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This concise version contains brief biographies of important authors, plot summaries of individual works, descriptions of important literary movements, and a wealth of information on other aspects of American literary life and history from the Colonial period to the modern era.
From the author of Fahrenheit 451, a unique collection of poetry, short stories, and essays that tackles mortality, religion, and the afterlife. Thought-provoking, full of wonder, and with a touch of Ray Bradbury’s signature sense of humor, this collection bridges science fiction and the arts to religion and taps into the core of intellectual pursuit. Included are the soulful and over the top “They Have Not Seen The Stars,” “I Live By The Invisible,” “Christ on Other Planets,” “If Only We Had Taller Been,” “Come Whisper Me A Promise,” and so much more. One of the most celebrated 20th century authors, known for his speculative fiction, Bradbury has crossed genres with a grace possessed only by masters of the craft.His incredibly sharp wit herewith makes this a must-have for fans old and new. “For Bradbury enthusiasts, religionists and nearly everyone else, here's a delightful scrapbook of poems and essays, familiar summations but no less vital from a brilliant young fantasist grown older but not old.”—Publishers Weekly
A tweed suit, pipe, umbrella, and hat; a large dose of British humor and no sports --well, except for cricket. The Chap is the modern English gentleman, and he's out to conquer the world. How to be Chap explores the roots of the English gentleman and follows them to the present day. Today's chaps live according to their own rules --with hats, pipes, and, of course, British humor. Inspired by men such as Beau Brummell and Lord Byron, they maintain proper English ideals and virtues. By stepping back to tradition, they're advancing a lifestyle revolution. In this book, chap expert Gustav Temple explains how a chap dresses, where he goes on vacation, which sports he plays (cricket) and which ones he doesn't (everything else). From the historical foundations of British gentlemen's culture to today's dos and don'ts, How to be Chap provides thorough answers to chap-related questions and plenty of cultivated laughs.
There is a vision of power at the center of James Franco's first chapbook of poems, Strongest of the Litter. Power here is both generative and frightening, self-consuming and bracing. It is the artist's power of self-making. These poems, thoroughly beautiful and spare, have the texture of contending angles. Authenticity can be achieved only through different voices: in an investigation of the range and strength of American art, in homage to Williams Carlos Williams, in awe at the cost to American actors of their art (notably Taylor, Clift, De Niro and Brando), in the celebration and limitation of Kowalski love -- "I'm a raging Kowalski whose / Temper can be measured by // How little I can give. / How abusive my reticence." Pervasive in these eloquent poems is the power of memory, the collective memory of Hollywood and specific memories of the poet's own past.
