Completed in 1983, this mesmerizing dramatic trilogy is destined to take its place beside The Playboy of the Western World, Waiting for Godot and The Homecoming as a classic of the modern theatre. Always surprising, witty and intelligent, Basso's plays move gracefully through both history and the history of theatre, incorporating at times the slapstick of Ionesco, the brooding heaviness of Ibsen, the passion, language and scope of the great Elizabethan dramatists. A powerfully moving odyssey, a transmutation of language from base metal to gold, a work of grandeur and pity.
The key book by the internationally celebrated poet with the only Polish ghetto-hassidic-cowboy and Indian American comic voice (Robert Duncan) in history.
Provides an aesthetic and historical overview of and new critical insights into Paul Wegener's great 1920 film, recognized at the time as a breakthrough in German cinema.
Cultural Writing. Philosophy and Religion. Poetry. Christopher Spranger describes THE COMEDY OF AGONY: A BOOK OF POISONOUS CONTEMPLATIONS as an attempt to rewrite Dante's Divine Comedy while leaving out the word "God." The result is a series of short, aphorism-like pieces that become as humorous as they are dismal. "A life without suffering belongs to the same order of ideas as a soup without broth.We are accustomed to talk about catastrophe as if it were an unwelcome guest and not a secretly wished-for deliverance from the tedium of life." Spranger's first book, THE EFFORT TO FALL, is also available from SPD.
2017 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in Jewish Literature and Linguistics Honorable Mention, 2016 Baron Book Prize presented by AAJR A monster tour of the Golem narrative across various cultural and historical landscapes In the 1910s and 1920s, a “golem cult” swept across Europe and the U.S., later surfacing in Israel. Why did this story of a powerful clay monster molded and animated by a rabbi to protect his community become so popular and pervasive? The golem has appeared in a remarkable range of popular media: from the Yiddish theater to American comic books, from German silent film to Quentin Tarantino movies. This book showcases how the golem was remolded, throughout the war-torn twentieth century, as a muscular protector, injured combatant, and even murderous avenger. This evolution of the golem narrative is made comprehensible by, and also helps us to better understand, one of the defining aspects of the last one hundred years: mass warfare and its ancillary technologies. In the twentieth century the golem became a figure of war. It represented the chaos of warfare, the automation of war technologies, and the devastation wrought upon soldiers’ bodies and psyches. Golem: Modern Wars and Their Monsters draws on some of the most popular and significant renditions of this story in order to unravel the paradoxical coincidence of wartime destruction and the fantasy of artificial creation. Due to its aggressive and rebellious sides, the golem became a means for reflection about how technological progress has altered human lives, as well as an avenue for experimentation with the media and art forms capable of expressing the monstrosity of war.
The 13th edition of the International Who's Who in Poetry is a unique and comprehensive guide to the leading lights and freshest talent in poetry today. Containing biographies of more than 4,000 contemporary poets world-wide, this essential reference work provides truly international coverage. In addition to the well known poets, talented up-and-coming writers are also profiled. Contents: * Each entry provides full career history and publication details * An international appendices section lists prizes and past prize-winners, organizations, magazines and publishers * A summary of poetic forms and rhyme schemes * The career profile section is supplemented by lists of Poets Laureate, Oxford University professors of poetry, poet winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature, winners of the Pulitzer Prize for American Poetry and of the King's/Queen's Gold medal and other poetry prizes.
Gabe and Jordan find themselves in grave circumstances, while Tanya barges in where she isn't wanted. The Cold War heats up in the latest installment of The Witch Who Came in from the Cold, the dazzling new episodic serial combing magic and espionage. As Gabe recalls the terrifying circumstances of the botched operation in Cairo, he and Jordan seek answers in Prague's ancient Jewish Cemetery. Tanya, disturbed by Gabe's accusations about Ice, looks for answers of her own...and finds more than she bargained for. Meanwhile Sasha makes an unexpected move in his real-life game of chess. This episode is brought to you by Ian Tregillis, who reminds you to be careful Praise for The Witch Who Came in from the Cold: "Those who like to mix magic, spycraft, and secret history should enjoy this—it may please fans of Stross’s Laundry series." —Locus Magazine "Full of fast-paced, high-intensity action paired with magic at a level that has not been seen until now, with a cliff-hanger that lets readers know that the game is not over and has only just begun." —The San Francisco Book Review "The Witch Who Came in from the Cold is a chilly evocation of a different kind of Cold War." —Charles Stross, author of the Laundry Files series “Take a double shot of Le Carré, a dash of Deighton, a twist of Quiller, a splash of Al Stewart’s The Year of the Cat, throw in a jigger full of elemental magic, mix well ... and voilà! The Witch Who Came In From The Cold.” —Victor Milán, author of The Dinosaur Lords "The occult love child of John le Carre and The Sandbaggers." —Marie Brennan, author of A Natural History of Dragons "As soon as I saw that, I was instantly hooked, and the pilot jacked the intrigue to the max. Two female Soviet spy witches, an American spy with something weird drilling magical holes in his head, and a world of secrets within secrets in a locale where old-world myth and the Cold War face off, pedal to the metal . . . it’s awesome. Or as we said in 1970, Far out. " —Sherwood Smith, author of Crown Duel "The installments are easy to read one at a time, but the tangles of alliances, secrets, and shocking double-crosses will have readers up all night mumbling, “Just one more.” —Publishers Weekly, starred reviewwhere you stick your nose (and your shovel).
Poetry. In THE SMOKING MIRROR, Eric Basso's third collection of poems, we cross the mysterious barricade between substance and shadow to enter that dark forest where, if the tree falls, no one is there to confirm its existence. A bit of dust or some pebbles give life to half-formed worlds, one learns how to eat without a stomach, the hummocks of Paradise and the perpetual twilight of the Underground are but a step away, a dwarf can put his ear to the floor and hear the rustle of an angel's wings. This is a poetry that stares into the cold terror of the looking-glass to unleash a frenzy of trapped images, vestibular encounters, fables and visions.
