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Book SynopsisDescription of the seductions - and snares - of self-managed communist or, in other words, anarchist society. This title, an edited collection of original essays on "Le Guin's The Dispossessed", represents an exploration of the political ramifications of this work by a wide interdisciplinary swath of scholars from around the world.Trade ReviewUrsula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed is one of the most significant utopian novels in this long tradition of imaginative socio-political thought experiments. In this collection, Davis and Stillman have given us a “sustained and comprehensive” re-examination of this “ambiguous utopia” by way of sixteen astute and original essays. This is a welcome, timely, and important collection. -- Tom Moylan, Glucksman Professor of Contemporary Writing and Director, Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies, University of Limerick and author of Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia and Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and theLike Le Guin's open-ended ambiguous utopia, these sixteen essays will reveal their resonance only as we reread them. Together they comprise a rich, and a valuable, and a persistently stimulating fresh contribution to the ongoing and open-ended appreciation of The Dispossessed. -- James Bittner, Author of Approaches to the Fiction of Ursula K. Le GuinFor three decades Le Guin's The Dispossessed has inspired debates about competing ideologies, about notions of gender, about space-time continuums, about forms of utopian expression-indeed about topics as broad as human communication and as intensely personal as the emotional epiphanies of the novel's hero Shevek. So, to say that this lively first collection of essays about the book is welcome and long overdue is to make a grand understatement. Like Le Guin's novel the collection is wide-ranging, open-ended, and provocative. It offers analyses of expected topics and images—anarchism, ecology, and walls, for instance— from multiple viewpoints, as well as discussions of important less-expected issues, notably consumerism. Contributors examine rich networks of connections and parallels between Le Guin's thought and art and the works of Lao Tzu, Kropotkin, Paul Goodman, Marcuse, Hegel, Hannah Arendt, and French and Italian architects and designers. Le Guin's essay, which concludes the collection, is afrank and feisty response to critics who reduce her novel to treatise status, and a complex advocacy of art that teaches. This fine collection will invigorate discussion of The Dispossessed and of Le Guin's other works, especially Always Coming -- Kenneth M. Roemer, Author of The Obsolete Necessity, Build Your Own Utopia, America as Utopia, and Utopian AudiencesI was delighted to find that these essays deepened and expanded my appreciation of both work and author. If you've read The Dispossessed . . . by all means read this as well. * Sfrevu *Those interested in the history of both utopian and anarchist thought will gain a great deal from the sophisticated analyses on offer. This is particularly so given the diversity of the perspectives brought to bear on the novel....What the volume offers is an exceptional range of essays exploring the radical political theory of the The Dispossessed. * Political Studies Review *For three decades Le Guin's The Dispossessed has inspired debates about competing ideologies, about notions of gender, about space-time continuums, about forms of utopian expression-indeed about topics as broad as human communication and as intensely personal as the emotional epiphanies of the novel's hero Shevek. So, to say that this lively first collection of essays about the book is welcome and long overdue is to make a grand understatement. Like Le Guin's novel the collection is wide-ranging, open-ended, and provocative. It offers analyses of expected topics and images—anarchism, ecology, and walls, for instance— from multiple viewpoints, as well as discussions of important less-expected issues, notably consumerism. Contributors examine rich networks of connections and parallels between Le Guin's thought and art and the works of Lao Tzu, Kropotkin, Paul Goodman, Marcuse, Hegel, Hannah Arendt, and French and Italian architects and designers. Le Guin's essay, which concludes the collection, is a frank and feisty response to critics who reduce her novel to treatise status, and a complex advocacy of art that teaches. This fine collection will invigorate discussion of The Dispossessed and of Le Guin's other works, especially Always Coming Home, and engage any serious reader of utopian and science fiction and political and social theory. -- Kenneth M. Roemer, Author of The Obsolete Necessity, Build Your Own Utopia, America as Utopia, and Utopian AudiencesThis collection will be an essential part of the collection of every Le Guin scholar and every research library. It also has a great deal to teach anyone interested in utopias or in the broader issues of the political workings of fiction. Editors Davis and Stillman are to be applauded for initiating this much-needed reconsideration of a major work of utopian fiction and for bringing together such a varies and astute group of contributors. * Utopian Studies *One would think that 324 pages on this one aspect of this one novel by this one Le Guin might get a little thin; but I was happily surprised. -- Mike Cadden * Paradoxa, November 2008 *Perhaps I can express my gratitude best by saying that reading [these essays] left me knowing far better than I knew before how I wrote the book and why I wrote it as I did…. They have restored the book to me as I conceived it, not as an exposition of ideas but as an embodiment of idea - a revolutionary artifact, a work containing a potential permanent source of renewal of thought and perception, like a William Morris design, or the Bernard Maybeck house I grew up in…. This is criticism as I first knew it, serious, responsive, and jargon-free. I honor it as an invaluable aid to reading, my own text as well as others. -- Ursula K. Le GuinTable of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Open-ended Utopian Politics Chapter 3 The Dynamic and Revolutionary Utopia of Ursula K. Le Guin Chapter 4 Worlds Apart: Ursula K. Le Guin and the Possibility of Method Part 5 Post-Consumerist Politics Chapter 6 The Dispossessed as Ecological Political Theory Chapter 7 Ursula K. Le Guin, Herbert Marcuse, and the Fate of Utopia in the Postmodern Chapter 8 The Alien Comes Home: Getting Past the Twin Planets of Possession and Austerity in Le Guin's The Dispossessed Part 9 Anarchist Politics Chapter 10 Individual and Community in Le Guin's The Dispossessed Chapter 11 The Need for Walls: Privacy, Community, and Freedom in The Dispossessed Chapter 12 Breaching Invisible Walls: Individual Anarchy in The Dispossessed Part 13 Temporal Politics Chapter 14 Time and the Measure of the Political Animal Chapter 15 Fulfillment as a Function of Time, or the Ambiguous Process of Utopia Chapter 16 Science and Politics in The Dispossessed: Le Guin and the "Science Wars" Part 17 Revolutionary Politics Chapter 18 The Gap in the Wall: Partnership, Physics, and Politics in The Dispossessed Chapter 19 From Ambiguity to Self-Reflexivity: Revolutionizing Fantasy Space Chapter 20 Future Conditional or Future Perfect? The Dispossessed and Permanent Revolution Part 21 Open-ended Utopian Politics Chapter 22 Ambiguous Choices: Skepticism as a Grounding for Utopia Chapter 23 Empty Hands: Communication, Pluralism and Community in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed Part 24 A Response, by Ansible, from Tau Ceti Part 25 Further Reading

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe section on the ‘academization of hip-hop’ – what the book’s title describes as ‘hip-hop within the academy’ – was promising as it is an area that is rarely well covered compared to the more common emphasis on the convergences of youth, politics and hip-hop. . . .Snell and Söderman are appropriately attuned to the ways in which public education is increasingly inflected by the demands and agendas of the neoliberal state. * Popular Music *Music educators will not be the only ones who benefit from this rounded, wide-ranging and yet focused study on the background, uses, meanings, and educational potential of hip-hop. This very readable account has the rare gift of being both entertaining and scholarly. It gives much food for thought as well as practical advice for teachers, and it represents a much-needed addition to the literature on both hip-hop and music education. -- Lucy Green, Professor of Music Education, UCL Institute of Education, London UKSnell and Söderman’s book is a welcome and timely text that draws attention to hip-hop beyond its most visible, commodified forms in popular culture and that challenges the bases of assumptions made surrounding hip-hop scholarship. The authors approach their subject matter with humility, and in doing so, provide a thought-provoking and valuable collection of essays that will surely appeal to scholars in a range of fields, including popular music studies, ethnomusicology, applied ethnomusicology, music education, and music teacher education. -- Gareth Dylan Smith, Institute of Contemporary Music PerformanceA block party of a book—Snell and Söderman mix and remix educational orthodoxies into a whole new sound. -- Randall Everett Allsup, Teachers College Columbia UniversityTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments Part 1 Ethnographic Hip-Hop Studies 1 Introduction 2 Young Hip-Hop Musicians Talk About Their Learning and Creative Strategies 3 Towards a Swedish Professional Hip-Hop Identity 4 The Musical Personhood of Three Canadian Turntablists: Implications for Transformative Collaborative Practice in Music Education 5 First Nations Hip-Hop Artists’ Identity and Voice Part 2 Academization of Hip-Hop 6 Introduction to Part 2 7 The Formation of a Scientific Field: Hip-Hop Academicus 8 What is at Stake? How Hip-Hop is Legitimized and Discussed Within University 9 Turntablism: A Vehicle for Connecting Community and School Music Making and Learning Part 3 Educational and Artistic Implications of Hip-Hop 10 Introduction to Part 3 11 Jean Grae and Toni Blackman: An Educational and Aesthetical Conversation with two Female Emcees 12 Folkbildning through Hip-Hop: A Presentation of two Rappers and one Swedish Hip-Hop Organization 13 How Critical Pedagogy and Democratic Theory can inform Teaching Music, and especially, Teaching Hip-Hop 14 The Informal Learning Practices of Hip-Hop Musicians 15 Outroduction: Implications for Music and Music Education Glossary of Terms Bibliography Index About the Authors

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Book SynopsisFiction, Reference, and Nonexistence contains a new, contemporary theory of fiction and discusses the connection between language and reality. Martinich and Stroll, two of America's leading philosophers, explore fiction and undertake an analytic philosophical study of fiction and its reference, and its relation to truth.Trade ReviewRejecting standard presuppositions that have guided much of the debate about fictional discourse, Stroll and Martinich offer a novel approach to fictional discourse—indeed, theirs is clearly the most developed and important ordinary language-style treatment of fictional discourse available. This is essential reading for anyone interested in fictional discourse, and also will be relevant to those with broader concerns about meaning and reference and the relation between fiction and history. -- Amie Thomasson, University of MiamiAn interesting, enlightening book. . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and up. * CHOICE, Vol. 45 No. 6 (February 2008) *A. P. Martinich and Avrum Stroll have written a crisply argued and fascinating book about fiction and reference. Clear and penetrating, the book performs its two tasks—as a study in the philosophy of language of the nature of reference and a defense of a conception of fictional discourse—in such a way that students are bound to learn a great deal about both. It will serve as an excellent survey of some major developments in twentieth century philosophy of language as well as a providing a compelling view of what fictional discourse is. -- Michael L. Morgan, Chancellor's Professor, Department of Philosophy, Indiana UniversityTable of ContentsPart 1 Part I: Fiction and Reference Chapter 2 A Theory of Fiction Chapter 3 Pretense and Fiction Chapter 4 History and Fiction Part 5 Part II: Reference and Non-Existence Chapter 6 Fiction and Reference Again Chapter 7 Direct Reference Theories and Natural Kinds

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Book SynopsisIslam on the Street deals with the popular side of Islam, as described not only in tracts and manuals written by Sufi shaykhs and Islamist thinkers from among the more militant groups in Islam, but also in writings by other, more secular thinkers who have also influenced public opinion. Muhsin al-Musawi explains the growing rift that has occurred between the secular intellectualthe forerunner of Arab and Islamic modernity since the late nineteenth centuryand the upsurge of Islamic fervor in the street, at the grassroots level, and what these secular intellectuals can do to reconnect with the masses.Trade ReviewThis monograph is a unique and fascinating study of how the many aspects of modern trends in Islam find representation in modern Arabic literature. It combines literary and sociological investigation to explore the many ways that different trends in Islam—quietist to militant—find literary representation. Exploring this little studied but highly important subject, Professor Musawi offers readings of works by modern Arab authors that are detailed, learned, insightful, and illuminating. The author also focuses on how writers addressed and impacted different types of audiences, both popular and specialist. This volume is sure to stimulate much additional study; its influence will be felt for years to come. -- Peter Heath, chancellor, American University of SharjahThe subtlety and finesse with which al-Musawi analyzes and describes Arabic literary works sets this book apart from other discussions of modern Arabic literature and makes it of fundamental importance to any program of Arabic literature. Essential. * CHOICE *In this delightfully written and ambitious work, Muhsin al-Musawi explores representations of Islam 'as viewed by the public and as it appears in modern Arabic literary production.' . . . A meticulously nuanced approach to representations of Islam allows al-Musawi to draw a dynamic and multifarious map of the modern Arabic literary field, one that compels a re-evaluation of the dynamics of its production, as well as-and perhaps more importantly-a reassessment of the institutions of its criticisms. * Journal of Arabic Literature *This extremely rich study, based on an extensive knowledge of modern Arabic literature, presents a persuasive portrait of the ideological shifts that have governed this field over the past century. The critique of Arab secular modernism is refreshing and original, and the level of nuance and sophistication is largely unprecedented. A marvelous and comprehensive treatment of the culture of 'the street' in Arab countries. -- Carl Ernst, University of North CarolinaTable of ContentsPreface: Islam in Literary Production Chapter 1: Roads Not Taken: Arab Modernity and the Loose Ties with the Street Chapter 2: Before Bidding Farewell: What do Narratives of Education Say? Chapter 3: The Religious Dynamic: Recruitments in Political Vacuum Chapter 4: Mass Culture Narratives Chapter 5: In the Aftermath of Failures: The Reliance on Popular Religious Politics Chapter 6: The Search for Islam Chapter 7: The Bifurcated Poetic: Islam as Poetry Conclusions Index

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Book SynopsisTerry Eagleton is one of the most influential contemporary literary theorists and critics. His diverse body of work has been crucial to developments in cultural theory and literary critical practice in modern times, and for a generation of humanities students his writing has been a source of both provocation and enjoyment.Trade Review"Smith deftly weaves the historical background, academic arguments, and literary schools of thought together in tracing Eagleton's lengthy and diverse publications, while keeping his admiration for Eagleton carefully muted through a critical sensitivity. His writing is a pleasure to read: crisp, clear, and with a sense of momentum." Literature and Theology "As a differentiating and circumspect writer who pays as much attention to his subject as to the larger context, Smith renders a nuanced account of Eagleton?s involved intellectual struggles." Consciousness, Literature and the Arts "Gives a comprehensive and lucid analysis of Eagleton's oevre and pays due attention to his early writings on the Catholic Left." The Guardian readers' recommendations "Smith offers a lucid account of Eagleton's work." Times Literary Supplement "This is the first full treatment of Terry Eagleton's work. And, since Eagleton has written three careers' worth of work, the book is remarkable for its effortless coverage. It's also remarkable for digging up Eagleton's early work on religion. If you want to find out about Eagleton's work, this book will be a standard." Jeffrey Williams, Carnegie Mellon University "An excellent introduction to the work of Terry Eagleton, which provides a fine-grained and wide-awake appraisal of the whole curve of his remarkable career ... Smith knows Eagleton?s work inside out, possibly by now even better than Eagleton himself, but his strongly informed sympathy with it does not inhibit him from articulating some sharp criticisms as well." Stephen Connor, Birkbeck CollegeTable of ContentsList of abbreviations viii Introduction 1 1 Eagleton and the Catholic Left 9 2 From Williams to Althusser: Eagleton’s Early Literary Criticism 32 3 The Critic as Azdak: Eagleton in the 1980s 59 4 The Ideology of the Postmodern 93 5 Nationalism, Socialism, and Ireland 117 6 The Full Circle? 140 Notes 168 Index 183

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Book Synopsis* This is a new study of the relationship between performance and power from one of the world s leading social theorists * In this volume, Jeffrey Alexander develops a cultural pragmatics that shifts cultural sociology from texts to gestural meanings and examines the elements of social performance.Trade Review"This books shatters the ossified categories of all prior comparative studies of culture and power. Alexander reinvents the centerpiece of contemporary critical theories: performativity as the locus of power. Neither the modern state nor secularism but transformation in dramaturgy itself froms the axis of his new global history of civilizations. Accessible artistry."Richard Biernacki, University of California, San Diego "That so much of politics is symbolic - terrorism as much as presidential campaigning - is the first surprise of this wide-ranging and wonderfully provocative book. The second surprise, though, is what makes the book so compelling: success in symbolic politics, Alexander argues, depends on performances that fuse speaker, audience, props, and script - a fusion that is increasingly rare in modern societies, and is simultaneously longed for and distrusted. With his customary brio and command of literatures ranging from ancient dramaturgy to contemporary terrorism, Alexander offers a provocative theory of modern politics."Francesca Polletta, University of California, Irvine "In this boundary-shifting and provocative book, Alexander brings performance studies into conversation with sociology in ways that challenge both. This is essential reading for anyone interested in these fields as well as for those who wonder how performance endows social actors with such persuasive power."Diana Taylor, New York UniversityTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements. Introduction. A Cultural Theory of Social Performance. Chapter 1 The Cultural Pragmatics of Symbolic Action (with Jason Mast). Chapter 2 Social Performance between Ritual and Strategy Political Power and Performance. Chapter 3 Performance and the Challenge of Power. Chapter 4 Social, Political, Cultural, and Performative. Chapter 5 Democratic Power and Political Performance: Obama v. McCain. Chapter 6 A Presidential Performance, Panned, or Obama as the Last Enlightenment Man. Chapter 7 Performing Counter-Power: The Civil Rights Movement. Chapter 8 Performing Terror on September 11th. Chapter 9 War and Performance: Afghanistan and Iraq. Cultural Power and Performance. Chapter 10 Intellectuals and Public Performance. Chapter 11 Iconic Power and Performativity: The Role of the Critic. Notes. Bibliography.

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Book Synopsis* This is an expanded and updated version of an article that originally appeared in Time Magazine, which caused a sensation in France and elsewhere. * Morrison argues that French culture no longer has the kind of international standing it once did. His discussion ranges from art and fashion to philosophy, literature and cinema.Trade Review"This book offers yet another delicious glimpse into a relationship that never ceases to fascinate, that between the US and France. It has taken an American to crystallize what France doesn't want to admit: that French culture is no longer an international force to be reckoned with. What is most compelling about it, though, is the accuracy of Morrison's argument combined with his deep affection for France. There is no rejoicing in his writing. Morrison's is a true lament . In his appraisal of France's growing incapacity to maintain its universal cultural pull, Morrison entreats us to think about the meaning of culture and universalism in the 21st century." Prospect Magazine "Essentially a discussion and profile of two great cultural powers, the book raises the bigger question of why anybody should ever expect one country to remain dominant in any field, be it in culture, politics or even military rule?" Journal of Contemporary European StudiesTable of ContentsThe Death of French Culture (Donald Morrison). The Trappings of Greatness (Antoine Compagnon).

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Book SynopsisA critical introduction to the work of the English novelist Elizabeth Taylor.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review....Cooper's singular contribution is her application of psychological theory to literary analysis, freeing it from the tendency to norm concepts pertaining to family and inviting rereadings of literary and filmic family plots. The works studied range from Don Quixote to Sara Levi Calderón's Dos mujeres and to films. Summing Up: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. -- J.C. Richards, Park University * CHOICE *Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Questioning Family Dynamics and Family Discourse in Hispanic Literature and Film Chapter 4 Shifting Families and Incest in Chacel and Moix Chapter 5 Dysfunction, Discord, and Wedded Bliss: Baroque Families in Don Quixote Chapter 6 Matrofobia y matrilinealidad en Un aire de familia de Silvia Italiano Chapter 7 Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Nation: El cuarto mundo by Diamela Eltit Chapter 8 Familia y comunidad como bases del proceso de adaptación social en tres largometrajes chicanos:. . . y no se lo tragó la tierro, El Norte y My Family/Mi familia Chapter 9 Celestino antes del alba: The Family as Agent of the Community Chapter 10 Family in Levi Calderón's Dos mujeres: Post Traumatic Stress or Lesbian Utopia? Chapter 11 Appendix: Viability of FST for Latin America Chapter 12 Index Chapter 13 Contributors

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Book Synopsis, and his flight from the State Inquisitor's prison-each in its own way a feat of singular dash and daring.Trade ReviewTrask has written a version in an English fully contemporary yet remarkably Italian in sensibility. With admirable restraint and refinement, he has conveyed the zest and sensuous delight of the original. National Book Award Citation These memoirs are compulsive reading... they are the work not only of a highly accomplished seducer but of a literary artist of the highest talents. -- J. H. Plumb New York Times Book Review Trask expertly rendered this text into English in 1966, and his is the English version to read... Compulsively readable... Certainly, few books better convey the sheer, exuberant joy of being alive and young than these reminiscences. -- Michael Dirda New York Review of Books 2007Table of ContentsVolume 3Chapter 1-16NotesVolume 4Chapter 1-16NotesAppendix

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Book SynopsisExiled from Venice, he goes to Munich and Paris, where he establishes himself as a cabalist, makes a fortune in Holland, helps start the French State Lottery, goes on to Switzerland where he meets Voltaire.Trade ReviewTrask has written a version in an English fully contemporary yet remarkably Italian in sensibility. With admirable restraint and refinement, he has conveyed the zest and sensuous delight of the original. National Book Award Citation These memoirs are compulsive reading... they are the work not only of a highly accomplished seducer but of a literary artist of the highest talents. -- J. H. Plumb New York Times Book Review Trask expertly rendered this text into English in 1966, and his is the English version to read... Compulsively readable... Certainly, few books better convey the sheer, exuberant joy of being alive and young than these reminiscences. -- Michael Dirda New York Review of Books 2007Table of ContentsVolume 5Chapter 1-11NotesVolume 6Chapter 1-11NotesAppendix

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Book SynopsisThis double volume is the final part of Venetian Casanova's memoirs, translated from the French between 1966 and 1971. His rich and varied life is recalled in an unabridged work which also includes notes on the social, biographical and geographical background of its genesis.Trade ReviewTrask has written a version in an English fully contemporary yet remarkably Italian in sensibility. With admirable restraint and refinement, he has conveyed the zest and sensuous delight of the original. National Book Award Citation These memoirs are compulsive reading... they are the work not only of a highly accomplished seducer but of a literary artist of the highest talents. -- J. H. Plumb New York Times Book Review Some of the most beautiful spines I have ever seen appear collectively on the six-volume edition of Casanova's History of My Life. -- Mary Cregan Financial Times 2007 Trask expertly rendered this text into English in 1966, and his is the English version to read... Compulsively readable... Certainly, few books better convey the sheer, exuberant joy of being alive and young than these reminiscences. -- Michael Dirda New York Review of Books 2007Table of ContentsVolume 11Chapter 1-10NotesVolume 12Chapter 1-10NotesRevisionsIndex

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Book SynopsisIn establishing this relationship between mood and voice, Pfau moves away from the conventional understanding of emotion as something "ownedor exclusively attributable to the individual and toward a theory of mood as fundamentally intersubjective and deserving of broader consideration in the study of Romanticism.Trade ReviewA timely study. BARS Bulletin and Review 2006 Makes an original and compelling case. -- A. C. Goodson Studies in Romanticism 2006 Pfau offers interesting and fruitful readings. -- Matthew Bell Colloquia Germanica 2005 Pfau has introduced a new analytical category into literary studies, embedded it in a rich tradition of philosophical and theoretical speculation, and... laid the groundwork for future studies. -- George S. Williamson German Quarterly 2007 Pfau's aims... are wide-ranging and challenging, and his critical method is interesting. Year's Work in English Studies 2007 Thomas Pfau is to be congratulated for this erudite, insightful, and provocative attempt to write a history of the feelings that shaped and gave substance to English and German romanticism. -- Arnd Bohm Seminar: Journal of Germanic Studies 2008 Romantic Moods both succeeds on its own terms and offers an important model for those seeking an alternative to the historicist methods of interpretation that have dominated Romantic studies for the last two decades. -- Nicholas Halmi www.erudit.org 2008

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking work of intellectual history, The Lost Italian Renaissance uncovers a priceless intellectual legacy suggests provocative new avenues of research.Trade ReviewThere is no doubt that with this book Celenza has drawn attention to a body of work that deserves far more attention than it has received and that offers exciting new avenues for historical study. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2004 This impressive volume offers a fresh interpretation of Italian Renaissance learned culture and vindicates that culture's abiding importance... Lucid in its exposition of complex philosophical and linguistic theories, whether from the 15th century or the 20th, this exceptional book will help us to advance constructively to the 21st. Choice 2005 An intelligent, learned, and well-written historical and critical account of how we have failed over the past century to meet the challenge of fully appreciating, and making relevant to our own time, the neo-Latin culture of Renaissance Italy... A fine book that should help frame the debate about humanism in the Renaissance. -- Douglas Biow American Historical Review 2005 An important, thought-provoking book, one which at least suggests an approach to Italian Renaissance humanism that can allow a group of important authors to speak in such a way that they can, finally, take their rightful place in the history of Western philosophy. -- Craig Kallendorf British Journal for the History of Philosophy 2004 An original, engaging, well-written book. -- Michael J. B. Allen Renaissance Quarterly A courageous book that aims at a broad audience and takes an orignal approach. -- Carol Quillen Journal of Modern History 2006 Intellectually stimulating book. -- Charles G. Nauert Sixteenth Century Journal 2006 For this sizable and important sector of academia, The Lost Italian Renaissance should be considered essential reading. -- Emily O'Brien Erasmus of Rotterdam Society 2006 Informative and brave book. Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance 2007Table of ContentsPreface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: A ''Lost'' Renaissance and a ''Lost'' LiteratureChapter 1. An Undiscovered Star: Renaissance Latin and the Nineteenth CenturyChapter 2. Italian Renaissance Humanism in the Twentieth Century: Eugenio Garin and Paul Oskar KristellerChapter 3. A Microhistory of IntellectualsChapter 4. Orthodoxy: Lorenzo Valla and Marsilio FicinoChapter 5. Honor: The Humanists of the Classic Era on Social PlaceChapter 6. What Is Really There?Appendix: The State of the Field in North AmericaNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisThese seventy political pieces from the 1920s and 1930s are drawn from Mencken's famous Monday columns in the Baltimore Evening Sun.

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Book SynopsisA study of directions in autobiography. Traditional autobiography tends to originate in crisis but develops a resolution, whereas contemporary autobiography deals with unresolved crisis. The author examines works by a range of writers, including Primo Levi, Ernest Hemingway and Mary Meigs.

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Book SynopsisIn 2005, Cormac McCarthy''s novel, No Country for Old Men, was published to wide acclaim, and in 2007, Ethan and Joel Coen brought their adaptation of McCarthy''s novel to the screen. The film earned praise from critics worldwide and was honored with four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. In No Country for Old Men: From Novel to Film, scholars offer varied approaches to both the novel and the award-winning film. Beginning with several essays dedicated entirely to the novel and its place within the McCarthy canon, the anthology offers subsequent essays focusing on the film, the adaptation process, and the Coen Brothers more broadly. The book also features an interview with the Coen brothers'' long-time cinematographer Roger Deakins. This entertaining and enriching book for readers interested in the Coen Brothers'' films and in McCarthy''s fiction is an important contribution to both literature and film studies.Trade ReviewA one-stop learning opportunity, this comprehensive, enlightening, cohesive compilation covers a range of topics. ... Recommended. * CHOICE, March 2010 *These essays are engagingly written—demonstrating that criticism centering on the author's perceived intention is alive and well, and perhaps even reasserting itself in defiance of Roland Barthe's claim that the 'author' as a critical entity no longer exists. No Country for Old Men: From Novel to Film offers a valuable resource—not only to students of McCarthy's novels and their adaptations but also for those interested in modern reconstructions of the Western genre. I recommend it as a thoroughly entertaining read. * Literature/ Film Quarterly, January 2010 *

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Book SynopsisOne of the bestselling novels of all time, The Great Gatsby is also considered one of the most significant achievements in twentieth-century fiction. In Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel, Bob Batchelor explores the birth, life, and enduring influence of The Great GatsbyTrade ReviewFew are bold enough to use the term "great American novel" anymore. Fewer still are those who can make a compelling case for its application. . . .Batchelor claims this status for The Great Gatsby, and his arguments are captivating, readable, and convincing. His embrace of didactic purpose for literature is daring. . . .Putting the genie of postmodernism back in the bottle is impossible--even if one wanted to--but a return to appreciation of the worth of "deep" reading in the development of critical thinking skills would have salutary results in the general reading population as well as the critical realm. To that end, Batchelor asserts early on that Fitzgerald's "inherent ambiguity enables readers to use the novel as a barometer for measuring their own lives and the culture they inhabit." He demonstrates how Gatsby accomplishes this feat by carrying enough intellectual freight to defy categorization and to remain relevant to American society. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers. * CHOICE *Batchelor seeks to capitalize on the success of Baz Luhrmann's recent Gatsby film adaption with this exploration of the ways in which F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby has been employed in American culture. The book works best when it sticks to examining concrete uses of the book throughout the years. For example, it features a brief but intriguing discussion of how David Lynch included a passage from the novel in a late 1980s television ad for Calvin Klein. Batchelor does a good job of neatly summarizing the details surrounding the novel's composition and initial reception. * Library Journal *Great Gatsby fans [should] check out author and Munroe Falls resident Bob Batchelor's Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel. Batchelor explores the novel's birth, life, and enduring influence, from the novel's appearance in the heady year of 1925 through today's headlines filled with celebrity intrigue, corporate greed, and a roller-coaster economy. Batchelor shows why and how Gatsby has become part of the fiber of the American ethos and an important tool in helping readers to better comprehend their lives and the broader world around them. * Tallmadge Express *The Great Gatsby’s enduring legacy can be attributed, at least in part, to the shared experience Americans have with the book. However, the work’s staying power in the national consciousness is due to far more than mere exposure. Beyond being included on many high school syllabi and reading lists, Batchelor argues that its enduring popularity is also due to its accessibility to readers and its inherent ambiguity [that] enables readers to use the novel as a barometer for measuring their own lives and the culture they inhabit. These seemingly conflicting characteristics create the foundation for Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel as it sets out to chronicle not just the book’s reception through the decades but also its connections to some of its main concepts such as the meaning of the American dream. Most significantly, Batchelor seeks to explain and validate The Great Gatsby’s continued significance in many facets of American, and even international culture. . . .Gatsby achieves these aims while also balancing the sometimes incompatible demands of being enlightening for scholars and being approachable for a broad audience. . . .[I]t is obvious that Batchelor not only has great affection for his subject but also a wealth of knowledge of the text, its history, and its use over the years. The sense of warmth and the depth and breadth of knowledge regarding the novel and American culture provide Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel with its readability. . . . .Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel is an important and worthwhile resource for those well-versed in The Great Gatsby as well as for those who want to know more about the book and its impact on American culture. * The Journal of Popular Culture *In what seems to be the first in the Contemporary American Literature series, Bob Batchelor, James Pedas Professor of Communication and executive director of the James Pedas Communication Center at Thiel College, author or editor of more than 20 books, founding editor of the Popular Culture Studies Journal, and editor of the Contemporary American Literature series, gives a narrative history of the critical and cultural fortunes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and the novel The Great Gatsby from its publication in 1925 until 2013, when a new movie version starring Leonardo DiCaprio was released. The author includes extensive notes, a bibliography, and an index. . . .Batchelor covers the ground well, pointing up the similarities between the 1920s and the 2010s in America—the culture of fame, the gap between rich and poor, and the conspicuous consumption of the rich. . . .There have been numerous book-length studies about the novel, including those by Fitzgerald experts such as Matthew J. Bruccoli, but this is the most up-to-date source on its reputation and relevance for our times. This work . . . could be assigned to the reserve rooms or reserve shelves in high school or college libraries where The Great Gatsby is taught. * American Reference Books Annual *Batchelor's Gatsby [is] impressively researched and smartly organized. * The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review *[T]his is a really good examination of how Fitzgerald's novel has remained relevant as a cultural icon. * Tallahassee Democrat *Table of ContentsPreface I. Gatsby Lives 1. Why Gatsby Matters II. The Faustian Bargain: Creating The Great Gatsby 2. A Literary Star Roaring through the Twenties 3. Breaking Bad: Fitzgerald’s Demise, 1925-1940 III. Gatsby in the American Century 4. Gatsby Reborn, 1941-1963 5. A Grand Illusion, 1964-1980 6. All That Glitters, 1981-2000 7. Gatsby Today, 2001-present IV. Gatsby and the Shifting America Dream 8. The American Dream 9. Wealth and Power 10. Celebrity…An Obsession V. The Enduring Legacy of the Great American Novel 11. Is Romance Timeless? 12. A Hope for Reading and the Quest for the Great American Novel 13. Boom, Bust, Repeat: Power, Greed, and Recklessness in Contemporary America 14. The Great Gatsby (2013): The Film Conclusion: Gatsby is America

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Trade Review"The Juggler" is an unjustly neglected work. Gracefully poised between decadence and dada, it combines the sensuousness, love of the artificial and sexual ambiguity of Huysman with the word play, subversion and dramatic irony of (Rachilde's friend) Alfred Jarry. The story of the relationship between the "juggler" of the title (in fact a well to do widow), Eliante Donalger, and her younger, somewhat callow suitor, the medical student Leon Reille, the novel alternates between their dramatic exchanges and their equally dramatic letters. The gender reversal and strong female character are reminiscent of Rachilde's more famous work, the scandalous "Monsieur Venus," but "The Juggler" is more nuanced, sure footed and mature, while being just as scandalous. It's a sexy book, even though there's nothing explicit in it, mostly through the author's attention to the minutest of sensations and her appreciation of the elastic wonders of the female body. Eliante's defiantly outsider pose and her suggestion of the artificiality of gender itself make reading "The Juggler" a strangely contemporary and immediate experience, and I must admit I savored every word. -- James Agnew * Amazon *"The Juggler" is an unjustly neglected work. Gracefully poised between decadence and dada, it combines the sensuousness, love of the artificial and sexual ambiguity of Huysman with the word play, subversion and dramatic irony of (Rachilde's friend) Alfred Jarry. The story of the relationship between the "juggler" of the title (in fact a well to do widow), Eliante Donalger, and her younger, somewhat callow suitor, the medical student Leon Reille, the novel alternates between their dramatic exchanges and their equally dramatic letters. The gender reversal and strong female character are reminiscent of Rachilde's more famous work, the scandalous "Monsieur Venus," but "The Juggler" is more nuanced, sure footed and mature, while being just as scandalous. It's a sexy book, even though there's nothing explicit in it, mostly through the author's attention to the minutest of sensations and her appreciation of the elastic wonders of the female body. Eliante's defiantly outsider pose and her suggestion of the artificiality of gender itself make reading "The Juggler" a strangely contemporary and immediate experience, and I must admit I savored every word. -- James Agnew * Amazon *

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Book SynopsisNineteen stories spanning Hisaye Yamamoto's forty-year career cover themes including the cultural conflicts between the first generation, the Issei, and their children, the Nisei; coping with prejudice; and the World War II internment of Japanese Americans.Trade ReviewThese remarkable stories are written with the proportion and craft of the mastersùthere are hints of Chekhov, Elizabeth Bowen, Katherine Mansfield, and Grace Paley. . . . Each of the fifteen short stories, written with the economy of haiku, is a treasure. * Booklist *The writing of history and the telling of stories are in our time very different. But these stories about the daily lives of Japanese American women in and out of the World War II internment camps of the United States are history and herstory. The women are gutsy or fragileùthat is, like any of us would be caught in exile while at home. The stories are beautifully written so we feel them even more deeply. * Grace Paley *You can imagine my delight to learn that a collection of her work is now finally seeing the light of day. How good that feels. At last more people will be touched by the grace that flows through Hisaye YamamotoÆs pen. The world will be a better place because of it. * Joy Kogawa *Reading Hisaye Yamamoto's Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories is like sitting down and having a good talk with someone who really remembers, someone who will open a door to her feelings and thoughts about what it has meant to be Japanese American during the last 40 years. . . . Seventeen Syllables is an excellent resource, one that keeps getting better with time. * International Examiner: The Pacific Reader *Table of ContentsContents Introduction ix The High-Heeled Shoes, A Memoir 1 Seventeen Syllables 8 The Legend of Miss Sasagawara 20 Wilshire Bus 34 The Brown House 39 Yoneko's Earthquake 46 Morning Rain 57 Epithalamium 60 Las Vegas Charley 70 Life Among the Oil Fields, A Memoir 86 The Eskimo Connection 96 My Father Can Beat Muhammad Ali 105 Underground Lady 109 A Day in Little Tokyo 114 Reading and Writing 122 Preface to the Revised and Expanded Edition 129 Death Rides the Rails to Poston 131 Eucalyptus 142 A Fire in Fontana 150 Florentine Gardens 158 Selected Bibliography 173

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Book SynopsisThe gripping story of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Bishop and her relationship with the extraordinary Brazilian woman Lota de Macedo Soares.

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