative process. We can see Sexton attempting to make sense of her life and therapy and to sustain her confidence as a major poet, while struggling with the Trade Review"Dawn Skorczewski explores this explosive material with delicacy and a sensitive hand. While An Accident of Hope limns the contours of Anne Sexton's deep-seated emotions – both the joy and the anguish – and the intertwined roots of her poetry, it simultaneously gives us a compelling read that never, ever, disappoints." - Linda Gray Sexton, author of Half in Love: Surviving the Legacy of Suicide and Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother: Anne Sexton"By combining close readings of Anne Sexton's poems, mid-20th-century cultural history, and reflections on the development of psychoanalytic theory and technique, Dawn Skorczewski has produced a richly contextualized interpretive account of the audio recordings of the last six months of the poet's treatment with psychiatrist Martin Orne. An Accident of Hope amply demonstrates the mutually generative potential of literary and psychoanalytic texts and methodologies, while also reinforcing our sense of the propriety of Freud's oft-cited avowal that, wherever he went, he found that a poet had gotten there before him. Toggling back and forth between Sexton's poems and her taped conversations with Orne, Skorczewski reveals that, in certain ways, Sexton had a more forward-looking understanding than her doctor did of the psychotherapeutic relationship as a creative partnership." - Max Cavitch, University of Pennsylvania, USA "In An Accident of Hope, worlds creatively collide. Skorczewski composes a contrapuntal work of great force that resonates on several levels at once. Poems comment on intimate therapy encounters, and the encounters themselves reveal a patient trying to teach her beloved therapist how to listen to her and a therapist teetering between sexist and rigid theoretical analytic paradigms and a desire to nurture the creative human being in his care. Masterfully—and lyrically—connecting Sexton's poems, therapy sessions, and the therapeutic and cultural norms of the time, Skorczewski tells the tale of a great poet, a traumatized and traumatizing woman, and a patient whose challenges to her therapist foreshadow relational understandings of what harms and what heals." - Lynne Layton, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA"Dawn Skorczewski's responsiveness to the psychoanalytic narrative invites readers into an affecting study of the inner lives of men and women. With sophistication, care, and a literary style that makes for compelling reading, she draws readers into Dr. Martin Orne's tape recorded clinical treatment of the poet Anne Sexton. It is an unusual record of poetry and life woven from the fragility of creativity between the poet and the analyst. Nested in this commentary are the erotic tensions between North American psychoanalysis and the arts in the 1960s. Through the painful complications of childhood, adulthood, and illness, Skorczewski writes of love, hate, and sexuality; there is rare attunement to the backstage of lives in search of meaning. And new questions follow: Must one choose between art and life or between poetry and therapy? This book promises to open significant debate on the emotional conflicts of the imagination." - Deborah P. Britzman, York University, UK, and author of Freud and Education "An Accident of Hope offers the reader insight into the workings of the mind of a patient who is fully aware of the importance of her relationship with her therapist, not only to free her from her demons but to give birth to her poetic creativity. Dawn Skorczewski succeeded in writing a book that is instructive, entertaining, and a captivating read. It is instructive because of the author's appreciation of how psychoanalytic theory of the 1960s had affected this treatment, and because in interpreting Sexton's poems she was able to establish the connection between Sexton's increasing insights into her turbulent inner world and what her poetry was successfully communicating. The easy, conversational style of writing is experienced as if the reader were a third person in Dr. Orne's consulting room. This is an extraordinary book that psychoanalysts and literary critics will find equally rewarding." - Anna Ornstein, University of Cincinnati, USA"An Accident of Hope is a rich and far-ranging text that covers such diverse topics as creativity, identity, narrative, the history of psychiatry/psychology, and the history of feminism. Skorczewski’s explorations touch upon very fundamental questions of identity and creativity." –PsycCRITIQUES"Dawn Skorczewski explores this explosive material with delicacy and a sensitive hand. While An Accident of Hope limns the contours of Anne Sexton's deep-seated emotions – both the joy and the anguish – and the intertwined roots of her poetry, it simultaneously gives us a compelling read that never, ever, disappoints." - Linda Gray Sexton, author of Half in Love: Surviving the Legacy of Suicide and Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother: Anne Sexton"By combining close readings of Anne Sexton's poems, mid-20th-century cultural history, and reflections on the development of psychoanalytic theory and technique, Dawn Skorczewski has produced a richly contextualized interpretive account of the audio recordings of the last six months of the poet's treatment with psychiatrist Martin Orne. An Accident of Hope amply demonstrates the mutually generative potential of literary and psychoanalytic texts and methodologies, while also reinforcing our sense of the propriety of Freud's oft-cited avowal that, wherever he went, he found that a poet had gotten there before him. Toggling back and forth between Sexton's poems and her taped conversations with Orne, Skorczewski reveals that, in certain ways, Sexton had a more forward-looking understanding than her doctor did of the psychotherapeutic relationship as a creative partnership." - Max Cavitch, University of Pennsylvania, USA "In An Accident of Hope, worlds creatively collide. Skorczewski composes a contrapuntal work of great force that resonates on several levels at once. Poems comment on intimate therapy encounters, and the encounters themselves reveal a patient trying to teach her beloved therapist how to listen to her and a therapist teetering between sexist and rigid theoretical analytic paradigms and a desire to nurture the creative human being in his care. Masterfully—and lyrically—connecting Sexton's poems, therapy sessions, and the therapeutic and cultural norms of the time, Skorczewski tells the tale of a great poet, a traumatized and traumatizing woman, and a patient whose challenges to her therapist foreshadow relational understandings of what harms and what heals." - Lynne Layton, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA"Dawn Skorczewski's responsiveness to the psychoanalytic narrative invites readers into an affecting study of the inner lives of men and women. With sophistication, care, and a literary style that makes for compelling reading, she draws readers into Dr. Martin Orne's tape recorded clinical treatment of the poet Anne Sexton. It is an unusual record of poetry and life woven from the fragility of creativity between the poet and the analyst. Nested in this commentary are the erotic tensions between North American psychoanalysis and the arts in the 1960s. Through the painful complications of childhood, adulthood, and illness, Skorczewski writes of love, hate, and sexuality; there is rare attunement to the backstage of lives in search of meaning. And new questions follow: Must one choose between art and life or between poetry and therapy? This book promises to open significant debate on the emotional conflicts of the imagination." - Deborah P. Britzman, York University, UK, and author of Freud and Education "An Accident of Hope offers the reader insight into the workings of the mind of a patient who is fully aware of the importance of her relationship with her therapist, not only to free her from her demons but to give birth to her poetic creativity. Dawn Skorczewski succeeded in writing a book that is instructive, entertaining, and a captivating read. It is instructive because of the author's appreciation of how psychoanalytic theory of the 1960s had affected this treatment, and because in interpreting Sexton's poems she was able to establish the connection between Sexton's increasing insights into her turbulent inner world and what her poetry was successfully communicating. The easy, conversational style of writing is experienced as if the reader were a third person in Dr. Orne's consulting room. This is an extraordinary book that psychoanalysts and literary critics will find equally rewarding." - Anna Ornstein, University of Cincinnati, USA"Skorczewski’s work with the transcripts of Sexton’s private therapy sessions refuses any prurient interest the reader may have in Sexton’s flamboyant character—or the melodramatic features of her suicide. With her extensive knowledge of psychoanalytic theory, Skorczewski is able to make lucid comparisons between Orne’s clinical approach, which relied heavily on Freudian theory and its later expression as ego psychology, and contemporary theories of analysis that she argues provide superior modalities for treating mental illness and depression." - Judith Harris, DIVISION | REVIEW WINTER 2014Table of ContentsIntroduction. "You, I, We Created the Poet": November 1963. Did Anne Sexton Kill John F. Kennedy? Late November 1963. Holding Hands and Letting Go: The Road to "Flee on Your Donkey": December 10-12, 1963. "This Terrible Ideal of the Happy Family": December 14-19, 1963. Dancing for Your Doctor: Notes on Narcissism: December 21-24, 1963. The Black Pants and the New Bikini: Oedipal Scripts: February-March 1964. "The Discovery of a Human Being": April 21-28, 1964. Flash Forward: An Epilogue: July 1964-February 1965.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA timely and original examination of lesbian modernism.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewJulia Kristeva's book is a memorable source of reflections on the temptation and quest of being... -- Kerrin A. Jacobs Metapsychology successful in carrying over to the English-speaking public the contemporary tonalities of Kristeva's voice. -- Marios Constantinou and Maria Margaroni Years Work in Critical and Cultural TheoryTable of ContentsForeword, by Pierre-Louis Fort I. Worlds 1. Thinking About Liberty in Dark Times 2. Secularism: "Values" at the Limits of Life 3. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and ... Vulnerability II. Women 4. On Parity, Again; or, Women and the Sacred 5. From Madonnas to Nudes: A Representation of Female Beauty 6. The Passion According to Motherhood 7. The War of the Sexes Since Antiquity 8. Beauvoir, Presently 9. Fatigue in the Feminine III. Psychoanalyzing 10. The Sobbing Girl; or, On Hysterical Time 11. Healing, a Psychical Rebirth 12. From Object Love to Objectless Love 13. Desire for Law 14. Language, Sublimation, Women 15. Hatred and Forgiveness; or, From Abjection to Paranoia 16. Three Essays; or, the Victory of Polymorphous Perversion IV. Religion 17. Atheism 18. The Triple Uprooting of Israel 19. What Is Left of Our Loves? V. Portraits 20. The Inevitable Form 21. A Stranger 22. Writing as Strangeness and Jouissance VI. Writing 23. The "True-Lie," Our Unassailable Contemporary 24. Murder in Byzantium; or, Why I "ship myself on a voyage" in a Novel Notes Notes on the Origins of the Texts Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisKey Concepts in Literary Theory presents the student of literary and critical studies with a broad range of accessible, precise and authoritative definitions of the most significant terms and concepts currently used in psychoanalytic, poststructuralist, Marxist, feminist, and postcolonial literary studies. The volume also provides clear and useful discussions of the main areas of literary, critical and cultural theory, supported by bibliographies and an expanded chronology of major thinkers. Accompanying the chronology are short biographies of major works by each critic or theorist.The third edition of this reliable reference work is both revised and expanded, including:* more than 100 additional terms and concepts defined.* newly defined terms include keywords from the social sciences, cultural studies and psychoanalysis and the addition of a broader selection of classical rhetorical terms.* an expanded chronology, with additional entries and a broader historical and cultural range.* expanded bibliographies including key texts by major critics.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat astonishing success the Name-of-the-Father has had! Everyone finds something in it. Who one's father is isn't immediately obvious, hardly being visible to the naked eye. Paternity is first and foremost determined by one's culture. As Lacan said, "The Name-of-the-Father creates the function of the father.Trade ReviewWhat astonishing success the Name-of-the-Father has had! Everyone finds something in it. Who one’s father is isn’t immediately obvious, hardly being visible to the naked eye. Paternity is determined first and foremost by one’s culture. As Lacan said, "the Name-of-the-Father creates the function of the father." But then where does the plural stem from? It isn’t pagan, for it is found in the Bible. He who speaks from the burning bush says of Himself that He doesn't have just one Name. In other words, the Father has no proper Name. It is not a figure of speech, but rather a function. The Father has as many names as the function has props. What is its function? The religious function par excellence, that of tying things together. What things? The signifier and the signified, law and desire, thought and the body. In short, the symbolic and the imaginary. Yet if these two become tied to the real in a three-part knot, the Name-of-the-Father is no longer anything but mere semblance. On the other hand, if without it everything falls apart, it is the symptom of a failed knotting. Jacques-Alain MillerTable of ContentsForeword by Jacques-Alain Miller The Symbolic, the Imaginary, and the Real Introduction to the Names-of-the-Father Bio-bibliographical Notes Translator’s Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntends to ask why the Jews have aroused such hatred for three thousand years. This title considers whatever in the Jewish character might be to blame for antisemitism. It looks outward to those nations among which the Israelites dispersed, examining the different faces of antisemitism from Greco-Roman antiquity to the end of the 19th century.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA manual on household management, the "Domostroi" is one of the few sources on the social history and secular life of Russia in the time of Ivan the Terrible.Trade ReviewThe Domostroi is a wonderful resource for the social history of the Muscovite period that is, sadly, little seen by any but the most serious specialist.... This translation goes a long way toward opening the Domostroi to a wider audience.... The translation itself reads well—a difficult feat, considering the abstruse style of the original. Throughout, Pouncy uses footnotes to educate readers with fuller information about the history and society of Muscovy, controversies among modern historians, choices she made for the translation and bibliographic citations for her work. * Russian Review *The Domostroi, which literally means 'household order,' is a 16th-century Russian guide to life for noblemen, an exhaustive inventory of homilies, rules and recipes ranging from how to instill obedience in a wife to instructions for making mead and storing cabbage. Students of Russian history have long valued the Domostroi for its insights into how society was ordered in the early days of czarist rule. But even the merely curious can revel in the domestic preoccupations and atavistic advice in this ably translated and annotated edition.. Much of the Domostroi reads like a kind of 'Hints from Heloise'—and Abelard. -- Alessandra Stanley * New York Times Book Review *Table of ContentsIntroductionThe DomostroiAppendix: Contents of Manuscripts Glossary Suggestions for Future Reading Printed Editions of the Domostroi Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe last two decades have seen a burst of renewed interest in narrative theory across many academic disciplines as scholars analyze the power of storytelling in print and other media. Teaching Narrative Theory provides a comprehensive resource for instructors who aim to help students identify and understand the distinctive features of narrativity in a text or discourse and make use of the terms and concepts of the field.This volume in the Options for Teaching series is organized to assist teachers at different levels of instruction and in different disciplinary settings. In twenty-one essays, the contributors discuss narrative theory’s various teaching contexts (e.g., classes on literature, creative writing, and folklore and ethnography); key concepts and terms (e.g., story and plot, time and space, voice, perspective); applications beyond printed texts (e.g., film and digital media); and impact on other areas of theory (e.g., gender and ethnic studies). A glossary provides a guide to the challenging technical terminology characteristic of the field, and the volume as a whole emphasizes the importance of understanding and implementing technical terms in learning narrative theory.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of Julio Cortázar's great early novels. Anyone who doesn't read Cortázar is doomed.Pablo NerudaTrade Review"The stream-of-consciousness narrative helps to make this one of Cortázar's key works." -- Multicultural Review"Final Exam is an intriguing book for any reader with avant-garde sympathies, or for anyone who—like most who know him—loves Julio." -- San Francisco Chronicle"The publication of Final Exam is a literary event." -- The Seattle Times"[A] major undiscovered work...a novel about Buenos Aires which one night turns into a Kafkaesque nightmare." -- Harry Morales - Worldview"Cortázar spoke of something more than novelty or progress--he spoke of the radically new and joyful nature of every instant, of the body, the memory and the imagination of men and women." -- Carlos Fuentes"Anyone who doesn't read Cortázar is doomed." -- Pablo Neruda

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book offers an innovative examination of the interactions of science and technology, art, and literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Scholars in the history of art, literature, architecture, computer science, and media studies focus on five historical themes in the transition from energy to information: thermodynamics, electromagnetism, inscription, information theory, and virtuality. Different disciplines are grouped around specific moments in the history of science and technology in order to sample the modes of representation invented or adapted by each field in response to newly developed scientific concepts and models. By placing literary fictions and the plastic arts in relation to the transition from the era of energy to the information age, this collection of essays discovers unexpected resonances among concepts and materials not previously brought into juxtaposition. In particular, it demonstrates the crucial centrality of the theme of energy in moTrade Review"The essays in this remarkable collection are productively disruptive of disciplinary and historical boundaries, richly detailed, and elegantly argued. Written by some of the leading figures in the history of art, literary studies, and science studies (as well as a handful of emerging stars), these essays are virtuoso performances that will capture a wide audience in a number of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields."—David Horn, Ohio State University"Beyond the intrinsic merit of the essays in From Energy to Information, the collection also demonstrates the payoff of such work for our understanding of major issues in modernism and postmodernism."—Modernism/ModernityTable of ContentsILLUSTRATIONS CONTRIBUTORS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Introduction BRUCE CLARKE AND LINDA DALRYMPLE HENDERSON From Thermodynamics to Virtuality BRUCE CLARKE Part One. The Cultures of Thermodynamics Introduction 1. Time Discovered and Time Gendered in Victorian Science and Culture M. NORTON WISE 2. Dark Star Crashes: Classical Thermodynamics and the Allegory of Cosmic Catastrophe BRUCE CLARKE 3. Energetic Abstraction: Ostwald, Bogdanov, and Russian Post-Revolutionary Art CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS Part Two. Ether and Electromagnetism: Capturing the Invisible Introduction 4. Lines of Force, Swirls of Ether BRUCE J. HUNT 5. The Real and the Ethereal: Modernist Energies in Eliot and Pound IAN F. A. BELL 6. Vibratory Modernism: Boccioni, Kupka, and the Ether of Space LINDA DALRYMPLE HENDERSON Part Three. Traces and Inscriptions: Diagramming Forces Introduction 7. Representation on the Line: Graphic Recording Instruments and Scientific Modernism ROBERT M. BRAIN 8. Concerning the Line: Music, Noise, and Phonography DOUGLAS KAHN 9. Bodies in Force Fields: Design Between the Wars CHRISTOPH ASENDORF Part Four. Representing Information Introduction 10. On the Imagination's Horizon Line: Uchronic Histories, Protocybernetic Contact, and Charles Babbage's Calculating Engines DAVID TOMAS 11. Escape and Constraint: Three Fictions Dream of Moving from Energy to Information N. KATHERINE HAYLES Part Five. Voxels and Sensels: Bodies in Virtual Space Introduction 13. Authorship and Surgery: The Shifting Ontology of the Virtual Surgeon TIMOTHY LENOIR AND SHA XIN WEI 14. Eversion: Brushing against Avatars, Aliens, and Angels MARCOS NOVAK Part Six. Representation from Pre- to Post-Modernity Introduction 5. Puppet and Test Pattern: Mechanicity and Materiality in Modern Pictorial Representation RICHARD SHIFF 16. Dinosaurs and Modernity W. J. T. MITCHELL NOTES INDEX

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book reappraises Dickens's Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi and his imaginative engagement with its principal protagonist.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe work of poet Georg Trakl, a leading Austrian-German expressionist, has been praised by many, including his contemporaries Rainer Maria Rilke and Else Lasker-Schuler, as well as his patron Ludwig Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein famously wrote that while he did not truly understand Trakl's poems, they had the tone of a truly ingenious person, which pleased him.A Skeleton Plays Violin comprises the final volume in a trilogy of works by Trakl published by Seagull Books. This selection gathers Trakl's early, middle, and late work, none of it published in book form during his lifetime. The work here ranges widely, from his haunting prose pieces to his darkly beautiful poems documenting the first bloody weeks of World War I on the Eastern Front. Book Three of Our Trakl the series that began with Trakl's first book Poems and his posthumously published Sebastian Dreaming also includes translations of unpublished poems and significant variants. Interpolated throughout this comprehensive and chronological selection is a biographical essay that provides more information about Trakl's gifted and troubled life, especially as it relates to his poetry, as well as the necessary context of his relationship with his favorite sibling, his sister Grete, whose role as a muse to her brother is still highly controversial. Trakl's life was mysterious and fascinating, a fact reflected in his work. A Skeleton Plays Violin should not be missed.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffers a sustained reading of Blanchot's The Step Not Beyond that is prepared by interpretive presentations of a number of his important writings of the post-war periodTrade Review"The itinerary of Last Steps is unique and initially surprising: the ethico-political import of Blanchot's postwar writings, and particularly The Step Not Beyond. But in the course of this brilliant and compelling reading, Christopher Fynsk demonstrates that Blanchot's political engagement is central not just to his thinking about resistance or community or the events of 1968 but to everything from his views on freedom, justice, and messianic hope, to his practices of reading, critical vigilance, and fragmentary writing. No one is more capable than Fynsk of taking on these difficult subjects, and no one writes on Blanchot with this degree of erudition, rigor, patience, and sensitivity to the complexity and nuances of Blanchot's writing as well as to everything that resists interpretation and must remain unspoken within it. This is a remarkable work of criticism about one of the twentieth century's most remarkable writers." -- -Michael Naas, DePaul Univesity DePaul University "Christopher Fynsk in Last Steps offers a strikingly original and subtly captivating account of some of Maurice Blanchot's most challenging work and demonstrates with acute sympathy and incisive intelligence its far-reaching significance for philosophy and literature today." -- -Leslie Hill University of Warwick

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"The scholarship throughout is sharp, current, and often makes use of one of the greatest strengths of Lovecraft study: his abundant published correspondence."—Publishers Weekly"An excellent read for the committed Lovecraft scholar."—Fortean Times"[An] excellent collection of scholarly essays."—PopMatters"Lovecraft’s many and deep flaws are almost beside the point – he was a writer who achieved importance by saying one or two things memorably and very clearly. This is why Lovecraft is an important figure not only in popular culture but in other disciplines as well."—Times Literary Supplement"Highly recommended."—CHOICE"Sederholm and Weistock perform an exemplary balancing act in neither dodging the controversies surrounding Lovecraft’s grotesque racism nor granting that the issue diminishes the legitimacy of scholarly interest in the author or his work. Lovecraft scholars will find much of interest here, but so too will anyone wanting further insight into the ongoing cultural resonances of various (and often noxious) early twentieth-century neuroses."—Paradoxa"A welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship focused on Lovecraft."—Los Angeles Review of Books"A total success."—Journal of Popular CultureTable of ContentsContentsForeword: Lovecraft AppreciatedRamsey CampbellAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Lovecraft Rising Carl H. Sederholm and Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock1. “Ghoulish Dialogues”: H. P. Lovecraft’s Weird Geographies James Kneale2. Lovecraft’s Things: Sinister Souvenirs from Other WorldsJeffrey Andrew Weinstock3. Hyper-Cacophony: Lovecraft, Speculative Realism, and Sonic Materialism Isabella van Elferen4. Prehistories of Posthumanism: Cosmic Indifferentism, Alien Genesis, and Ecology from H. P. Lovecraft to Ridley Scott Brian Johnson5. Race, Species, and Others: H. P. Lovecraft and the Animal Jed Mayer6. H. P. Lovecraft’s Reluctant Sexuality: Abjection and the Monstrous Feminine in "The Dunwich Horror"Carl H. Sederholm7. H. P. Lovecraft and Real Person Fiction: The Pulp Author as Subcultural Avatar David Simmons8. A Polychrome Study: Neil Gaiman’s “A Study in Emerald” and Lovecraft’s Literary AfterlivesJessica George9. Lovecraft: Suspicion, Pattern Recognition, Paranoia David Punter10. Lovecraft’s Cosmic Ethics Patricia MacCormack11. Lovecraft, Witch Cults, and Philosophers W. Scott PooleInterview with China Miéville Jeffrey Andrew WeinstockContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisA SPECTATOR AND EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020''A joy. Each chapter instantly became my favourite'' David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas''Wonderful'' Lucy Mangan''The right book has a neverendingness, and so does the right bookshop.''This is the story of our love affair with books, whether we arrange them on our shelves, inhale their smell, scrawl in their margins or just curl up with them in bed. Taking us on a journey through comfort reads, street book stalls, mythical libraries, itinerant pedlars, radical pamphleteers, extraordinary bookshop customers and fanatical collectors, Canterbury bookseller Martin Latham uncovers the curious history of our book obsession - and his own. Part cultural history, part literary love letter and part reluctant memoir, this is the tale of one bookseller and many, many books.''If ferreting through bookshops is your idea of heaven, you''ll get the same pleasure from this treasure trove of a book'' Jake Kerridge, Sunday ExpressTrade ReviewThe Bookseller's Tale is a joy. I read the first chapters in a single binge-read, and each chapter instantly became my favourite ... Individually, the paragraphs are threads of the very best trivia: collectively, they become a cultural history of the book. Memoir-flecked, magpie-minded, relentlessly engaging ... I loved this gnarly old bookshop in nifty book form. -- David Mitchell, author of CLOUD ATLAS * Twitter *Martin Latham, who has sold [books] for more than 30 years, has done the tradition proud. His exploration of the history of books, and why we love them so much, is packed with touching stories and fascinating facts ... Underpinning the whole narrative is that simple pleasure, the love of a good book. -- Mark Mason * Daily Mail *Latham thinks bookshops should have an "Aladdin's cave feeling" and the same is true of this book, which combinesanecdotes about his career (guest author Spike Milligan was a liability) with a cultural history of reading, printing, bookselling, libraries and anything bookish you care to think of (there's even a digression on the 5,500 different species of booklice). If ferreting through bookshops is your idea of heaven, you'll get the same pleasure from this treasure trove of a book. -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Express *I loved this book, and I don't think I've read a book which is more crammed full of fantastic stories, interesting ideas, great quotes, great insights. It's not just on every page, it's in every paragraph. -- Simon Mayo, Scala RadioGarrulous, wide-ranging and humane ... The Bookseller's Tale has the teetering, ramshackle feeling of a reliably eclectic bookstore. -- Denis Duncan * Times Literary Supplement *Roaming across topics from legendary libraries to humble book pedlars, as well as historically overlooked literary forms like chapbooks and comfort reads, its appeal is vivid enough that even the electronic edition seems to exude the tantalising aroma of a used bookstore. -- Hephzibah Anderson * The Observer *A history and celebration of all things bookish ... This is a book that celebrates stories, scribbling in margins and the collecting, cherishing and even kissing of books - something done with surprising frequency, apparently ... ... Those who enjoy browsing in paper-scented bookshops, run by eccentric old storytellers with yarns to spare, will come away with something unexpected, reassuring and possibly worth a kiss. -- Katy Guest * The Guardian *For sheer enthusiasm, it will be hard to beat Martin Latham, bookseller at Waterstones Canterbury for three decades. His The Bookseller's Tale is a collection of tales about famous writers and bibliophiles, but above all a love letter to pages between covers. -- Paul Laity and Justine Jordan * The Guardian *A celebration of reading and readers and all things bookish. Entertaining, erudite, eccentric - The Bookseller's Tale is a delight. -- Alison Light, author of COMMON PEOPLE: THE HISTORY OF AN ENGLISH FAMILYAside from being a history of books, this is a love letter, larded with charming anecdotes. There's AS Byatt buying a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel and admitting she can't be seen doing it in London, and another customer having a heart attack in his shop and saying it would be "a great place to go". * Evening Standard *A shared love of books creates a fellowship that transcends race, culture, gender, age and class. This book, written with wit, elegance and understanding, by one who knows what he is talking about, celebrates the abiding pleasure, nourishment and comradeship that books provide. -- Salley Vickers, author of THE LIBRARIANDelightful ... a love letter to publishing. -- Jack Blackburn * The Times *God, this book is wonderful. -- Lucy ManganMartin Latham is a man of many parts ... This is jam packed full of interesting facts, amusing anecdotes, and witty quotes. It is to be devoured or dipped into, depending on one's taste and time and rewards both types of readers. A treat for book lovers. -- David Roche * BookBrunch *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn What Is a World? Pheng Cheah draws on accounts of the world as a temporal process from Hegel, Marx, Heidegger, Arendt, and Derrida, and analyzes several postcolonial novels to articulate a normative theory of world literature's capacity to open up new possibilities for remaking the world.Trade Review"Drawing from four critical philosophies–idealism, Marxist materialism, phenomenology, and deconstruction–theorist Pheng Cheah invites the reader to reconsider the presuppositions that underpin contemporary theories about world literature. Works from luminaries Amitav Ghosh, Michelle Cliff, and Timothy Mo, among others, providethe reader with concrete examples of Cheah’s theories in action." * World Literature Today *"[T]hrow[s] an intriguing new light on why and how 'world literature' succeeds in generating plurality and disruption rather than falling back into a flattening familiarity." -- Caroline Levine * Public Books *"Cheah strategically broadens the notion of world literature beyond its most common reference points, which too often constrain literatures and the worlds they offer to their spatial geographies and global circulations." -- David W. Hart * Postcolonial Text *"Pheng Cheah has contribued an eloquent volume that stands out in the crowd and belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the field." -- Thomas O. Beebee * Comparative Literature Studies *"As with Cheah’s earlier work, it is a magisterial study, written in his characteristically scrupulous and teacherly prose. There is much to learn from What Is a World? at the levels of its intervention into the field of world literature, its case for postcolonial literature as an exemplary modality of world literature, and Cheah’s own interpretive style as a reader and critic." -- Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan * Qui Parle *"Beautifully written and eloquently constructed, What Is a World? will transform the landscape of world literature studies in the coming years by posing new questions about how the world is and should be conceived." -- César Domínguez * Recherche Littéraire *"Pheng Cheah’s What Is a World? On Postcolonial Literature as World Literature makes a powerful intervention in current debates on world literature, arguing for the literary text to be seen as an ethico-political force in the world rather than just a commodity whose global trajectory is best understood in terms of existing networks of influence and exchange." -- Ira Raja and Roanna Gonsalves * New Literatures *"What is a World? challenges scholars of world literature and postcolonial literature to reconsider and possibly to expand the definition of their fields. It is a thoughtful, theoretical work that further challenges all of us to reconsider the role literature plays in the world(s) around us and to assess our inclusion of literature beyond the Western tradition. Undoubtedly, this book will play an important role in the ongoing dialogue over what world literature really is." -- Gregory R. Jackson * Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature *"Cheah’s compelling and acute study ultimately proposes a radical and complex reassessment of the notion of world itself as temporal object, to better explore some of the long-ignored intersections—or what he calls “missed encounters”—between cosmopolitanism, world literature, and postcoloniality. In doing so, the book makes a significant intervention in the ongoing scholarly debates dedicated to these topics. . . . The book [also] constitutes a critical response to the pressing questions raised today by the uneven process of (capitalist) globalization." -- Emmanuel Bruno Jean-François * Comparative Literature *"In bridging the postcolonial and the world, Cheah offers a powerfully refreshing account of the category of the 'world,' which arbiters in the world-literary field tend to take for granted." -- Kelly Yin Nga Tse * Interventions *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. Missed Encounters: Cosmopolitanism, World Literature, and Postcoloniality 1 Part I. The World of World in Literature in Question 1. The New World Literature: Literary Studies Discovers Globalization 23 2. The World According to Hegel: Culture and Power in World History 46 3. The World as Market: The Materialist Inversion of Spiritualist Models of the World 60 Part II. Worlding and Unworlding: Worldliness, Narrative, and "Literature" in Phenomenology and Deconstruction 4. Worlding: The Phenomenological Concept of Worldliness and the Loss of World in Modernity 95 5. The In-Between World: Anthropologizing the Force of Worlding 131 6. The Arriving World: The Inhuman Otherness of Time as Real Messianic Hope 161 Part III. Of Other Worlds to Come 7. Postcolonial Openings: How Postcolonial Literature Becomes World Literature 191 8. Projecting a Future World from the Memory of Precolonial Time 216 9. World Heritage Preservation and the Expropriation of Subaltern Worlds 246 10. Resisting Humanitarianization 278 Epilogue. Without Conclusion: Stories without End(s) 310 Notes 333 Select Bibliography 369 Index 383

Read more less

Book SynopsisWritten circa 1894-95 but published posthumously in 1914, Frank Norris’s Vandover and the Brute presents an unflinching portrait of unconventional sexuality, moral dissolution, and physical degeneration. In the setting of turn-of-the-century San Francisco depicted in Vandover, disaster encompasses far more than the vivid accounts of shipwreck or earthquake that appear in the novel. The slow wasting away of characters who contract syphilis, the suicide of a young girl, and the murder of a man clinging to a lifeboat fascinate readers today as much as they did a century ago, when this scandalous novel was first published. The most complete wreck is Vandover himself, whose artistic talents and constitution collapse after orgies of drink and sexual abandon.Russ Castronovo’s new edition gathers historical materials on literary naturalism, gender and criminality, and the visual culture of the late nineteenth century.Trade Review“I’ve been howling like a wolf for years about the absence of a teachable edition of this amazing, just-on-the-verge-of-modern novel. College boys’ drunken revels over a welsh rarebit? Earnest discussions of the moral complexities posed by ‘modern girls’? Gamblers who start acting like living slot machines? Gobbling chocolates in the tub before scratching yourself for an hour? This one has it all. Thank you, Russ Castronovo, for bringing back a text that has never failed to fascinate undergraduates and PhD students alike.” — Jennifer Fleissner, Indiana University“An accessible edition of Frank Norris’s outlandish and historically significant novel has been long overdue, and Russ Castronovo has made it happen. An embarrassment of riches, this edition will be of tremendous value to scholars and students. Vandover is an exceptional text, one that demonstrates the intersections of modernity, aesthetics, sexuality, and race in such a way as to make it indispensable in any course on American literature and culture. The critical analysis and historical contextualization Castronovo brings to bear on it serve to enrich our understanding.” — Dana Seitler, University of TorontoTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionFrank Norris: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextVandover and the BruteAppendix A: Norris, Naturalism, and the Novel Frank Norris, “Zola as a Romantic Writer” The Wave (27 June 1896) From Émile Zola, “The Experimental Novel,” The Experimental Novel and Other Essays (1893) From Frank Norris, “The Responsibilities of the Novelist,” The Responsibilities of the Novelist (1903) From Frank Norris, “The Novel with a ‘Purpose,’” The Responsibilities of the Novelist (1903) Appendix B: Gender, Evolution, and Degeneration Frank Norris, “Western City Types: The ‘Fast’ Girl” The Wave (9 May 1896) From Joseph Le Conte, Evolution: Its Nature, Its Evidences, and Its Relation to Religious Thought (1899) From Max Nordau, from Degeneration (1895) Appendix C: Visual Contexts Luis Ricardo Falero, Witches Going to the Their Sabbath (1878) Philippe-Jacques Van Bree, The Harem Bath Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Great Bath at Bursa, Turkey (1885) Jean-Léon Gérôme, Thirst (1888) Images of Gibson Girls Select Bibliography and Suggested Further Reading

Read more less

Book SynopsisThese first two volumes of a projected five, in preparation for several years, begin a major publishing venture, collecting the complete essays of one of the giants of modern English prose and of social commentary in our time. The first two volumes span the most productive period of Huxley's career. Volume I begins with his essays for Gilbert Murray's Athenaeum and his music essays for the New Westminster Gazette. Volume II continues through the 1920s and includes his controversial essays on India and the empire in "Jesting Pilate." The essays of both volumes range from nuanced assessments of art and architecture to political analyses, history, science, religion, and art, and a newly discovered series on music. Wide-ranging, allusive, and witty, they are informed by the probing skepticism of a highly educated and ironically incisive member of the English upper middle class. Huxley's fascination with the codes and conventions of European culture, his growing apprehensions about the menacing collapse of the European political order, and his awareness of the impact of science and technology on the post-Versailles world of England, France, Germany, and the United States form the basis for his critique. His subjects overlap with the satirical novels he wrote during the period between the wars, culminating in Point Counter Point and Brave New World. At their best, these essays stand among the finest examples of the genre in modern literature.Trade ReviewPerusing Volume One, I was struck by the sensitivity and the unerring perception in these unknown reviews, ultimately my most enjoyable reading of the year. -- Robert Craft, conductor and writer on music * Times Literary Supplement, (Books Of The Year, Dec.) *The editors...have done their job with commendable thoroughness. -- P. N. Furbank * Times Literary Supplement *An important and admirable publishing event. * Atlantic Monthly *Huxley was among the few writers who played with ideas so freely, so gaily, with such virtuosity, that the responsive reader was dazzled and excited. -- Isaiah BerlinA remarkable publishing event...these volumes return Huxley from our forgetfulness so as to enjoy his fine intelligence, prose and exemplary strengths. -- Jeffrey Hart * The Washington Times *His reading was immense, his taste was impeccable, and his ear acute...His place in English literature is unique and is certainly assured. -- T. S. EliotThere is much to enjoy in these volumes...they are important as a document of his times. * Economist *He writes with an easy assurance and a command of classical and modern cross-references. -- Christopher Hitchens * Los Angeles Times *To read all the essays in sequence is like being enrolled at the college of your dreams. * The New Yorker *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material. A CNN Book of the Week: “Explains not just why we should read books, but how we should read them. It''s masterfully done.” —Farheed ZakariaOriginally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Readers will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text. Also included is instruction in the different techniques that work best for reading particular genres, such as practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and socia

Read more less

Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20Trade ReviewEssential reading . . . it offers the insights and observations – on literature, history and cultural sensibility – of an honest and truly global thinker. * Evening Standard *The greatest writer now living in Britain. His courage in seeing and telling the truth represents a level of high seriousness that has all but vanished. * Sunday Times *Naipaul has a sharp visual sense . . . And then there is his chiselled prose, elegant and economical: who, now living, writes as well as he? * Financial Times *

Read more less