Not just who will live or die in DEATHLY HOLLOWS, but how J.K. Rowling created the most successful books of our times. To understand the story behind the stories, John Granger, author of THE HIDDEN KEY TO HARRY POTTER and editor of WHO KILLED ALBUS DUMBLEDORE?, introduces the themes and patterns Rowling uses to write books that resonate with readers of all ages. This book is for "serious readers" but Granger writes in a very entertaining style. If you never understood the term "postmodernism" or how "literary alchemy" is used by great authors from Shakespeare to J.K. Rowling, then this is a fun way to learn. UNLOCKING HARRY POTTER is the only book to examine in depth the importance of what Rowling said in an interview from 1998, that "to invent this wizard world" she had to learn about alchemy "in order to set the parameters and establish the stories' internal logic." - . - . - . - . - Here's what other HARRY POTTER authors and experts have to say about UNLOCKING HARRY POTTER: - . - . - . - . - "I got so hooked I had to stop everything else and just read, read, read. I carried it around the house, read it while using the excercycle, I hid in rooms away from the action of daily life so I could take it all in. I haven't had that reaction to a book since, well, THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. A spectacular read for all serious fans of Rowling's works. Compelling, well-argued, fun and funny. Engaging. Thought provoking. Erudite." - Tom Morris, author of IF HARRY POTTER RAN GENERAL ELECTRIC and PHILOSOPHY FOR DUMMIES. - . - . - . - . - "John Granger peels back the layers of Rowling's stories and sees patterns the rest of us miss - and he never forgets to be a fan, engaging in fun speculation about what will come in the finale. Once more Granger has shown himself to be second to none among Potter commentators and literary sleuths. Some books are meant to be ingested quickly. Not this one. Serious fans of HARRY POTTER will relish it." - David Baggett, editor of HARRY POTTER AND PHILOSOPHY.

    Everything has its place in the library and Melvin likes it that way. And his favorite people—Marge, Betty, and Leola—are always in their place, behind the reference desk. When a subject interests Melvin, his librarian friends help him find lots and lots of books on the subject. When he collects creepy bugs in a jar, they help him identify, classify and catalog the insects. When he is cast as an Enormous Eggplant in the school play Betty reads aloud from Organic Gardening Magazine to help him find his motivation. As the years pass, Melvin can always find the answers to his questions and a lot of fun in the library. Then one day he goes off to college to learn new things and read new books. Will he leave the library and his friends behind forever? Readers will enjoy Brad Sneed's delightful illustrations that colorfully capture the fun-loving spirit of Carla Morris's story about the contagious enthusiasm of learning.

     Even if Megan would rather be at the mall, Cassidy is late for hockey practice, Emma's already read every book in existence, and Jess is missing her mother too much to care, the new book club is scheduled to meet every month. But what begins as a mom-imposed ritual of reading Little Women soon helps four unlikely friends navigate the drama of middle school. From stolen journals, to secret crushes, to a fashion-fiasco first dance, the girls are up to their Wellie boots in drama. They can't help but wonder: What would Jo March do? Acclaimed author Heather Vogel Frederick will delight daughters of all ages in a novel about the fabulousness of fiction, family, and friendship.

    With the combination of humor and erudition that has distinguished her as one of our finest essayists, Fadiman draws us into twelve of her personal obsessions: from her slightly sinister childhood enthusiasm for catching butterflies to her monumental crush on Charles Lamb, from her wistfulness for the days of letter-writing to the challenges and rewards of moving from the city to the country.Many of these essays were composed “under the influence” of the subject at hand. Fadiman ingests a shocking amount of ice cream and divulges her passion for Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip and her brother’s homemade Liquid Nitrogen Kahlúa Coffee (recipe included); she sustains a terrific caffeine buzz while recounting Balzac’s coffee addiction; and she stays up till dawn to write about being a night owl, examining the rhythms of our circadian clocks and sharing such insomnia cures as her father’s nocturnal word games and Lewis Carroll’s mathematical puzzles. At Large and At Small is a brilliant and delightful collection of essays that harkens a revival of a long-cherished genre.

    Lark’s Cover to Cover has been a bestseller for more than ten years, and this new and provocative on-the-page gallery, richly illustrated with hundreds of breathtaking photographs, will appeal to that same large and discerning audience. They’ll appreciate the artistry of a finely tooled leather cover, embellished with traditional gold-leaf lettering; the intricacy of an exotic Ethiopian binding with a show-stopping open spine; and others that resemble mysterious puzzle boxes, or that curl, hang, and swirl. The sublimely talented contributors all put their finest work on display: Jeanne Germani’s Cloudspeak showcases her own handmade papers, made from such varied materials as recycled denim, thistle, and other plant matter. Chris Bivin’s codex-style volume features curious, tiny, found objects. One of Laura Wait’s untitled pieces utilizes a handsome raised-cord binding to connect a pair of stained-cedar covers with abstract aluminum letterforms attached.The entire collection is juried by the esteemed Steve Miller.

    It will be of immeasurable help to students in history, art history, literature, and religious studies who are encountering medieval manuscripts for the first time, while also appealing to advanced scholars and general readers interested in the history of the book before the age of print.Introduction to Manuscript Studies features three sections:- Part 1, Making the Medieval Manuscript, offers an in-depth examination of the process of manuscript production, from the preparation of the writing surface through the stages of copying the text, rubrication, decoration, glossing, and annotation to the binding and storage of the completed codex.- Part 2, Reading the Medieval Manuscript, focuses on the skills necessary for the successful study of manuscripts, with chapters on transcribing and editing; reading texts damaged by fire, water, insects, and other factors; assessing evidence for origin and provenance; and describing and cataloguing manuscripts. This part ends with a survey of sixteen medieval scripts dating from the eighth to the fifteenth century.- Part 3, Some Manuscript Genres, provides an analysis of several of the most frequently encountered types of medieval manuscripts, including Bibles and biblical concordances, liturgical service books, Books of Hours, charters and cartularies, maps, and rolls and scrolls. The book concludes with an extensive glossary, a guide to dictionaries of medieval Latin, and a bibliography subdivided and keyed to the subsections of the volume's chapters.Every chapter in this magisterial guidebook features numerous color plates that exemplify each aspect described in the text and are drawn primarily from the collections of the Newberry Library in Chicago and the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

    This volume provides her readers and fans with additional insights into her life and work. The first section provides a biographical chapter and literary heritage. The second and third sections analyze the Tales of Tortall and the Magic Circle Sagas as a whole, providing details into the characters and settings of each. The final section of the book, Perspectives, includes both a section on literary techniques along with an interview of Tamora Pierce herself. Appendices include a section on Power Female Heroes, and Fantasy Adventures.Novels include: *The Song of the Lioness Quartet *The Immortals Quartet *The Protector of the Small Quartet *The Trickster Duology *The Magic Circle Quartet *The Circle Opens Quartet *The Will of the Empress

    A charming and elegant tale of a young girl raised by feral librarians.

    At a time when the literacy rate was not nearly as high as it is now - and privation was felt by nearly all - quality books for children would now be available at a price nearly everyone could afford (25 cents), and sold where ordinary people shopped. Golden Legacy is a lively history of a company, a line of books, the groundbreaking writers and artists who created them, the clever mavericks who marketed and sold them, and the cultural landscape that surrounded them.

    There is no other guide like this; a user-friendly and enticing entry into the marvelously enjoyable world of Proust.At seven volumes, three thousand pages, and more than four hundred characters, as well as a towering reputation as a literary classic, Proust's novel can seem daunting. But though begun a century ago, in 1909, it is in fact as engaging and relevant to our times as ever. Patrick Alexander is passionate about Proust's genius and appeal--he calls the work "outrageously bawdy and extremely funny"--and in his guide he makes it more accessible to the general reader through detailed plot summaries, historical and cultural background, a guide to the fifty most important characters, maps, family trees, illustrations, and a brief biography of Proust. Essential for readers and book groups currently reading Proust and who want help keeping track of the huge cast and intricate plot, this Reader's Guide is also a wonderful introduction for students and new readers and a memory-refresher for long-time fans.

    The Book Lust audience is committed to reading, and here is a smart and entertaining tool for picking the best books for kids. Divided into three sections--Easy Books, Middle-Grade Readers, and Young Adult--Nancy Pearl makes wonderful reading connections by theme, setting, voice, and ideas. For horse lovers, she reminds us of the mainstays in the category (Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, etc.) but then in a creative twist connects Mr. Revere and I to the list. In a list called Chapter One, she answers the proverbial question: which chapters books are the most compelling for kids who are now ready to move beyond picture books. And who says picture books aren't deep? Recommended Folk Tales sort out many of life's dilemmas and issues of good and bad; a selection of picture books on Death and Dying introduces this topic with sensitivity; and You've Got a Friend offers up books for early readers that show the complexities and the pleasures of relating to others. Parents, teachers, and librarians are often puzzled by the unending choices for reading material for young people. It starts when the kids are toddler and doesn't end until high-school graduation. What's good, what's trash, what's going to hold their interest? Nancy Pearl, America's favorite librarian, points the way in Book Crush.

    A dazzling array of books on subjects ranging from Shakespeares plays and the Holy Bible to politics and presidents, childrens books, the pleasures of life, and more are shownwith few exceptionsat their actual size. Here is the prayer book that Anne Boleyn carried to her execution, seen open to its sole illustration, a portrait of Henry VIII. Here also are the worlds two smallest books (impossible to be sure which is tinier). There are books studded with gemstones, books that Napoleon carried with him on his campaigns, books illustrated by artists such as Picasso, Mir, and Edward Gorey. And there is a section dealing with the papers, printing, and binding of these tiny marvels. The text is lively and accessible, full of great stories and fascinating people. It will appeal to the experienced collector, but also to the one just starting out and to anyone who loves the look and feel of a good book.

    This exciting series brings readers face-to-face with the truth of God's precepts, promises, and purposes—in just minutes a day. Ideal for individual study, one-on-one discipleship, group discussions, and quarterly classes.With this inductive study of Proverbs readers will discover God's truth and wisdom for everyday circumstances. As they learn to observe, interpret, and apply the text themselves, readers will come to a fresh understanding of God's guidance and His interest in their lives.

    But when he awakes after falling asleep amidst the library shelves, his fish is missing. Could his little friend have disappeared into that red book over there on the shelf? Join us in celebrating this stunning debut by first-time illustrator Taeeun Yoo. With dreamlike qualities of early Maurice Sendak and fine etchings that strongly evoke the mysterious and the magical, The Little Red Fish pays homage to imagination and the power of a good book.

    A full-colour, sensuous delight, with one jacket on every page, the featured jackets represent the personal favourites of Penguin staff from offices all over the world, and run from Penguin's birth in 1935 to the end of the twentieth century.Throughout there are jackets that bring back a flood of memories of the first time a book was read; there is beautiful typography from Jan Tschicold; arresting illustrations; visual witticisms from Derek Birdsall; countless mutations of the much-loved Penguin grid. There are also, with no formula at all, jackets that just make sense.Featuring old favourites and plenty of surprises, 700 Penguins is a unique and inspiring collection of the most impactful and well-loved Penguin covers of the twentieth century.

    It includes a recap of the current trends in teen literature as reflected in the past decade of BBYA lists. There are twenty seven themed and annotated reproducible booklists, perfect for reader's advisory with teens, parents, teachers even for collection development. It has indexed, annotated lists extending back to 1966.Teen service librarians in public and school libraries, along with parents, and middle and high school English teachers, will welcome this fully updated third edition, featuring a thought-provoking foreword from Betty Carter, YA services luminary and editor of the first two editions of BBYA.

    Featuring 60 cross-referenced lists of literary awards and notable picks (Pulitzer, National Book Award, 100 Best Books of the Century), this journal offers more than 2500 suggestions to help readers discover great literature and new authors. The journal also provides room to record books read, jot down thoughts and ideas, and keep track of recommendations, books borrowed and loaned, and book club history.Unlike anything on the market, Read, Remember Recommend keeps readers coming back to bookstores to purchase recommended books, creates opportunities for add-on and return sales, and celebrates the readers' love of books.

    This title includes the essays that include an endnote, telling the behind-the-scenes story about the article. One critic has written:- This collection of articles from Basbane's columns in BIBLIO and FINE BOOKS & COLLECTIBLES and other sources is an okay read, but not as in depth or detailed as his previous 4 books. A good read for bibliophiles, but its constant referencing back to A GENTLE MADNESS (his 1st and best book) is slighly irritating after a while, as this book becomes more of a sales pitch for those who missed that book 15 years ago.

    Lively and entertaining, it features a remarkably clever and handsome rabbit and is full of fun, flaps to flip and questions to share. Parsley introduces children to books - from the cover, to the imprint page to the title page, formats, style and more - and takes the reader on a hilarious and stimulating journey through the world of books. An absolute treasure of a book for children from 3 - 7 years.Celebrate the joy of reading and begin a lifelong love of books with the delightful Parsley Rabbit and his pesky little brother, Basil. Lively and entertaining, it features a remarkably clever and handsome rabbit and is full of fun, flaps to flip and questions to share. Parsley introduces children to books - from the cover, to the imprint page to the title page, formats, style and more - and takes the reader on a hilarious and stimulating journey through the world of books. An absolute treasure of a book for children from 3 - 7 years.

    Advancing a much broader and deeper theory of literary understanding, the author suggests that children respond in five different ways during picture storybook readalouds; that these responses reveal that children are engaged in different types of literary meaning-making; and that these types of meaning-making are examples of five foundational aspects of literary understanding.Capturing the liveliness of children's responses, this dynamic volume:Describes picture storybooks as sophisticated aesthetic objects worthy of children's literary critical abilities. Offers a theory of literary understanding that is relevant to contemporary young children from a wide variety of ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Includes a wealth of examples of children's responses to literature and how teachers scaffold their interpretation of stories. Examines the significance of young children's literary interpretation, factors that influence literary understanding, and implications for practice and further research.

    The fact that so many of her stories have clear Lake District locations provides the basis for this book of short easy walks. Follow the adventures of Jeremy Fisher, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tiggy Winkle, Peter Rabbit and many others, actually walking in their footsteps and visiting their lakes and rivers, their houses and gardens. The 15 walks included in this book are all suitable for young and not-so-young walkers. All have direct connections either to Beatrix Potter stories or to her life as a farmer and conservationist. There are maps, illustrations and clear directions plus parking and refreshment suggestions.

    Collection of artwork by Deborah DeWit Marchant celebrating quiet, private, comfortable moments with books.

    He influences the obscure French writer Édouard Dujardin, who is read by James Joyce on the train to Trieste, where he will teach English to the Italian novelist Italo Svevo. Back in Paris, Joyce asks Svevo to deliver a suitcase containing notes for Ulysses, a novel that will be viscerated by the expat Gertrude Stein, whose first published story is based on one by Flaubert. This carousel of influence shows how translation and emigration lead to a new and true history of the novel. We devour novels in translation while believing that style does not translate. But the history of the novel is the history of style. The Delighted States attempts to solve this conundrum while mapping an imaginary country, a country of readers: the Delighted States. This book is a provocation, a box of tricks, a bedside travel book; it is also a work of startling intelligence and originality from one of our finest young writers.

    She focuses on eight popular categories: history, true crime, true adventure, science, memoir, food/cooking, travel, and sports. Within each, she explains the scope, popularity, style, major authors and works, and the subject's position in readers' advisory interviews.Wyatt addresses who is reading nonfiction and why, while providing RAs with the tools and language to incorporate nonfiction into discussions that point readers to what to read next. In easy-to-follow steps, Wyatt explains the hows and whys of offering fiction and nonfiction suggestions together; illustrates ways to get up to speed fast in nonfiction;

    This guide helps children and adults to discover Edinburgh through its children's books. It also provides an overview of the city's rich contribution to children's literature.

    Reading the Right Books is a practical list of thoughtful and accessible books — not the "classics" but solidly good books — recommended to provide a general framework around which the reader can build a firmer structure of political knowledge. Edited and annotated by Lee Edwards, the Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at The Heritage Foundation, Reading the Right Books is a guide for intelligent, conservative-minded readers who want to prepare themselves for a public life of thought and action, and so seek to know more about politics, public policy and modern conservative thought, as well as literature, economics, religion, history, and statesmanship.

    

    Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy has swept Britain and is gaining an enormous fanbase in the US, sure to increase with the announcement of the forthcoming major motion picture. Packed with clues to literary imagery and subtle allusions, Frost's encyclopediastyle guide exposes the depths of all three titles—Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass—and includes sections on topics as diverse as daemons, Navajos, storytelling, Oxford, and angels. Not surprisingly, The London National Theatre recently used Elements as a research source for their acclaimed stage production of the trilogy.

    In the spirit of Dr. Johnson’s Lives of the Poets, acclaimed critic and scholar John Sutherland selects 294 writers whose works illustrate the best of every kind of fiction—from gothic, penny dreadful, and pornography to fantasy, romance, and high literature. Each author was chosen, Professor Sutherland explains, because his or her books are well worth reading and are likely to remain so for at least another century. Sutherland presents these authors in chronological order, in each case deftly combining a lively and informative biographical sketch with an opinionated assessment of the writer's work. Taken together, these novelists provide both a history of the novel and a guide to its rich variety. Always entertaining, and sometimes shocking, Sutherland considers writers as diverse as Daniel Defoe, Henry James, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, Virginia Woolf, Michael Crichton, Jeffrey Archer, and Jacqueline Susann.Written for all lovers of fiction, Lives of the Novelists succeeds both as introduction and re-introduction, as Sutherland presents favorite and familiar novelists in new ways and transforms the less favored and less familiar through his relentlessly fascinating readings.

    Unsettling Narratives: Postcolonial Readings of Children's Literature demonstrates how settler-society texts position child readers as citizens of postcolonial nations, how they represent the colonial past to modern readers, what they propose about race relations, and how they conceptualize systems of power and government.Clare Bradford focuses on texts produced since 1980 in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand and includes picture books, novels, and films by Indigenous and non-Indigenous publishers and producers. From extensive readings, the author focuses on key works to produce a thorough analysis rather than a survey. Unsettling Narratives opens up an area of scholarship and discussion--the use of postcolonial theories--relatively new to the field of children's literature and demonstrates that many texts recycle the colonial discourses naturalized within mainstream cultures.

    At a time when the moral universe was shifting and advances in scientific knowledge promised humans dominion over that which had been God's alone, Mary Shelley envisioned a story of human presumption and its misbegotten consequences. Two centuries later, that story is still constantly retold and reinterpreted, from Halloween cartoons to ominous allusions in the public debate, capturing and conveying meaning central to our consciousness today and our concerns for tomorrow. From Victorian musical theater to Boris Karloff with neck bolts, to invocations at the President's Council on Bioethics, the monster and his myth have inspired everyone from cultural critics to comic book addicts. This is a lively and eclectic cultural history, illuminated with dozens of pictures and illustrations, and told with skill and humor. Susan Tyler Hitchcock uses film, literature, history, science, and even punk music to help us understand the meaning of this monster made by man.

    This book brings those two worlds together. It is a literary exploration of global proportions, a rich survey of the finest novels set or written in other countries. Hundreds of titles are featured from every continent and you can browse by region, city or travel related theme. Whether you are travelling abroad or simply expanding your range of reading, this guide will enable you to see the world through the eyes of some the finest foreign writers.Nik Kalinowski and Vincent Cassar are two booksellers and writers who have applied their passion for foreign fiction to present their best picks from the thousands of titles available. The guide includes the very best world fiction that has stood the test of time from 1900 onwards. Arranged by continent, then by country, key titles are described, followed by read-on suggestions. You can also browse by major cities or travel related topic. This guide is a starting point for your own literary journey through culturally rich and diverse landscapes.

    Why is this so? In characteristically readable and provocative style, Frank Smith examines these and other questions, and provides answers. The author of over 20 books on reading, writing, thinking, and learning, Frank Smith is an acknowledged world leader in clarifying critical issues for teachers. In his latest book, he addresses questions that he is frequently asked at workshops and conferences about learning, prediction, phonics, stories, meaning, writing, and the brain, including:What's the connection between reading and writing? Are some kinds of reading preferable to others? Which is better for reading, books or computers? Is reading aloud different from silent reading? Why are stories so important? How would you teach punctuation? Is it important for young children to learn the letters of the alphabet?

    But until now, students of the Inferno have lacked a suitable resource to guide their reading.Welcome to Danteworlds, the first substantial guide to the Inferno in English. Guy P. Raffa takes readers on a geographic journey through Dante’s underworld circle by circle—from the Dark Wood down to the ninth circle of Hell—in much the same way Dante and Virgil proceed in their infernal descent. Each chapter—or “region”—of the book begins with a summary of the action, followed by detailed entries, significant verses, and useful study questions. The entries, based on a close examination of the poet’s biblical, classical, and medieval sources, help locate the characters and creatures Dante encounters and assist in decoding the poem’s vast array of references to religion, philosophy, history, politics, and other works of literature.Written by an established Dante scholar and tested in the fire of extensive classroom experience, Danteworlds will be heralded by readers at all levels of expertise, from students and general readers to teachers and scholars.

    It intends to inspire readers to read more widely than they could have imagined and to explore the previously untrodden aisles in their bookstores or libraries.

    The discussion examines how the Gothic has developed in different national contexts and in different forms, including novels, novellas, poems, and films. Each chapter concludes with a close reading of a specific text - Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Dracula and The Silence of the Lambs - to illustrate the ways in which contextual discussion informs critical analysis. The book ends with a conclusion outlining possible future developments within scholarship on the Gothic.Key Features* Provides a single, comprehensive and accessible introduction to Gothic literature* Offers a coherent account of the historical development of the Gothic in arange of literary and national contexts* Introduces the ways in which critical theories of class, gender, race andnational identity have been applied to Gothic texts*Includes an outline of essential resources and a guide to further reading

    Here, for the first time, is a single volume presenting the glories of fifteen centuries of Scottish literature. In Scotland’s Books poet Robert Crawford tells the story of Scottish writing and its relationship to the country’s history. Stretching from the medieval masterpiece of St Columba’s Iona - the earliest surviving Scottish work - to the imaginative, thriving world of twenty-first-century writing with authors such as Ali Smith and James Kelman, this outstanding collection traces the development of literature in Scotland and explores the cultural, linguistic and literary heritage of the nation. It includes extracts from the writing discussed to give a flavour of the original work, full quotations in their own language, previously unpublished works by authors and plenty of new research. Informative and readable, this is the definitive guide to the marvellous legacy of Scottish literature.

    This new anthology of writing by women includes selections from the fourteenth through the twenty-first centuries, from the first text by a woman published in English (Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Divine Love) to selections by contemporary writers like Barbara Kingsolver, Zadie Smith, and Edwige Danticat. The selections are drawn from Britain and North America, of course, but also from Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Caribbean - wherever English has been spoken. While classics of fiction, poetry, and drama are provided (often in full), the text also includes essays, song lyrics, domestic handbooks, letters, and diary entries, giving students access to texts that represent the full range of women's experiences and giving voice to women who are often omitted from traditional anthologies.

    Rebecca, her most famous novel, was a huge success on first publication and brought du Maurier international fame. This enduring classic remains one of the nation's favourite books. In this celebration of Daphne du Maurier's life and achievements, today's leading writers, critics and academics discuss the novels, short stories and biographies that made her one of the most spellbinding and genre-defying authors of her generation. The film versions of her books are also explored, including Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca and The Birds and Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now. Featuring interviews with du Maurier's family and a long-lost short story by the author herself, this is the indispensable companion to her work.Contributors include Sarah Dunant, Sally Beauman, Margaret Forster, Antonia Fraser, Michael Holroyd, Lisa Jardine, Julie Myerson, Justine Picardie and Minette Walters

    How then shall we define "literary genius"? In this collection, twenty-five contemporary authors endeavor to answer that question by considering twenty-five classic writers and their enduring works.We learn that, more important than mere originality or creativity, it is the ability to make us experience the world in new ways that sets these writers apart. "My task," Joseph Conrad wrote, "is by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel—it is above all to make you see. That—and no more, and it is everything."Wood-engraved portraits and illustrations by renowned artist Barry Moser accompany each essay.Contents:1. Tom Shippey on Geoffrey Chaucer2. Lois Potter on William Shakespeare3. Reynolds Price on John Milton4. Anthony Hecht on Alexander Pope5. David Bromwich on Samuel Johnson6. David Womersley on Edward Gibbon7. Dan Jacobson on William Wordsworth8. Hilary Mantel on Jane Austen9. Frederick Raphael on William Hazlitt10. Evan Boland on John Keats11. Daniel Mark Epstein on Nathaniel Hawthorne12. A. N. Wilson on Charles Dickens13. Justin Kaplan on Walt Whitman14. William Pritchard on Herman Melville15. Paula Marantz Cohen on George Eliot16. Bruce Floyd on Emily Dickinson17. David Carkeet on Mark Twain18. Joseph Epstein on Henry James19. Elizabeth Lowry on Joseph Conrad20. Stephen Cox on Willa Cather21. Robert Pack on Robert Frost22. Joseph Blotner on William Faulkner23. John Gross on James Joyce24. John Simon on T.S. Eliot25. James L. W. West III on Ernest HemingwayJoseph Epstein, from his introduction: "Literary genius comes in many varieties. Some literary geniuses seem natural (Charles Dickens, Mark Twain), others cultivated (George Eliot, Henry James). Some are prolific (Wordsworth, Whitman), some are more carefully concentrated (Jane Austen, T. S. Eliot). Some literary geniuses are stimulated by the difficult (Alexander Pope, John Milton). Some require absolute originality — entailing the need to invent their own style — to convey their vision (James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway). Some have perfected a form (Pope, the heroic couplet), some have tried to kill off a genre (Joyce, the novel). Not some but all literary geniuses can be read again and again, down through the generations. As Hilary Mantel, in her essay on Jane Austen, writes: 'Surely this is the definition of genius in a writer: the capacity to make a text that can give and give, a text that is never fully read, a text that goes on multiplying meanings.' Timelessness this is called, and it is another of the hallmarks of literary genius."Joseph Epstein is the author of nineteen books, most recently In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage. For more than twenty years he was editor of The American Scholar. A contributor to The New Yorker, Commentary, The Atlantic, the Times Literary Supplement, and other magazines, he also taught for many years in the English Department at Northwestern University.Barry Moser is an illustrator, author, and designer whose work appears in museums and libraries around the world. He has published nearly three hundred titles, including Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which won the American Book Award in 1983. In 1991 he won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for his collaboration with Cynthia Rylant, Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds. A member of the National Academy of Design, he has served on the faculty of Rhode Island School of Design and is currently on the faculty of Smith College.

    What are the classic works of Australian literature? And what can they tell us about Australians and the land they live in? Providing a selected overview of Australia's greatest literature, this title is an accessible companion to the literature and history of writing in Australia from the 19th century to the present.

    

    the real made up improvises on this simple idea of imitation; mimicry becomes a kind of cadence for an interweaving of transcribed speech, ironic song, jarring randomization, post-colonial irony, and blatant theft. An incessant imitative dialogue shapes our neural and cultural networks; imitation is a source of power for any subculture, and the primary means of a colonizing process that should be seen as violent. But imitation is not a simple act of copying; at its best, imitation is accompanied by play, performance, and re-enactment. Imitation is a crucial human faculty – a talent at the heart of social being. The primal emotions of love, hate, desire, and anger find their expression in speech and action that are by nature imitative. the real made up is itself made up of real and imaginary interviews with people off the street, of poems by others and poems from others (including much imitated members of the Can Lit canon like Al Purdy, Irving Layton and Erin Mouré). Every poem in the real made up is an attempt to revel in or escape from — an impossible task — the imitative traces of everyone else.

    Richly illustrated with over a hundred covers of gay-themed “pulps” published between 1948 and 1998, this fascinating visual history provides new insights into a striking form of gay imagery.Following the huge demand for portable reading material during World War II, paperback publishing exploded in the postwar years. At the same time, the Kinsey report and a spate of novels and non-fiction studies about male homosexuality suggested new and sensational subject matter. Literature, mass culture, and the emerging homosexual underground combined in the accessible pulp paperback with its striking, interpretive packaging. For many readers – including young, isolated gay men–an eye-catching, pocket-sized paperback cover on a drugstore rack provided their first intriguing look into a previously concealed gay world.What were the messages behind the emblematic images and flashy graphics? For whom were they intended? What was their impact on a rapidly changing North American society? Ian Young, author of The Stonewall Experiment: A Gay Psychohistory and an authority on gay publishing, probes beneath the surface of gay pulp covers to reveal their underlying, sometimes surprising, messages.

    Written by the world-renowned pioneer in the field of modern sociolinguistics, this volume examines the cognitive and cultural factors responsible for linguistic change, tracing the life history of these developments, from triggering events to driving forces and endpoints.Explores the major insights obtained by combining sociolinguistics with the results of dialect geography on a large scaleExamines the cognitive and cultural influences responsible for linguistic changeDemonstrates under what conditions dialects diverge from one anotherEstablishes an essential distinction between transmission within the community and diffusion across communitiesCompletes Labov's seminal "Principles of Linguistic Change" trilogy

    But this world was torn apart when the Nazis marched into Paris on young André’s fifth birthday.Beginning with the family’s dramatic escape to Casablanca—thanks to the help of the legendary Varian Fry—and eventually New York, A Political Education recounts the surprising twists and turns of a life that saw Schiffrin become, himself, one of the world’s most respected publishers. Emerging from the émigré community of wartime New York (a community that included his father’s friends Hannah Arendt and Helen and Kurt Wolff), he would go on to develop an insatiable appetite for literature and politics: heading a national student group he renamed the Students for a Democratic Society—the SDS . . . leading student groups at European conferences, once, as an unwitting front man for the CIA . . . and eventually being appointed by Random House chief Bennett Cerf to head the very imprint cofounded by his father—Pantheon. There, he would discover and publish some of the world’s leading writers, including Noam Chomsky, Michel Foucault, Art Spiegelman, Studs Terkel, and Marguerite Duras. But in a move that would make headlines, Schiffrin would ultimately rebel at corporate ownership and form his own publishing house—The New Press—where he would go on to set a new standard for independent publishing. A Political Education is a fascinating intellectual memoir that tells not only the story of a unique and important figure, but of the tumultuous political times that shaped him.