Search results for ""sublime""

Collecting Daniel Alexander Jones's plays and performance texts Bel Canto, Black Light, Blood:Shock:Boogie, clayangels, Duat, Phoenix Fabrik, and The Book of Daniel, this volume offers a panoramic view of Jones's shifting, glimmering, transformational body of work. Each play a provocation to the possibility of a more just world with love as civic practice at its center, Jones's writing moves with lithe and associative grace through histories personal, political, cosmological, and sublime. A reunion not only of Jones's revolutionary work in the course of twenty-five years in the avant-gardes of New York, Austin, and Minneapolis, among others, Love Like Light is also a reunion of collaborators and friends, featuring essays by Vicky Boone, Jacques Colimon, Eisa Davis, Omi Osun Joni L. Jones, korde arrington tuttle, Aaron Landsman, Deborah Paredez, and Shay Youngblood and an interview with Faye Price. Awarded the 2021 PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award for his expansive, multidisciplinary, radical body of work, Jones has, in the words of judges Jeremy O. Harris, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Leigh Silverman, “continued perfecting a dramaturgy all his own based in the traditions of Africana studies, performance studies, queer theory, and mysticism, challenging established traditions while creating space for audiences to ponder what theater is and who it is for.” A companion volume, Particle and Wave, features a book-length conversation between Daniel Alexander Jones and poet, scholar, and activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs about Love Like Light and the way that love, like light, suffuses everything and is the condition and power of change in the world.

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Marihuana, Motherhood & Madness features the complete shooting scripts of three Depression-era films directed by independent filmmaker Dwain Esper. A topic of growing interest among cinema aficionados and scholars, the lowbrow exploitation genre was the means by which small-scale entrepreneurs could compete with the major studios. Exploitation films addressed such controversial topics as drug use, prostitution, abortion, child marriage, and even bestiality—topics the major studios were forbidden to address by the Production Code Administration—salaciously exploiting the profitability of such taboo issues, while justifying their prurience by posing as educational tracts. Dwain Esper (1894-1982) was the exploitation industry's most audacious figure. Without any formal training in filmmaking, he operated his own film lab and studio (which he acquired when a debtor defaulted on a loan) and in 1932 began tapping into Depression America's appetites for iniquity. As technically crude as his films are, they possess a savage beauty and are highlighted by moments of sublime tenderness and startling horror, proving that Esper had a natural gift for the medium, even if he was only involved for the money. The screenplays included are: Modern Motherhood (1934), a social commentary on liberal marriages, abortion, and face-lifts; Maniac (1934), a treatise on mental illness delivered in the low-budget horror-movie format; and Marihuana: Weed with Roots in Hell (1936), a "drug scare" film in which a few puffs set an innocent high-school girl on a downward spiral to become a heroin-addicted, drug-pushing kidnapper.

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‘An intricate story, full of tension’ The Sun From the author of Little White Lies 'Masterful, clever, surprising at ever turn; a proper page-turner and a one-sitting read. I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Sublime’ Andrea Mara ‘A truly gripping thriller filled with teenage nostalgia and vividly rendered toxic friendships. It had me turning pages late into the night’ Heather Darwent 2003: Carrie and her friends spend their days studying at boarding school, and their nights sneaking out to the woods. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. 2019: When Finn receives a shocking call from his estranged wife, Mhairi, informing him of their friend Kate’s death, neither is prepared for the secrets they will uncover. The trail leads them to the events at a boarding school many years before. They are on the verge of unearthing the whole story – but someone will do anything to keep it buried. ‘Packed with dangerously charismatic characters you can’t get out of your head’ Laura Vaughan 'A psychologist and therapist herself, Philippa East, the author of Little White Lies, gently unspools her tale with great skill' Choice Magazine ‘A skilful, layered and ultimately emotional read. East is at the top of her game!’ Louise Swanson 'An engaging and unsettling novel that explores the spectrum of human connections, painful and tender' Lincolnshire Life ‘An addictive page-turner and a nuanced exploration of consequences and guilt. Complex and clever in the best ways’ Laurie Elizabeth Flynn 'Loved this claustrophobic and gorgeously written thriller' Fiona Cummins

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A follow-up to the successful 'The ScandiKitchen' (published September 2015), this new book from Brontë Aurell features over 60 recipes for cakes, bakes and treats from all over Scandinavia. From indulgent cream confections to homely and comforting fruit cakes and traditional breads, sweet buns and pastries. FIKA is a Swedish word meaning to meet up for a cup of coffee or tea over something delicious. It is also the word for the delicious treats themselves. Swedes traditionally stop twice a day for fika: taking a much-needed break from the daily grind. People fika with family, colleagues, friends, children and even go on fika dates. HYGGE (pronounced hue-guh) is a word that originated in Norway but is now mainly used in Denmark. It means ’a sublime state of cosiness you feel when you are with loved ones and nothing else matters’. Hygge can be enhanced by the addition of a log fire, a good film, a cup of something warm and a sweet treat…hence the ideal combination of the two terms. Chapters are divided into Biscuits and Cookies, Tray and No bakes, Everyday Fika, Little Fancy Cakes, Celebration Cakes and Bread and Batters. This beautifully illustrated, authentic guide is a celebration of Scandinavian baking in all its glory. It is evocative of cosy days shared with friends, slowing down and taking the time to enjoy simple, homemade, wholesome pleasures - encouraging a lifestyle to aspire to. With features on special Scandi winter celebrations, their baking traditions and how to bring fika and hygge into your life.

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The zany, the cute, and the interesting saturate postmodern culture. They dominate the look of its art and commodities as well as our discourse about the ambivalent feelings these objects often inspire. In this radiant study, Sianne Ngai offers a theory of the aesthetic categories that most people use to process the hypercommodified, mass-mediated, performance-driven world of late capitalism, treating them with the same seriousness philosophers have reserved for analysis of the beautiful and the sublime.Ngai explores how each of these aesthetic categories expresses conflicting feelings that connect to the ways in which postmodern subjects work, exchange, and consume. As a style of performing that takes the form of affective labor, the zany is bound up with production and engages our playfulness and our sense of desperation. The interesting is tied to the circulation of discourse and inspires interest but also boredom. The cute's involvement with consumption brings out feelings of tenderness and aggression simultaneously. At the deepest level, Ngai argues, these equivocal categories are about our complex relationship to performing, information, and commodities.Through readings of Adorno, Schlegel, and Nietzsche alongside cultural artifacts ranging from Bob Perelman's poetry to Ed Ruscha's photography books to the situation comedy of Lucille Ball, Ngai shows how these everyday aesthetic categories also provide traction to classic problems in aesthetic theory. The zany, cute, and interesting are not postmodernity's only meaningful aesthetic categories, Ngai argues, but the ones best suited for grasping the radical transformation of aesthetic experience and discourse under its conditions.

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'I raced through this murder mystery' Good Housekeeping, 10 Books to Read Right Now!'Smiley is a masterful writer' Sunday Times'Outstanding. Her sentences are sublime' Roxane GayFrom a brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling author: a rollicking murder mystery set in Gold Rush California, as two young prostitutes follow a trail of missing girls.Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can't resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe's detective Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer, all the while juggling clients who begin to seem more and more suspicious.Eliza and Jean are determined not just to survive, but to find their way in a lawless town on the fringes of the Wild West - a bewitching combination of beauty and danger - as what will become the Civil War looms on the horizon.As Mrs. Parks says, 'Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise . . .'

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Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik, Robin Hobb and George R.R. MartinShe has no name and no history, but she has a power greater than the Empire has ever known. Thanks to her special gift Judah has enjoyed a privileged life, being raised alongside Gavin, the son and heir to Lord Elban's vast empire. But as they grow Judah comes to realise that while Gavin is being groomed for his future role, she has no true position, and no hope of ever travelling beyond the castle walls. Lord Elban has plans for Judah – for all of them – but to him, she's nothing but a pawn. And he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.But he's not the only one with plans. Outside the castle wall – in the starving, desperate city – is a healer with his own secret power and his own plans for the empire . . . and Judah.The girl who started life with no name and no history will soon uncover more to her story than she ever imagined. An epic tale of greed and ambition, cruelty and love, this deeply immersive novel is about bowing to traditions and burning them down. ___________What people are saying about The Unwilling: 'Fantasy at its most sublime' ERIN MORGENSTERN'An epic fantasy novel with ingenious, thrilling twists and turns' KELLY LINK'Brilliantly executed. The Unwilling is about sharing joy, and sensing fear and cruelty, and caring beyond ourselves' VANITY FAIR'Suspenseful: magical, wonderfully written and never predictable . . . An essential addition to the all epic fantasy collections' BOOKLIST

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More than a century after the Norman Conquest, England remains a colony of foreign warlords. The dissolute Prince John plots to seize his brother's crown, his barons terrorize the country, and the mysterious outlaw Robin Hood haunts the ancient greenwood. The secret return of King Richard and the disinherited Saxon knight, Ivanhoe, heralds the start of a splendid and tumultuous romance, featuring the tournament at Ashby-de-la-Zouche, the siege of Torquilstone, and the clash of wills between the wicked Templar Bois-Guilbert and the sublime Jewess Rebecca. In Ivanhoe Scott fashioned an imperial myth of national cultural identity that has shaped the popular imagination ever since its first appearance at the end of 1819. The most famous of Scottish novelists drew on the conventions of Gothic fiction, including its risky sexual and racial themes, to explore the violent origins and limits of English nationality. This edition uses the 1830 Magnum Opus text, corrected against the Interleaved Set, and incorporates readings from Scott's manuscript. The introduction examines the originality and cultural importance of Ivanhoe, and draws on current work by historians and cultural critics. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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'I absolutely loved it. Hester is one heck of a woman!' Heidi Swain'A charming book seasoned with romance and a sprinkling of danger' Western MailCan Hester help her family escape desperate poverty and fulfil her dreams?1908: Hester always loved her mother best, her father had always been a hard man to like, spending more time (and money) in the local than with his family. After her mother's sudden death, followed by an injury forcing her father to give up his job as the ferryman, Hester is placed in the position of care-giver for her young brother and sister. As the years pass Hester must row the ferry night and day to keep them all from starvation, while her hopes of working in a kitchen and one day becoming a cook, slip further and further away. But just how far is Hester willing to go to make her dream a reality? And as the threat of war comes ever closer to the Cornish coast, will it bring opportunities or despair for Hester and her family?A gripping family saga perfect for fans of Sheila Newberry, Glenda Young and Mollie Walton. Escape to the Cornish coast and discover a strong woman who will do anything for her family and for her dreams... Readers are already falling in love with Hester:'This was a superb read, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment' Being Anne'A sublime novel, written deftly, and with a keen attention to detail' Netgalley reviewer'Lovely family saga book' Netgalley reviewer

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This publication comprises the first monographic survey dedicated to artist Kevin Schmidt. Based in Vancouver, Schmidt is an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, video, photography and installation who has exhibited widely across North America and Europe. He is perhaps best known for performance expeditions and interventions into the natural world, which are documented in photographs, installations and videos, such as his eleven-and-a-half-hour Epic Journey, which documents a marathon nighttime screening of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a small boat as it drifted down the Fraser River, or his Aurora with Roman Candle, which shows him firing roman candles at the Aurora Borealis.At a time when we might consider cultural production as being democratised through the Internet, Schmidt combines notions of the heroic with the seemingly amateur by using visible reminders of construction and theatrical devices-smoke machines, stage lights and DIY photographic equipment. Through this he proposes a utopian assertion of "the commons", where both land and culture are publicly accessible to all.Presented in partnership with Kamloops Art Gallery and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, this publication features essays by Charo Neville, Kathleen Ritter and an artist interview with Nigel Prince. The book charts Schmidt's ongoing body of work addressing the tensions between man and nature, performance and document and indoors and outdoors. These propositions are tackled through references to landscape, the invocation of the sublime at the point of apprehending such wild beauty, and by juxtaposing seemingly disparate elements within these environments. Works are often situated in remote locations, where Schmidt stages remarkable events that transfer elements of urban culture into untouched natural contexts. In this way, he simultaneously examines both the seductive elements of contemporary cultural production and the constructions that surround the idea of nature.

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This interdisciplinary book honors Columbia professor and New York intellectual Carl Woodring. Chapters on Romantic and Victorian literary culture written by leading scholars in the field join in conversation with Woodring’s teachings on literature and visual art and his commentaries on American culture. A multiple-authored chapter of postscripts on the aesthetic range of Woodring’s intellectual interests across cultural disciplines, his contributions to English studies and his informing influence on several generations of scholars, and their areas of interest, follows. A chapter from Woodring’s unpublished autobiography, on his childhood in small-town America, then concludes the volume with an ironic retrospection on intercultural origins. Topics addressed among the chapters include portraiture and self-fashioning, landscape art, physiognomy and caricatures, radical print ephemera, illustrated picaresque verse, social and political satire, traditions of the sublime in art and literature, transatlantic influences and aesthetics, chaos theory and the laws of thermodynamics, the Caribbean slave trade, revolutionary history, Napoleonic wars, the politics of multicultural communities, gender and race, marginalia and textual revelations, Native America, historical interchanges in curating museum shows, and contemporary American sculpture and art. Cultural figures of the nineteenth century that are featured in the discussions include Henry Adams, Beethoven, Blake, Byron, Willa Cather, Thomas Cole, Coleridge, James Fenimore Cooper, George Cruikshank, Ugo Foscolo, Washington Irving, Keats, Willibrord Mähler, George Romney, Rowlandson, Shelley, and Wordsworth. Chapter essays, commentaries, and Carl Woodring’s unpublished writings function together in Nature, Politics, and the Arts: Essays on Romantic Culture for Carl Woodring—with a depth of original perspectives and a multi-voiced and intercultural coherence. The book as a whole testifies to Woodring’s living and intellectually potent legacy for future students of nineteenth-century transatlantic culture and twenty-first century scholarship on literature and art.

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2022 FINALIST FOR THE BARNES & NOBLE DISCOVER PRIZE 2022 FINALIST FOR THE URSULA LE GUIN PRIZE FOR FICTION 2022 WATERSTONES AND ESQUIRE BEST BOOKS OF 2022 ‘Haunting and luminous … An astonishing debut’ – Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta 'A powerfully moving and thought provoking read. At times sublime, strange and deeply human' Adrian Tchaikovsky, bestselling author of the Children of Time series Siberia, 2031. After a virus, unearthed from melting permafrost, unleashes a deadly plague upon humanity, those left alive are forced to adapt to a new world, and do so in myriad moving and inventive ways. Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects — a pig — develops human speech; and a widowed painter and her teenage granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. A story of unshakeable hope that seamlessly crosses literary lines, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humankind endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. Wonderful and disquieting, dreamlike and all too possible. [How High We Go in the Dark] reaches far beyond our stars while its heart remains rooted to Earth, and reminds us that our wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of our world - Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree

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'Everything you would expect of a James Naughtie book - droll, absorbing and wonderfully perceptive.' Bill Bryson'A revealing and at times spellbinding tapestry of a nation...It is thought-provoking, constantly surprising and hugely entertaining. Sublime stuff.’ Michael Simkins, Mail on Sunday'An insightful account of living through momentous times...much to enjoy in Naughtie's astute memoir.' Martin Chilton, Independent James Naughtie, the acclaimed author and BBC broadcaster, now brings his unique and inquisitive eye to the country that has fascinated him and drawn him across the Atlantic for half a century. In looking at America, from Presidents Nixon through to Biden, he tells the story of a country that is grappling with a dream. What has it come to mean in the new century, and who do Americans now think they are? Drawing on his travels and encounters over forty years in the ‘Land of the Free’, On The Road is filled with anecdotes, memories, tears and laughter reflecting Naughtie’s characteristic warmth and enthusiasm in encountering the America of Washington, of Broadway, of the small town and the plains. As a student, Naughtie watched the fall of President Richard Nixon in 1974, and subsequently as a journalist followed the story of the country – its politicians, artists, wheeler-dealers and the people who make it what it is, in the New York melting pot or the western deserts. This is a story filled with encounters, for example with the people he has watched on every presidential campaign from the late 1970s to the victory of Joe Biden in 2020. This edition is fully updated to include Naughtie's fascinating insights on the controversial presidential election battle in 2020 between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

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Luther and Calvin applied the term fanatic to those who sought to destroy civil society in order to establish the Kingdom of God, the "false prophets" and their followers who, early on in the Reformation, began smashing images in churches and rebelling against princes. Civil Society and Fanaticism is organized around this seminal moment of religious and political iconoclasm, an outburst of hatred against mediations and representation. The author shows that civil society and fanaticism have been consistently present as conjoined notions in Western political thought since the sixteenth century, underlining the link between two principles that are constitutive of that thought: dualism—between the City of God and the earthly city, between civil society and the state—and the validity of representation. In what is both a study of the evolution of the two interrelated concepts and a critique of critiques of representation, the author draws upon an impressive range of works, including texts by Aristotle and Baudelaire, the medieval theology of Giles of Rome and the humanist thought of the Reformer Philipp Melanchthon, the political philosophies of Spinoza, Leibniz, and Rousseau, Kant's reflections on the sublime, and Marx's critique of Hegel. At the same time, he discusses a varied group of fanatics or people stigmatized as such: the first Anabaptists, the Shiite sect of the Assassins, the French Protestant Camisards, the Bolsheviks. An original analysis of Lenin's political theory and practice sheds new light on the antagonism between totalitarianism and the law-governed state identified with civil society. The author's approach is multidisciplinary, proceeding at different moments from lexicographical, sociological, psychoanalytic, and philosophical methods and analysis. The book also makes vivid use of iconology by reproducing and interpreting a series of works by Albrecht Dürer, whose art and theory of representation, it is argued, were opposed to the destruction not only of images but of civil society.

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From the architectural spectacle of the medieval cathedral and the romantic sublime of the nineteenth-century panorama to the techno-fetishism of today's London Science Museum, humans have gained a deeper understanding of the natural world through highly illusionistic representations that engender new modes of seeing, listening, and thinking. What unites and defines many of these wondrous spaces is an immersive view-an invitation to step inside the virtual world of the image and become a part of its universe, if only for a short time. Since their inception, museums of science and natural history have mixed education and entertainment, often to incredible, eye-opening effect. Immersive spaces of visual display and modes of exhibition send "shivers" down our spines, engaging the distinct cognitive and embodied mapping skills we bring to spectacular architecture and illusionistic media. They also force us to reconsider traditional models of film spectatorship in the context of a mobile and interactive spectator. Through a series of detailed historical case studies, Alison Griffiths masterfully explores the uncanny and unforgettable visceral power of the medieval cathedral, the panorama, the planetarium, the IMAX theater, and the science museum. Examining these structures as exemplary spaces of immersion and interactivity, Griffiths reveals the sometimes surprising antecedents of modern media forms, suggesting the spectator's deep-seated desire to become immersed in a virtual world. Shivers Down Your Spine demonstrates how immersive and interactive museum display techniques such as large video displays, reconstructed environments, and touch-screen computer interactives have redefined the museum space, fueling the opposition between public and private, science and spectacle, civic and corporate interests, voice and text, and life and death. In her remarkable study of sensual spaces, Griffiths explains why, for centuries, we keep coming back for more.

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Our breath catches and we jump in fear at the sight of a snake. We pause and marvel at the sublime beauty of a sunrise. These reactions are no accident; in fact, many of our human responses to nature are steeped in our deep evolutionary past - we fear snakes because of the danger of venom or constriction, and we welcome the assurances of the sunrise as the predatory dangers of the dark night disappear. Many of our aesthetic preferences - from the kinds of gardens we build to the foods we enjoy and the entertainment we seek - are the lingering result of natural selection. In this ambitious and unusual work, evolutionary biologist Gordon H. Orians explores the role of evolution in human responses to the environment, beginning with why we have emotions and ending with evolutionary approaches to aesthetics. Orians reveals how our emotional lives today are shaped by decisions our ancestors made centuries ago on African savannas. During this time our likes and dislikes became wired in our brains, as the appropriate responses to the environment meant the difference between survival or death. His rich analysis explains why we mimic the tropical savannas of our ancestors in our parks and gardens, why we are simultaneously attracted to danger and approach it cautiously, and how paying close attention to nature's sounds has resulted in us being an unusually musical species. We also learn why we have developed discriminating palates for wine, why we have strong reactions to some odors, and why we enjoy classifying almost everything. By applying biological perspectives ranging from Darwin to current neuroscience to analyses of our aesthetic preferences for landscapes, sounds, smells, plants, and animals, Snakes, Sunrises, and Shakespeare transforms how we view our experience of the natural world and how we relate to each other.

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'A magical, fairy-filled read with a twisty plot and main character you'll adore' A.F. Steadman, author of the internationally bestselling Skandar and the Unicorn ThiefFairies are real, but their power is waning . . . Embark on the adventure of a lifetime and discover the magic of Goblyn Wood, with the first book in a major new fantasy series for fans of Nevermoor and Podkin One-Ear! Are you ready to enter Goblyn Wood . . . ?Hazel has always known she was different, but she doesn’t know where she came from. When her best friend Pete is kidnapped by strange creatures, she must gather her courage and enter Goblyn Wood, a forest inhabited by fairies. But their magic is being drained away, and Hazel soon realises that her own power is the key to saving both Pete and her new friends. Embarking on an epic journey of discovery, can Hazel restore the balance of the fairy realm?From Waterstones prize-shortlisted Anna Kemp – enter this rich and immersive new fantasy world and meet a powerful new hero.Praise for Into Goblyn Wood: 'A fabulously rich adventure into a magical landscape, with that most important theme of all: believing in ourselves and the potential we hold.' Sarah Lean, author of the bestselling The Last Bear 'An absolutely sparkling adventure. The perfect book to curl up with as we're stepping into autumn' Alex Foulkes, author of Rules for Vampires 'A beautiful story, beautifully told. Into Goblyn Wood gives readers a wonderful world to lose themselves inside, and to keep daydreaming about for a long time afterwards!' Sylvia Bishop, author of The Bookshop Girl 'Anna Kemp’s world building is sublime . . . It’s unpredictable, perfectly paced and totally gripping... This is a truly brilliant book - fantasy at its finest. I could not put it down and cannot wait to read the next book in the series' Netgalley reviewer

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A definitive new edition of one of the greatest philosophical poems in the English languageVoltaire called it "the most sublime didactic poem ever written in any language." Rousseau rhapsodized about its intellectual consolations. Kant recited long passages of it from memory during his lectures. And Adam Smith and David Hume drew inspiration from it in their writings. This was Alexander Pope's Essay on Man (1733–34), a masterpiece of philosophical poetry, one of the most important and controversial works of the Enlightenment, and one of the most widely read, imitated, and discussed poems of eighteenth-century Europe and America. This volume, which presents the first major new edition of the poem in more than fifty years, introduces this essential work to a new generation of readers, recapturing the excitement and illuminating the debates it provoked from the moment of its publication.Echoing Milton's purpose in Paradise Lost, Pope says his aim in An Essay on Man is to "vindicate the ways of God to man"—to explain the existence of evil and explore man's place in the universe. In a comprehensive introduction, Tom Jones describes the poem as an investigation of the fundamental question of how people should behave in a world they experience as chaotic, but which they suspect to be orderly from some higher point of view. The introduction provides a thorough discussion of the poem's attitudes, themes, composition, context, and reception, and reassesses the work's place in history. Extensive annotations to the text explain references and allusions.The result is the most accessible, informative, and reader-friendly edition of the poem in decades and an invaluable book for students and scholars of eighteenth-century literature and thought.

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Set your taste-buds on fire as you embark on a thrilling gastronomic rollercoaster ride that takes you from the pulsating dark heart of Dark Mofos spectacular Winter Feast, to the midnight banquets, seductive supper clubs and dark dinners unearthed in the Dark Fringe, created in honour of Tasmanias iconic festival of darkness. Learn how to master the flames with Monas Heavy Metal Kitchen and appease your inner glutton with a smorgasbord of sublime fire cooked dishes, before descending into Dantes Inferno to resurrect your corpses with a cornucopia of cocktails created by some of Tasmanias most celebrated distilleries and bars. Brimming full of stunning dark and moody images, this spectacular 596-page ode to the Southern Hemisphere Winter and Winter Solstice, contains more than 180 delicious recipes, most of which have been especially recreated for this cookbook including from Monas Heavy Metal Kitchen, inspired chef collaborations from the Dark Mofo Winter Feast and other feasts of darkness. Sinners can also find tips on how to make the perfect cocktail, what to forage for, and when and what to grow for their Winter Table, as well as some suggestions of how to use their Winter produce. Winter Wild also celebrates some of the worlds most ancient Winter Solstice sites, ceremonies and rituals, as well as exploring what different cultures eat at this auspicious time. Divinely, Winter Wild also contains two deliciously dark tales shared by professional storyteller Martin Maudsley from Dorset, who at the Huon Valley + Willie Smiths Mid-Winter Fest in Tasmania, held the enraptured audiences in the palm of his hands. Are you ready? Snuggle up by a roaring fire and pour yourself a hot whisky toddy - Winter has never been cooler!

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From the author of the BBC 2 Between the Covers hit, The Fine Art of Invisible Detection'The world's greatest storyteller' Guardian'One of the finest crime writers of any generation' Daily Mail'Our finest practitioner of the double-cross plotting' Mick Herron______________________________________Umiko Wada never set out to be a private detective, let alone become the one-woman operation behind the Kodaka Detective Agency. But so it has turned out, thanks to the death of her former boss, Kazuto Kodaka, in mysterious circumstances.Keen to avoid a similar fate, Wada chooses the cases she takes very carefully. A businessman who wants her to track down his estranged son offers what appears to be a straightforward assignment. Soon she finds herself pulled into a labyrinthine conspiracy with links to a twenty-seven-year-old investigation by her late employer and to the chaos and trauma of the dying days of the Second World War.As Wada uncovers a dizzying web of connections between then and now, it becomes clear that someone has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the past buried. Soon those she loves most will be sucked into the orbit of one of the most powerful men in Tokyo. And he will do whatever it takes to hold on to his power...The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction is another tour de force from the cunning mind of master storyteller Robert Goddard. Spanning seventy years, it takes the reader on a head-spinning journey of twist and counter-twist which keep you guessing until the final pages.__________________________________Readers love the Umiko Wada series:***** 'Guaranteed and satisfying escapism'***** 'Twists and turns right up to the last page'***** 'Edge-of-the-seat stuff'***** 'Fresh and inventive'***** 'The master of twists and suspense ... sublime'***** 'Scintillating and wickedly twisty'

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What if your work rival was the ex that you’d never actually broken up with? ‘Sizzling’ SOPHIE IRWIN‘Witty’ BETH REEKLES‘Excellent’ JANE CASEY‘Pitch-perfect’ EMMA HUGHES How do you get rid of an ex . . . When you’ve never actually broken up? When arrogant new colleague Benjamin swans into Fia’s small office at her New York law firm, it’s no secret they dislike – no, hate – each other. But there is one secret no one knows. The last time Fia and Benjamin saw each other was one summer night nearly ten years ago, at a little chapel – in Vegas. Benjamin isn’t just Fia’s co-worker, he’s also her long-lost husband. They made a promise – they even signed a pact – that they’d divorce after one year. But they never did. Now, if anyone discovers they’re husband and wife, both their jobs are on the line. And as their marriage starts to finally heat up, it’s a secret that’s getting harder to keep . . . EVERYONE LOVES THE BREAK-UP CLAUSE ‘I REALLY loved . . . so clever, so good, really excellent characters’ JANE CASEY ‘Electric right from the off…a witty, wonderful book with such a wholesome take on friendships and a sizzling romance’ BETH REEKLES ’Hargan has a light touch and a winning sense of humour’ THE TIMES ‘Reminds me of Katherine Heiny . . . her crisp scene-setting wit, her pitch-perfect ear for dialogue and her wonderful, wry eye . . . make every page a pleasure to read’ EMMA HUGHES ‘An absolute first class rom-com: smart, funny and sizzling with chemistry’ SOPHIE IRWIN ‘Joyous, funny and very sweet, this is one to savour’ STYLIST ‘One of the very best romcom writers around. It is sublime . . . chemistry/sizzle/snark is off the charts’ CRESSIDA MCLAUGHLIN

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A genuine political ethics seems to require a universal perspective, and yet we are told that the postmodern age eschews universal perspectives. In this book, Georges De Schrijver argues that the leading proponents of postmodernity have not, as is commonly assumed, abandoned the search for universals. Rather they have sought to reshape the concept in ways that account for postmodernity's critique. Examining the thought of both Jean-Francois Lyotard, who prophesies the end of the grand stories, and Jacques Derrida, the leading proponent of deconstruction, De Schrijver comes to the conclusion that each, in his turn, is still in search of the universal. Taking his lead from Kant's unpresentable Idea, Lyotard holds out hope for a universal expressed through respect for heterogeneity, whereas Derrida arrives at this impossible dream through a critical study of Husserl's phenomenology. The common bond for Lyotard and Derrida is their quest of the unpresentable. For Lyotard, this comes through a sublime sadness urging him to side with the silenced party in legal disputes. For Derrida, the same quest is expressed through a yearning for the impossible things to come: a justice that goes beyond legality, a reshaping of the international juridical order, and a hospitality that is truly unconditional in its reach. Underlying the thought of both men is a profound appreciation for their Jewish ethical inheritance, an appreciation they learn from Emmanuel Levinas. In passing judgment on the new world order, both authors go decidedly beyond Kant - and thus beyond modernity - in reaching for a truly transcultural perspective in this era of globalization.

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For more than 60 years, Frommer’s’ guides have cut through the noise and hyperbole to deliver what no other books can: Honest talk, frank advice, and an affectionate insider’s secrets to appreciating and affording vacations around the world. Don’t travel like a mere tourist—discover the full experiences of Thailand, from Bangkok to its sublime cuisine to its world-famous island escapes. Whether your budget is large or tight, Frommer’s shows you Thailand like a local. Frommer’s takes you to the experiences that only locals know about! -Insider advice on how to best experience the historic and natural wonders of Thailand, and little-known secrets about where to eat and drink -Where to find the best beaches, resorts, markets, hiking trails, scenic vistas, from the jungles of the north to the sugar-sand beaches of the south. -Insightful commentary on Thailand’s stunning national parks, ruins, historic sites, and architectural highlights, plus an in-depth discussion of its rich cultural history so you’ll appreciate what you’re seeing. Frommer’s has been to all of them! -Opinionated reviews. No bland descriptions and lukewarm recommendations. Our expert writers are passionate about their destinations—they tell it like it is in an engaging and helpful way. -Exact prices listed for every establishment and activity—no other guides offer such detailed, candid reviews of hotels and restaurants. We include the very best, but also emphasize moderately priced choices for real people. -User-friendly features including star ratings to point readers to great finds, excellent values, insider tips, best bets for kids, special moments, and overrated experiences.

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A wickedly funny, full-color, illustrated sendup of the trendy lifestyle publication GOOP. What is Glop? Glop is a business and a website. But Glop is also a feeling. It's about picking the right expensive organic eye cream that will make you fit seamlessly into the top tiers of high society and sits next to Bono at a 42-course seitan tasting dinner held in a sex dungeon deep beneath the North Pole. Glop is about being conscious to the tiny details of our lives-what to eat, where to buy your cashmere yoga pants, which juice cleanse will remove the most mercury toxins from both your body and your cashmere yoga pants. Glop is about you. In this scathingly humorous parody, Gabrielle Moss skewers the vanity, elitism, and silliness of the lifestyle website everyone loves to hate. Here are favorite recipes, detoxes, activities, cleanses, beauty tips, juice cleanses, vacation destinations, and a selection of hand creams that will open your third eye-plus lots of celebrity namedropping and more. Glop includes everything from the silly to sublime-make-at-home stem cell moisturizing repair masques, weekend colonics, restorative yoga poses (for when Sting is mad at you about that thing you did), and even the freshest bones for your bone broth. Here, too, are G's essential tips on parenthood, relationships, work and finances, entertaining, food (well, maybe not food), spirituality, beauty, fashion, home, gifts, kids, and more. Nothing in Glop is sacred-except for a few Indian cows you can't afford.

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“Revelatory and sublime…Her work remains conceptually open enough for viewers to draw their own conclusions, insert their own meaning and feel transported to other glorious worlds.” —The New York Times One of the most inventive artists of the twentieth century, Hilma af Klint was a pioneer of abstraction. Her first forays into her imaginative non-objective painting long preceded the work of Kandinsky and Mondrian and radically mined the fields of science and religion. Deeply interested in spiritualism and philosophy, af Klint developed an iconography that explores esoteric concepts in metaphysics, as demonstrated in Tree of Knowledge. This rarely seen series of watercolors renders orbital, enigmatic forms, visual allegories of unification and separateness, darkness and light, beginning and end, life and death, and spirit and matter. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Hilma af Klint: Tree of Knowledge at David Zwirner New York in 2021 and David Zwirner London in 2022, this catalogue features a text by the art historian Susan Aberth examining af Klint’s spiritual and anthroposophical influences. With a conversation between the curator Helen Molesworth and the US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo discussing connections between Tree of Knowledge and native theories about plant knowledge, the publication broadens the scope of philosophical interpretations of af Klint's timeless work. Also included is a newly commissioned essay by the celebrated af Klint scholar Julia Voss, a contribution by the artist Suzan Frecon, and a text by art historian Max Rosenberg that further develops the conversation around why af Klint’s work was not recognized in its time.

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In The Carpathians, Patrice M. Dabrowski narrates how three highland ranges of the mountain system found in present-day Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine were discovered for a broader regional public. This is a story of how the Tatras, Eastern Carpathians, and Bieszczady Mountains went from being terra incognita to becoming the popular tourist destinations they are today. It is a story of the encounter of Polish and Ukrainian lowlanders with the wild, sublime highlands and with the indigenous highlanders—Górale, Hutsuls, Boikos, and Lemkos—and how these peoples were incorporated into a national narrative as the territories were transformed into a native/national landscape. The set of microhistories in this book occur from about 1860 to 1980, a time in which nations and states concerned themselves with the "frontier at the edge." Discoverers not only became enthralled with what were perceived as their own highlands but also availed themselves of the mountains as places to work out answers to the burning questions of the day. Each discovery led to a surge in mountain tourism and interest in the mountains and their indigenous highlanders. Although these mountains, essentially a continuation of the Alps, are Central and Eastern Europe's most prominent physical feature, politically they are peripheral. The Carpathians is the first book to deal with the northern slopes in such a way, showing how these discoveries had a direct impact on the various nation-building, state-building, and modernization projects. Dabrowski's history incorporates a unique blend of environmental history, borderlands studies, and the history of tourism and leisure.

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A family's thrilling voyage around the Caribbean and across the Atlantic Ocean 'A great read for anyone daring to throw caution to the wind' Coast Three years after his return from the Alaskan wilderness, Guy Grieve was living on the Isle of Mull in Scotland with his wife Juliet and their two young sons. Sick of the weather, perennial colds and their increasingly routine lifestyle, they’d all been getting restless. Finally, Guy and Juliet broke in spectacular style – they re-mortgaged their house and bought a yacht. Her name was Forever. The plan? To pick up Forever from her mooring in the Leeward Antilles off the coast of Venezuela, and sail around the West Indies before crossing the Atlantic back to Scotland. This was despite the fact that Guy, skipper of the expedition, had almost no sailing experience. Travelling around the lush tropical islands of the Caribbean and up the waterways of America, the family had countless sublime moments as they discovered the freedoms of sailing – anchoring in deserted bays, night passages under star-studded skies, and entering New York by water, greeted by the Statue of Liberty. But there were also testing times as they grappled with seasickness and bad weather, coping with young children at sea and learning to run a large, complex boat. Far from being the idyllic escape they’d envisaged, the journey forced Guy and Juliet to draw on reserves of courage and endurance they never knew they had. Wry, funny and buccaneering, this is a compelling tale of bravery and endeavour, out on the open sea.

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Daniel O'Quinn investigates the complex interpersonal, political, and aesthetic relationships between Europeans and Ottomans in the long eighteenth century. Bookmarking his analysis with the conflict leading to the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz on one end and the 1815 bid for Greek independence on the other, he follows the fortunes of notable British, Dutch, and French diplomats to the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire as they lived and worked according to the capitulations surrendered to the Sultan. Closely reading a mixed archive of drawings, maps, letters, dispatches, memoirs, travel narratives, engraved books, paintings, poems, and architecture, O'Quinn demonstrates the extent to which the Ottoman state was not only the subject of historical curiosity in Europe but also a key foil against which Western theories of governance were articulated. Juxtaposing narrative accounts of diplomatic life in Constantinople, such as those contained in the letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the English ambassador, with visual depictions such as those of the costumes of the Ottoman elite produced by the French-Flemish painter Jean Baptiste Vanmour, he traces the dissemination of European representations and interpretations of the Ottoman Empire throughout eighteenth-century material culture. In a series of eight interlocking chapters, O'Quinn presents sustained and detailed case studies of particular objects, personalities, and historical contexts, framing intercultural encounters between East and West through a set of key concerns: translation, mediation, sociability, and hospitality. Richly illustrated and provocatively argued, Engaging the Ottoman Empire demonstrates that study of the Ottoman world is vital to understanding European modernity.

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At his death in 1992, the eminent philosopher, critic, and theorist Louis Marin left, in addition to a dozen influential books (including Sublime Poussin, Stanford, 1999), a corpus of some three hundred articles and essays published in journals and anthologies. A collection of twenty-two essays that appeared between 1971 and 1992, this book interrogates the theory and practice of representation as it is carried out by both linguistic and graphic signs, and thus the complex relation between language and image, between perception and conception. The essays are grouped in four parts that reflect the continuity and coherence of Marin's interests in semiology, narrative, visuality, and painting. The interdisciplinary horizon of the book draws on multiple scholarly resources—the cultural history of the seventeenth century, the philosophy of language, the tools of discourse analysis, the history of art and aesthetics, the analysis of reception—to address a stunning diversity of subjects ranging from historical painting through cartography to the processes of deciphering texts, interpreting stories, and reading images. Throughout the essays, Marin's reflection on representation is supported and deepened by his brilliant exegesis of graphic art. His analysis of works by Caravaggio, Philippe de Champaigne, Le Brun, and Poussin, among others, provides the armature that allows him to describe both the structural logic of representation and the intricate processes of production and reception that make it dynamic and unstable. Marin demonstrates with consummate rigor why the pursuit of a general theory of representation is experienced by artists and critics alike as an inevitable, yet unattainable objective.

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There is a huge difference between writing code that compiles and runs and writing code that is robust, extensible, maintainable, readable, and just plain elegant. And it's that difference that distinguishes a master Java developer from just a good developer. Becoming a master programmer takes hard work, patience and, usually, an expert who will take the time to teach you how to understand and use the most difficult concepts in the language. But what if your goal is Java wizardry, and you don't have an available expert willing to take you under wing? Don't despair. You can rely on Hardcore Java to transform your Java skills from competent to sublime. Hardcore Java distills years of experience into a concise, but generous, compendium of java guru expertise. It reveals the difficult and rarely understood secrets of Java that true master programmers need to know. Written for the working Java developer, Hardcore Java focuses on the set of APIs you must use to create standalone applications. This indispensable resource explores in detail the advanced, powerful aspects of application design and programming that will make every line of your code count. Hardcore Java is an advanced book that focuses on the little-touched but critical parts of the Java programming language that expert programmers use. We're not talking about trivial things; we're talking about difficult but extremely powerful and useful programming techniques like reflection, advanced data modeling, advanced GUI design, and advanced aspects of JDO, EJB and XML-based web clients. This unique book reveals the true wizardry behind the complex and often-mysterious Java environment.

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Confucius called them the "king of fragrant plants," and John Ruskin condemned them as "prurient apparitions." Across the centuries, orchids have captivated us with their elaborate exoticism, their powerful perfumes, and their sublime seductiveness. But the disquieting beauty of orchids is an unplanned marvel of evolution, and the story of orchids is as captivating as any novel. As acclaimed writer Michael Pollan and National Geographic photographer Christian Ziegler spin tales of orchid conquest in "Deceptive Beauties: The World of Wild Orchids", we learn how these flowers forests to the Arctic, from semi deserts to rocky mountainsides; how their shapes, colors, and scents are, as Darwin put it, "beautiful contrivances" meant to dupe pollinating male insects in the strangest ways. What other flowers, after all, can mimic the pheromones and even appearance of female insects, so much so that some male bees prefer sex with the orchids over sex with their own kind? And insects aren't the only ones to fall for the orchids' charms. Since the "orchidelirium" of the Victorian era, humans have braved the wilds to search them out and devoted copious amounts of time and money propagating and hybridizing, nurturing and simply gazing at them. This astonishing book features over 150 unprecedented color photographs taken by Christian Ziegler himself as he trekked through wilderness on five continents to capture the diversity and magnificence of orchids in their natural habitats. His intimate and astonishing images allow us to appreciate up close nature's most intoxicating and deceptive beauties.

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Endless sky, rock, and water: Where the arid grasslands of southern Argentina meet the Atlantic Ocean, the wild winds and waters of Patagonia have sculpted a magical landscape. This wonderland is Monte Leon National Park. Established in 2002 through public/private collaboration, the park's creation was prompted by a gift from Kristine Tompkins, the former CEO of the clothing company named for this legendary region at the bottom of the Earth. Encompassing roughly 155,000 acres and 25 miles of shoreline, Monte Leon is now held in trust for future generations as part of Argentina's national park system. It is both a destination for adventurous travellers and a home to an array of charismatic creatures; a place where guanacos remain ever wary of stalking pumas, vast colonies of Magellanic penguins coat the beaches, and every tide pool harbours a universe in miniature. In Monte Leon, photographer Antonio Vizcaino takes readers on a visual tour of the park's natural features, exploring the wildlife, landforms, and textures and the sublime quality of light where land meets sea. Essays are included by Carlos Enrique Meyer, Silvia Braun, Claudio Campagna, William Coway, Francisco Erize and Patricia Gandini, the key players who helped birth the new park and other experts complement Vizcaino's images. Monte Leon is a book as beautiful as the landscape it celebrates. For everyone who has ever dreamed of Patagonia, Monte Leon is your invitation to visit a treasure of the Patagonia coast. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to continue conservation efforts in Monte Leon.

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'The writing is sublime, the research thorough, the eye for story superb' Sunday TelegraphWhen Amitav Ghosh began the research for his monumental cycle of novels the Ibis Trilogy, he was startled to find how the lives of the 19th century sailors and soldiers he wrote of were dictated not only by the currents of the Indian Ocean, but also by the precious commodity carried in enormous quantities on those currents: opium. Most surprising at all, however, was the discovery that his own identity and family history was swept up in the story.Smoke and Ashes is at once a travelogue, memoir and a history, drawing on decades of archival research. In it, Ghosh traces the transformative effect the opium trade had on Britain, India, and China, as well as the world at large. The trade was engineered by the British Empire, which exported Indian opium to sell to China and redress their great trade imbalance, and its revenues were essential to the Empire's financial survival. Yet tracing the profits further, Ghosh finds opium at the origins of some of the world's biggest corporations, of America's most powerful families and prestigious institutions (from the Astors and Coolidges to the Ivy League), and of contemporary globalism itself.Moving deftly between horticultural histories, the mythologies of capitalism, and the social and cultural repercussions of colonialism, in Smoke and Ashes Amitav Ghosh reveals the role that one small plant had in making our world, now teetering on the edge of catastrophe.

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The Mathematician's Brain poses a provocative question about the world's most brilliant yet eccentric mathematical minds: were they brilliant because of their eccentricities or in spite of them? In this thought-provoking and entertaining book, David Ruelle, the well-known mathematical physicist who helped create chaos theory, gives us a rare insider's account of the celebrated mathematicians he has known-their quirks, oddities, personal tragedies, bad behavior, descents into madness, tragic ends, and the sublime, inexpressible beauty of their most breathtaking mathematical discoveries. Consider the case of British mathematician Alan Turing. Credited with cracking the German Enigma code during World War II and conceiving of the modern computer, he was convicted of "gross indecency" for a homosexual affair and died in 1954 after eating a cyanide-laced apple--his death was ruled a suicide, though rumors of assassination still linger. Ruelle holds nothing back in his revealing and deeply personal reflections on Turing and other fellow mathematicians, including Alexander Grothendieck, Rene Thom, Bernhard Riemann, and Felix Klein. But this book is more than a mathematical tell-all. Each chapter examines an important mathematical idea and the visionary minds behind it. Ruelle meaningfully explores the philosophical issues raised by each, offering insights into the truly unique and creative ways mathematicians think and showing how the mathematical setting is most favorable for asking philosophical questions about meaning, beauty, and the nature of reality. The Mathematician's Brain takes you inside the world--and heads--of mathematicians. It's a journey you won't soon forget.

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The definitive biography of a legendary athlete.The Shrug. The Shot. The Flu Game. Michael Jordan is responsible for sublime moments so ingrained in sports history that they have their own names. When most people think of him, they think of his beautiful shots with the game on the line, his body totally in sync with the ball -- hitting nothing but net.But for all his greatness, this scion of a complex family from North Carolina's Coastal Plain has a darker side: he's a ruthless competitor and a lover of high stakes. There's never been a biography that encompassed the dual nature of his character and looked so deeply at Jordan on and off the court -- until now.Basketball journalist Roland Lazenby spent almost thirty years covering Michael Jordan's career in college and the pros. He witnessed Jordan's growth from a skinny rookie to the instantly recognizable global ambassador for basketball whose business savvy and success have millions of kids still wanting to be just like Mike. Yet Lazenby also witnessed the Michael Jordan whose drive and appetite are more fearsome and more insatiable than any of his fans could begin to know.Michael Jordan: The Life explores both sides of his personality to reveal the fullest, most compelling story of the man who is Michael Jordan. Lazenby draws on his personal relationships with Jordan's coaches; countless interviews with Jordan's friends, teammates, and family members; and interviews with Jordan himself to provide the first truly definitive study of Michael Jordan: the player, the icon, and the man.

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'The writing is sublime, the research thorough, the eye for story superb' Sunday TelegraphWhen Amitav Ghosh began the research for his monumental cycle of novels the Ibis Trilogy, he was startled to find how the lives of the 19th century sailors and soldiers he wrote of were dictated not only by the currents of the Indian Ocean, but also by the precious commodity carried in enormous quantities on those currents: opium. Most surprising at all, however, was the discovery that his own identity and family history was swept up in the story.Smoke and Ashes is at once a travelogue, memoir and a history, drawing on decades of archival research. In it, Ghosh traces the transformative effect the opium trade had on Britain, India, and China, as well as the world at large. The trade was engineered by the British Empire, which exported Indian opium to sell to China and redress their great trade imbalance, and its revenues were essential to the Empire's financial survival. Yet tracing the profits further, Ghosh finds opium at the origins of some of the world's biggest corporations, of America's most powerful families and prestigious institutions (from the Astors and Coolidges to the Ivy League), and of contemporary globalism itself.Moving deftly between horticultural histories, the mythologies of capitalism, and the social and cultural repercussions of colonialism, in Smoke and Ashes Amitav Ghosh reveals the role that one small plant had in making our world, now teetering on the edge of catastrophe.

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"It is the contemporary elixir from which all manner of being emerges, the metamorphic sublime, an alchemist's dream." So begins Palma Africana, the latest attempt by anthropologist Michael Taussig to make sense of the contemporary moment. But to what elixir does he refer? Palm oil. Saturating everything from potato chips to nail polish, palm oil has made its way into half of the packaged goods in our supermarkets. By 2020, world production will be double what it was in 2000. In Colombia, palm oil plantations are covering over onetime cornucopias of animal, bird, and plant life. Over time, they threaten indigenous livelihoods and give rise to abusive labor conditions and major human rights violations. The list of entwined horrors--climatic, biological, social--is long. But Taussig takes no comfort in our usual labels: "habitat loss," "human rights abuses," "climate change." The shock of these words has passed; nowadays it is all a blur. Hence, Taussig's keen attention to words and writing throughout this work. He takes cues from precursors' ruminations: Roland Barthes' suggestion that trees form an alphabet in which the palm tree is the loveliest; William Burroughs' retort to critics that for him words are like animals--cut them and the words are let free. Steeped in a lifetime of philosophical and ethnographic exploration, Palma Africana undercuts the banality of the destruction taking place all around us and offers a penetrating vision of the global condition. Richly illustrated and written with experimental verve, this book is Taussig's Tristes Tropiques for the twenty-first century.

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Using our hands, we interact with the environment in ways that are more sophisticated, more varied, and more productive than any other part of our body. The delicate instrument that is the hand makes it possible for us to knead dough and perform a heart transplant; make contact with strangers, friends, and lovers; throw a baseball; and create a scale model of a skyscraper and build that skyscraper. From the most mundane activity to our most sublime achievement, the hand has helped us shape the world and given us a deeper understanding of our place in it. In The Wonder of the Human Hand, surgeons and hand specialists from the world-renowned Curtis National Hand Center describe how the hand is used in work, sports, and music, and trace the human fascination with hands in religion and art. They relate awe-inspiring stories of people throughout history - including major league pitcher Jim Abbott, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Liebe Diamond, and pianist Leon Fleisher - who accomplished great things with one hand, or with impaired or injured hands, and they tell of marvelous surgeries that create fingers where none exist. Recounting how the hand interprets the environment and returns tactile information to the brain, the book underscores the importance of the hand to people who cannot see or hear. Throughout, the authors explore how medical science restores bones, tendons, nerves, muscles, and blood vessels in hands injured through disease, accident, and combat-ever aware of how the form and function of the human hand combine harmoniously in everyday activities and Herculean efforts alike.

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Set in a remote Scottish lodge in the depths of winter, this explosive and disturbing thriller asks what happens when dark secrets finally come to light. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Kerri Beevis. THE PERFECT WEEKEND AWAY. A REMOTE LODGE, OLD FRIENDS... AND MURDER. It's been twenty years since they were all at school together. So when a group of female friends gather at a beautiful but isolated Scottish island lodge for a weekend away, they're looking forward to relaxing, sharing updates on their lives, and reminiscing. The furthest thing from their minds is murder. But even though they've known each other since high school, some of these women have secrets. Dark secrets that can ruin friendships, ruin marriages – ruin lives. Things you thought you knew and loved can turn out to be your biggest nightmares. And when recriminations start to fly, it soon becomes clear: it's not a question of when, but if, these old friends will ever make it home again... 'A slow burn, tense thriller that kept me reading way past bedtime then kept me awake. P.R. Black at his very best.' Kerry Watts 'In The Hunted, the layers of deceit carefully built over years are torn off; the façade of normality slowly peeled away, all in an atmosphere of sublime menace. Black delivers a subtly written and engaging read.' Daniel Scanlan Reviews for P.R. Black: 'A slow-burning thriller that builds to a devastating dénouement' Mail on Sunday 'It's edge-of-the-seat stuff... A cracker' Bookbag 'Copious amounts of suspense' Novel Kicks

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A Gorgeously Illustrated Collection of First-Person Stories on the Sublime Joy of FlyfishingEvery fly fisher has one: that moment-that ineffable, transcendent moment-they can point to and say, That's it. That was when time seemed to stop and I felt fully alive. That's why I fish.Collected and framed by the award-winning writer Peter Kaminsky, The Catch of a Lifetime presents the moving first-person stories of more than seventy anglers recounting their catch of a lifetime. With its tales of brown trout in Montana and bluefish at Montauk Point, smallmouth in Minnesota's Boundary Waters and unforgettable adventures with giant taimen on the steppes of central Asia, bonefish in New Caledonia, white marlin in the Baja, and golden dorado in the tribal lands along the Amazon's headwaters, this gorgeously illustrated anthology is a transporting testament to the call that all anglers heed-to get out there and be one with the water. It distills perfectly the magic of the sport; you can't read it and not want to go fishing.The contributor list is a diverse who's who of writers, artists, sportspeople, and others who've made flyfishing a singular passion, including Carl Hiaasen, Joan Wulff, Tom Colicchio, Charles Gaines, Rachel Maddow, Mark Kurlansky, Brittany Howard, John McPhee, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Jared Zissu. Their encounters, their memories, the words they use to describe, say, a forty-pound salmon leaping into the air or the sight of a great blue heron soaring down the creek to steal a catch make this the book of a lifetime for any fly fisher.

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In arguing that Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a philosophical explanation of the possibility of modernism—that is, of the possibility of radical cultural change through the creation of new values—the author shows that literary fiction can do the work of philosophy. Nietzsche takes up the problem of modernism by inventing Zarathustra, a self-styled cultural innovator who aspires to subvert the culture of modernity (the repressive culture of the "last man") by creating new values. By showing how Zarathustra can become a creator of new values, notwithstanding the forces that hinder his will to innovate, Nietzsche answers the skeptic who proclaims that new-values creation is impossible. Zarathustra is a story of repeated clashes between Zarathustra's avant-garde, modernist intentions and figures of doubt who condemn those intentions. Through a close reading of Zarathustra, the author reconstructs Nietzsche's explanation of the possibility of modernism. Showing how parody, irony, and plot organization frame that explanation, he also demonstrates the central significance of Zarathustra's speeches on the body and the will to power. The author argues that Nietzsche's critique of the modern philosophy of the subject revises Kant's concept of the dynamical sublime and makes allegorical use of the myth of Theseus, Ariadne, and Dionysus. He also proposes an original interpretation of the thought of eternal recurrence (according to Nietzsche, the "fundamental conception" of Zarathustra). Breaking with conventional Nietzsche scholarship, the author conceptualizes the thought not as a theoretical or a practical doctrine that Nietzsche endorses, but as a developing drama that Zarathustra performs.

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From Denali's majestic slopes to the Great Swamp of central New Jersey, protected wilderness areas make up nearly twenty percent of the parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands that cover a full fourth of the nation's territory. But wilderness is not only a place. It is also one of the most powerful and troublesome ideas in American environmental thought, representing everything from sublime beauty and patriotic inspiration to a countercultural ideal and an overextension of government authority. The Promise of Wilderness examines how the idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964. Wilderness preservation has engaged diverse groups of citizens, from hunters and ranchers to wildlife enthusiasts and hikers, as political advocates who have leveraged the resources of local and national groups toward a common goal. Turner demonstrates how these efforts have contributed to major shifts in modern American environmental politics, which have emerged not just in reaction to a new generation of environmental concerns, such as environmental justice and climate change, but also in response to changed debates over old conservation issues, such as public lands management. He also shows how battles over wilderness protection have influenced American politics more broadly, fueling disputes over the proper role of government, individual rights, and the interests of rural communities; giving rise to radical environmentalism; and playing an important role in the resurgence of the conservative movement, especially in the American West. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsq-6LAeYKk

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The author brings together in Delicious travel a collection of her culinary wanderings through some of the most remote and unchartered parts of South Africa - places we thought we knew - in different and completely unexpected ways. The author has an eye and ear for the idiosyncratic and the quirky, in her quest for great cuisine, she uncovers the eccentricities of the people who live - and cook - in the countryside. 'Great cuisine' isn't necessarily haute cuisine, but rather the ingredients, chefs and places, all conspiring to make an experience memorable. It rediscovers bits of history and paints vivid pictures of people and their stories as it traces culinary treasures down hidden paths. This is intelligent travel with a twist! We learn how to make mealiepap pie in Victoria West, and conversely, the most sublime of seared tuna with a tantalising Far East-flavoured topping in a remote Eastern Cape town. We discover how, just outside De Rust, Jans Rautenbach, the godfather of Afrikaans film, got to sport a cathedral window in his house; how the breeding of Arabian horses on a stud farm influences the cuisine in the area and what really happens at a Karoo cattle auction when everyone buys jerepigo in support of church coffers. We discover how Mpumalanga's Robbers' Pass got its name; how the creative writing process imposes on cooking; and we find out why writer/artist Braam Kruger is more famous for his perfect fish and chips than for his art and possibly most importantly, how to mix the perfect Bloody Mary or Martini.

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She's the perfect host. He's the perfect victim.Someone is hunting Connor. Alone, freezing, in the wilderness of Bodmin Moor, on an elite Special Forces training exercise, he'd be a fool to scorn the kindness of a local stranger. Wouldn't he?At first, Eilidh seems to be an impeccable host. She offers Connor food and a warm bed - he finds it nearly impossible to leave her charming farmhouse.But the choice isn't his to make.There have been others before. None, though, as perfect as him.Why would she let him leave?Praise for Elle Connel:"Down By The Water takes the reader on a weekend trip from hell... I loved the classy writing and ever-growing sense of unease in this clever subversion of a classic country house mystery" - Harriet Tyce"A chilling drama" Sunday Times"Misery for the Goop generation. You Can Stay is fantastic - an absolute treat of a book." - Catherine Simpson"Witty, grounded and entertaining, this is a thrilling read." - Lynsey May"You Can Stay was so gripping I read it in one compulsive sitting!" - Claire Askew"Sinister and atmospheric" - Chris Brookmyre"Absolutely loved this - so dark, yet laced with humour, and such clever plotting. Loved the characters, and the ending is sublime." - Susi Holliday"I have never fallen so hard for a book this far out of my comfort zone. A stunning book about gender and power, and a fine homage to Stephen King's Misery. Deeply unsettling, and impossible to put down." - Claire L Heuchan"A gripping mystery." - Nathan Ripley

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'The Bodhisattva ideal is a vast subject. It is the major distinctive emphasis of the phase of the development of Buddhism known as the Mahāyāna, which had its flowering for a period of around 500 years (0–500CE), but is still practised today in many different forms, from Tibetan Buddhism to Zen. To consider this topic is to place one’s hand on the very heart of Buddhism, and feel the beating of that heart.' Thus Sangharakshita introduces his theme. The first part of this volume describes the arising of the bodhicitta and the bodhisattva's path to Enlightenment in a weaving together of the sublime and the inspiringly practical, and the second part is a commentary on Śāntideva's classic 8th-century text, the Bodhicaryāvatara, based on a seminar given in 1973, in the very early days of Triratna, thus shaping the newly emerging Buddhist movement. The seminar was titled The Endlessly Fascinating Cry, echoing Śāntideva's fervent prayer: 'In order to grasp this jewel of the mind, I offer ... the endlessly fascinating cry of wild geese ...' The volume ends with 'The Bodhisattva Principle', a talk given in 1983 to a conference of scientists and mystics in which Sangharakshita presents a vision of the bodhisattva as an embodiment of the key to the evolution of consciousness, individual and collective. The subject of this book may be an ideal, but it offers many ways to take the first real steps on this most significant of all journeys, and much nourishment for the heart and mind of the would-be bodhisattva.

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An ode to sea swimming – looking at the architecture, history and social significance of sea pools. The sea can be challenging and changeable. Protected from the dangers of currents, crashing waves and extreme cold, sea pools (also known as tidal or ocean pools) are manmade pools that provide a safe space for swimmers to enjoy the benefits of the sea at all states of the tide and weather. Sea Pools begins with an introduction to sea pools within the history of outdoor swimming, their unique designs and architectural significance and commentary on the resurgent appreciation for sea swimming in the 21st century. Chris Romer-Lee selects 70 of the most beautiful and culturally significant sea pools from around the world, including the 25-metre cliffside Avalon Rock Pool in new South Wales, Australia, the sublime Pozo de las Calcosas in Spain that is shrouded in volcanic rock, and Ireland's historic Vico Baths to name but a few. Sea Pools also includes four insightful essays: Nicola Larkin looks to the next generation of ocean pools in her exploration of how we can conserve, protect and regenerate the coastline; Therese Spruhan testifies to the healing and transformative benefits of ocean swimming; Freya Bromley discusses her odyssey to swim in every sea pool in Britain; and Kevin Fellingham on the importance of sea pools in South Africa. The book is illustrated throughout with beautiful colour photography, as well as fascinating archive material to give an insight into the provenance of these vital sanctuaries.

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One of the most cited books in mathematics, John Milnor's exposition of Morse theory has been the most important book on the subject for more than forty years. Morse theory was developed in the 1920s by mathematician Marston Morse. (Morse was on the faculty of the Institute for Advanced Study, and Princeton published his Topological Methods in the Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable in the Annals of Mathematics Studies series in 1947.) One classical application of Morse theory includes the attempt to understand, with only limited information, the large-scale structure of an object. This kind of problem occurs in mathematical physics, dynamic systems, and mechanical engineering. Morse theory has received much attention in the last two decades as a result of a famous paper in which theoretical physicist Edward Witten relates Morse theory to quantum field theory. Milnor was awarded the Fields Medal (the mathematical equivalent of a Nobel Prize) in 1962 for his work in differential topology. He has since received the National Medal of Science (1967) and the Steele Prize from the American Mathematical Society twice (1982 and 2004) in recognition of his explanations of mathematical concepts across a wide range of scienti.c disciplines. The citation reads, "The phrase sublime elegance is rarely associated with mathematical exposition, but it applies to all of Milnor's writings. Reading his books, one is struck with the ease with which the subject is unfolding and it only becomes apparent after re.ection that this ease is the mark of a master." Milnor has published five books with Princeton University Press.

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This new, thoroughly updated second edition of Bradt's Ivory Coast remains the only English-language guidebook to focus solely on this culturally rich West African country, a place of crimson savannas, sublime mountains and cream-hued beaches that is becoming increasingly popular for ecotourism and wildlife, surfing and off-the-beaten track travel. Written in easy-to-navigate geographical structure, chapters on background and practical information are followed by dedicated sections on Abidjan and the surrounding area; the southeast, including Grand-Bassam and Assinie; the southwest, including Sassandra, San-Pe´dro and the Parc National de Tai¨; and the centre: Yamoussoukro, Bouake´, Daloa and Abengourou. Moving up the country, the Dix-Huit Montagnes area is covered, including Man and Touba, followed by a chapter on the North, including Odienne´, Korhogo, Kong, Parc National de la Comoe´ and Bondoukou. From wildlife and birdwatching to hiking, trekking, chocolate and twerking, Bradt's Ivory Coast lifts the lid on what gives this country its unique flavour. Tribal arts, vibrant reggae, Afrobeat and traditional folk-music scenes, and delicious Ivorian food are all covered, as are hotels, the extraordinary mud mosques of Kong and the far north, Drummologie and 'talking drums', football (the 2023 Africa Nations Cup will be held here), and unprecedented pricing and timetabling information for the full range of transport options. Having only recently re-opened for tourism, Ivory Coast is West Africa's hidden treasure. Packed with vivid descriptions, detailed maps and essential practical advice, Bradt's Ivory Coast is the ideal companion for a perfect trip, whatever your interest.

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