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A re-discovered masterpiece of reporting by a literary icon and a celebrated photographer.
In 1941, James Agee and Walker Evans published Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a 400-page prose symphony about three tenant farming families in Hale County, Alabama, at the height of the Great Depression. The book shattered journalistic and literary conventions. Critic Lionel Trilling called it the "most realistic and most important moral effort
The saga of King Arthur and his court is the most enduringly popular mythic tradition of Western civilization. For over 1,500 years, the Arthurian narrative has enthralled writers, artists, and a limitless audience spanning the Western world and beyond - and its appeal continues unabated in our time. No other heroic figure in literature compares with King Arthur in terms of global popularity and longevity; now, each year sees literally thousands
...Myths provide the keys to truly grasping the ways that principles, rituals, codes, and taboos are woven into the fabric of a particular society or civilization. It's through myths that we can answer these and other fundamental questions: How was the universe created, and why? What is the purpose of evil? Why is society organized the way it is? How did natural features like rivers, mountains, and oceans emerge? This entertaining and illuminating
...In The Children's Guide to Folklore and Wonder Tales, Dr. Hannah Blevins Harvey unpacks more than 60 of our most beloved stories, fables, fairy tales, and songs from around the world - providing you with a fascinating, in-depth view into the history, context, and deeper meaning of the tales we know and love. As you travel through the catalogs of Grimm, Aesop, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault, Oscar Wilde, and so many more, you'll gain
...En El olor de la guayaba pueden encontrarse las claves de un proceso creador y creativo de singular riqueza.
Si formalmente El olor de la guayaba es una prolongada conversación del escritor y periodista Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza con su viejo amigo Gabriel García Márquez -lo que da ocasión a éste para desgranar convivacidad sus remembranzas, juicios, opiniones y convicciones- sus contenidos van mucho más allá: en
...To truly understand the United States of America, you must explore its literary tradition. Now, in this grand collection of 84 fascinating lectures, you'll get the chance to finally become familiar with America's true literary masterpieces (some you may already be familiar with, others you have yet to discover). Professor Weinstein has crafted these lectures to explain why some works become classics while others do not, why some "immortal" works
...Best-selling books have played a critical role in influencing the tastes and purchasing habits of American readers for more than 100 years. But there is more to America's great best-selling books than the sales figures they rake in. American bestsellers also offer us ways to appreciate and understand particular periods of American culture. In this series of 24 lectures you'll enjoy a pointed look at key best-selling works and their places within
...What can we still learn from C.S. Lewis? Find out in these 12 insightful lectures that cover the author's spiritual autobiography, novels, and his scholarly writings that reflect on pain and grief, love and friendship, prophecy and miracles, and education and mythology. This is your chance to explore a canon of literary work that speaks volumes about the imaginative, emotional, and spiritual power of literature. As you delve into the depths of
...Study more than three dozen works that span the timelines of Western history, from ancient Greece and Rome to the modern age. Whether written 2,000, 200, or 20 years ago, the enduring works of literature still speak to us and place our unique experiences into a larger perspective, offering invaluable lessons for every important moment in life. Every Great Book you explore over these 36 insightful lectures-from the Odyssey and the Gospel of John
...How should parents raise children, and how should schools educate children? Why are we attracted to things that are forbidden? What is time? How can we understand God, or the nature of evil? What is true friendship? To answer these questions, Professors Cook and Herzman look to the Confessions of St. Augustine of Hippo. Over the course of 24 fascinating lectures, you'll study this great book's staggering influence on Christianity and Western civilization,
...Can literature change our real world society? At its foundation, utopian and dystopian fiction asks a few seemingly simple questions aimed at doing just that. Who are we as a society? Who do we want to be? Who are we afraid we might become? When these questions are framed in the speculative versions of Heaven and Hell on earth, you won't find easy answers, but you will find tremendously insightful and often entertaining perspectives.Utopian and
...753) The Art of Reading
Artful reading - the way we read novels and short stories - is less about reading for specific information and more about reading to revel in the literary experience. Learning the skills and techniques of artful reading can improve your life in many ways, whether you're a fiction reader, an aspiring writer, a book club member, or a student. And the best part: These skills are not difficult or unwieldy; rather, they are well within your reach. This
...754) The Odyssey of Homer
What is it in Homer's Odyssey that has so enthralled readers from around the world for thousands of years? By joining Professor Vandiver for these 12 lectures on the Odyssey , you'll find out why. This literary exploration centers on a single provocative question about the epic poem's protagonist, Odysseus: Why does he long so powerfully to go home? To probe the depths of this question, you'll embark on meticulous, insightful examinations of the
...While short stories exist in traditions all over the world, Americanshort stories are a genre all their own. Emerging from the clash of cultures—and the collision of oral and print traditions—that began during the arrival of European settlers in the 16thand 17thcenturies, the short works that emerged have served many functions. They have entertained, certainly, but they have also helped foster identity, shape morality, and build the
...Great mystery and suspense writers have created some of the most unforgettable stories in all of literature and they continue to grow in popularity. How did the genre become so prevalent? Why is it a go-to for so many readers around the world? What makes the dark and sometimes grisly themes appealing? In The Secrets of Great Mystery and Suspense Fiction, Professor David Schmid examines these questions and more.
757) On Moral Fiction
Daunted by the "great big books" of the Western canon? Looking for the same pleasures, satisfactions, and insights from books that are shorter, more accessible, and less dependent on classical references and difficult language than tomes such as Moby-Dick and Ulysses ? The truth is that there are so many works that are just as engaging, just as enjoyable, and - most important - just as insightful about great human themes and ideas as anything you'd
...The America we know today is so different in its fundamental views about almost every aspect of life as to be unrecognizable to our countrymen of two centuries ago. On issues as divergent as slavery, women's rights, education, the environment, and many others, we are simply no longer the country we were. What is the source of not only these changes, but of our distinctly American way of experiencing ourselves-confident in our value as individuals,
...760) The Iliad of Homer
For thousands of years, Homer's ancient epic poem the Iliad has enchanted readers from around the world. When you join Professor Vandiver for this lecture series on the Iliad , you'll come to understand what has enthralled and gripped so many people. Her compelling 12-lecture look at this literary masterpiece - whether it's the work of many authors or the "vision" of a single blind poet - makes it vividly clear why, after almost 3,000 years, the
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