Download or read book Coming to Writing and Other Essays written by Hélène Cixous and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection presents six essays by one of France's most remarkable contemporary authors. A notoriously playful stylist, here Hélène Cixous explores how the problematics of the sexes--viewed as a paradigm for all difference, which is the organizing principle behind identity and meaning--manifest themselves, write themselves, in texts. These superb translations do full justice to Cixous's prose, to its songlike flow and allusive brilliance.
Download or read book How to Travel with a Salmon written by Umberto Eco and published by HMH. This book was released on 1995-09-15 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Impishly witty and ingeniously irreverent” essays on topics from cell phones to librarians, by the author of The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum (The Atlantic Monthly). A cosmopolitan curmudgeon the Los Angeles Times called “the Andy Rooney of academia”—known for both nonfiction and novels that have become blockbuster New York Times bestsellers—Umberto Eco takes readers on “a delightful romp through the absurdities of modern life” (Publishers Weekly) as he journeys around the world and into his own wildly adventurous mind. From the mundane details of getting around on Amtrak or in the back of a cab, to reflections on computer jargon and soccer fans, to more important issues like the effects of mass media and consumer civilization—not to mention the challenges of trying to refrigerate an expensive piece of fish at an English hotel—this renowned writer, semiotician, and philosopher provides “an uncanny combination of the profound and the profane” (San Francisco Chronicle). “Eco entertains with his clever reflections and with his unique persona.” —Kirkus Reviews Translated from the Italian by William Weaver
Download or read book Why I Write written by George Orwell and published by Renard Press Ltd. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ‘four great motives for writing’ – ‘sheer egoism’, ‘aesthetic enthusiasm’, ‘historical impulse’ and ‘political purpose’ – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell’s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer’s oeuvre. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times
Download or read book The Other Shore written by Michael Jackson and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, ethnographer and poet Michael Jackson addresses the interplay between modes of writing, modes of understanding, and modes of being in the world. Drawing on literary, anthropological and autobiographical sources, he explores writing as a technics akin to ritual, oral storytelling, magic and meditation, that enables us to reach beyond the limits of everyday life and forge virtual relationships and imagined communities. Although Maurice Blanchot wrote of the impossibility of writing, the passion and paradox of literature lies in its attempt to achieve the impossible--a leap of faith that calls to mind the mystic's dark night of the soul, unrequited love, nostalgic or utopian longing, and the ethnographer's attempt to know the world from the standpoint of others, to put himself or herself in their place. Every writer, whether of ethnography, poetry, or fiction, imagines that his or her own experiences echo the experiences of others, and that despite the need for isolation and silence his or her work consummates a relationship with them.
Download or read book American Widow written by Alissa R. Torres and published by Villard Books. This book was released on 2008 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents, in graphic novel format, the story of Alissa Torres, whose husband was killed in the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and her legal and psychological battles over his death.
Download or read book Search for the Real written by Hans Hofmann and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1967 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The writings of the "dean of the New York School of Abstract-Expressionist Painting." "The creative process lies not in imitating, but in paralleling nature; translating the impulse received from nature into the medium of expression, thus vitalizing this medium. The picture should be alive, the statue should be alive and every work of art should be alive." Thus Hans Hofmann wrote nearly half a century ago. He left the Old World, Germany, for the New, at the age of 50. In 1948, when the retrospective exhibition was held at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Hofmann was 68; he had been in the United States for 18 years, a citizen for seven years. Yet he was scarcely recognized in Europe or America as an artist of significance and had never had a full-scale retrospective exhibition of his work. Beginning with a group exhibition in Germany in 1909, he had been given 12 one-man shows and had been included in four group exhibitions before the exhibit at Andover. Subsequently, he was to have 33 one-man shows and to be in over 60 group exhibitions, including the 1960 Venice Biennale, in which he was one of the four artists chosen to represent America. The catalogue of the 1948 retrospective at the Addison Gallery incorporated Hofmann's writings, all originally written in German, some pieces translated fluently, others awkwardly paraphrasing the original. He had written them over a period of 40 years for periodicals journals, or his own teaching purposes; occasionally they overlapped; there was no sequence of development. In the original volume of Search for the Real, published in 1948, it was felt desirable to edit his writing as little as possible, nevertheless to present the essays in the most lucid English true to his meaning, printed only with his approval. "The Search for the Real in the Visual Arts," "Sculpture," and "Painting and Culture" were all printed in full. The section "Excerpts from the Teaching of Hans Hofmann" was composed of selections from his essays "On the Aims of Art" and "Plastic Creation." The last brief section, "Terms," was gleaned from the other essays, lectures, diagrams, notes, and cryptic memoranda written to himself, headed by one of Hoffman's diagrams. It was a further distillation of his own definitions in the nature of a vocabulary. In the last 18 years of his life, recognition was his, nationally and internationally, in proportion to the originality and depth of his thinking, his versatility and comprehensiveness, his productivity and vigor. His was a prophetic visual expression of action in a three-dimensional world on a vibrating two-dimensional surface. He was a dynamic teacher; the wide range of his influence is to be seen in the list of artists comprising an exhibition "Hans Hofmann and His Students," circulated in America and abroad during the three years before his death in 1966. Among the 32 painters and sculptors in this exhibition were students as varied in their developed personal idioms as Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Rivers, Louise Nevelson, Richard Stankiewicz, and Alan Kaprow. Running simultaneously and also shown in South America and Europe as well as in the United States, a one-man show of 40 major works initiated by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, is a testimony to the words of the "dean of the New York School of Abstract-Expressionist Painting."
Download or read book True Stories written by Francis Spufford and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An irresistible collection of favorite writings from an author celebrated for his bravura style and sheer unpredictability Francis Spufford's welcome first volume of collected essays gathers an array of his compelling writings from the 1990s to the present. He makes use of a variety of encounters with particular places, writers, or books to address deeper questions relating to the complicated relationship between story-telling and truth-telling. How must a nonfiction writer imagine facts, vivifying them to bring them to life? How must a novelist create a dependable world of story, within which facts are, in fact, imaginary? And how does a religious faith felt strongly to be true, but not provably so, draw on both kinds of writerly imagination? Ranging freely across topics as diverse as the medieval legends of Cockaigne, the Christian apologetics of C. S. Lewis, and the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini, Spufford provides both fresh observations and thought-provoking insights. No less does he inspire an irresistible urge to turn the page and read on.
Download or read book My 1980s and Other Essays written by Wayne Koestenbaum and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-08-13 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A new book of essays by the cultural critic Wayne Koestenbaum, author of The Queen's Throat and Jackie Under My Skin"--
Download or read book The Book I Won t be Writing and Other Essays written by H. Y. Sharada Prasad and published by Orient Blackswan. This book was released on 2003 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: H. Y. Sharada Prasad Has Lived Through Interesting Times, Turbulent Times, Times Of Great Hope And Dispair. He Has Been Witness To Some Momentous Events Of Recent Indian History. This Book Captures Some Of These Moments In Elegantly Crafted And Sometimes Delightfully Anecdotal Prose.
Download or read book Reflections on Exile and Other Essays written by Edward W. Said and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With their powerful blend of political and aesthetic concerns, Edward W. Said's writings have transformed the field of literary studies. This long-awaited collection of literary and cultural essays offers evidence of how much the fully engaged critical mind can contribute to the reservoir of value, thought, and action essential to our lives and culture.
Download or read book On Lying in Bed and Other Essays written by Gilbert Keith Chesterton and published by Calgary : Bayeux Arts. This book was released on 2000 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alberto Manguel has edited for Bayeux Arts this fascinating collection of G.K. Chesterton's essays. Alberto Manguel is the author of "A Short History of Reading" and co-author of "The Dictionary of Imaginary Places". He has edited several collections, among them "Black Water"; "The Anthology of Fantastic Literature" and "The Gates of Paradise: the Anthology of Erotic Short Fiction". He has also authored, for Bayeux Arts, "Kipling: A Brief Biography".
Download or read book In Favor of the Sensitive Man written by Anaïs Nin and published by HMH. This book was released on 2012-11-09 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays, lectures, and interviews—on everything from gender relations to Ingmar Bergman to adventure travel—from the renowned diarist. In this collection, the author known for “one of the most remarkable diaries in the history of letters” shares her unique perceptions of people, places, and the arts (Los Angeles Times). In the opening group of essays, “Women and Men,” Anaïs Nin provides the kind of sensitive insights into the feminine psyche and relations between the sexes that are a hallmark of her work. In “Writing, Music, and Films,” she speaks as an artist and critic—in book and film reviews, an essay on the composer Edgard Varèse, a lecture on Ingmar Bergman, and the story of her printing press. In the final section, “Enchanted Places,” Nin records her travels to such destinations as Fez and Agadir in Morocco, Bali, the New Hebrides, and New Caledonia—and she concludes with a charming vignette titled “My Turkish Grandmother.”
Download or read book A Burst of Light written by Audre Lorde and published by Courier Dover Publications. This book was released on 2017-09-13 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moving, incisive, and enduringly relevant writings by the African-American poet and feminist include her thoughts on the radical implications of self-care and living with cancer as well as essays on racism, lesbian culture, and political activism.
Download or read book Thick written by Tressie McMillan Cottom and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2018-01-08 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FINALIST FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD Named a notable book of 2019 by the New York Times Book Review, Chicago Tribune, Time, and The Guardian As featured by The Daily Show, NPR, PBS, CBC, Time, VIBE, Entertainment Weekly, Well-Read Black Girl, and Chris Hayes, "incisive, witty, and provocative essays" (Publishers Weekly) by one of the "most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time" (Rebecca Traister) “Thick is sure to become a classic.” —The New York Times Book Review In eight highly praised treatises on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom—award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed—is unapologetically "thick": deemed "thick where I should have been thin, more where I should have been less," McMillan Cottom refuses to shy away from blending the personal with the political, from bringing her full self and voice to the fore of her analytical work. Thick "transforms narrative moments into analyses of whiteness, black misogyny, and status-signaling as means of survival for black women" (Los Angeles Review of Books) with "writing that is as deft as it is amusing" (Darnell L. Moore). This "transgressive, provocative, and brilliant" (Roxane Gay) collection cements McMillan Cottom's position as a public thinker capable of shedding new light on what the "personal essay" can do. She turns her chosen form into a showcase for her critical dexterity, investigating everything from Saturday Night Live, LinkedIn, and BBQ Becky to sexual violence, infant mortality, and Trump rallies. Collected in an indispensable volume that speaks to the everywoman and the erudite alike, these unforgettable essays never fail to be "painfully honest and gloriously affirming" and hold "a mirror to your soul and to that of America" (Dorothy Roberts).
Download or read book How to Make a Slave and Other Essays written by Jerald Walker and published by Mad Creek Books. This book was released on 2020 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Personal essays exploring identity, work, family, and community through the prism of race and black culture.
Download or read book Mysteries of the Mall written by Witold Rybczynski and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A deep exploration of modern life that examines our cities, public places, and homes."--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book These Precious Days written by Ann Patchett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-11-23 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." —Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.
