"The encyclopedia once shaped our understanding of the world. Created by thousands of scholars and the most obsessive of editors, a good set conveyed a sense of absolute wisdom on its reader. Contributions from Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Orville Wright, Alfred Hitchcock, Marie Curie and Indira Gandhi helped millions of children with their homework. Adults cleared their shelves in the belief that everything that was explainable was now effortlessly...

A meditation on literary craft that muses on how and why novels communicate with readers. Shows how fiction operates, exploring the conventions of form, the novel as a house that one must build brick by brick, and the objects and characters that build out the world of the novel. The author uses his own line drawings to portray the ebb and flow of novels. He considers how writers invent or discover their characters, the importance or unimportance...

In this collection of essays and addresses delivered over the course of his long and celebrated career, Umberto Eco seeks "to understand the chemistry of [his] passion" for the word. From musings on Ptolemy and "the force of the false" to reflections on the experimental writing of Borges and Joyce, Eco's restless curiosity and encyclopedic knowledge are on dazzling display. On a more personal note, he also reveals his own ambitions and superstitions,...

Introduces children to music history, profiling the musical instruments, styles, and traditions of cultures around the world.

"The History of Sketch Comedy will appeal to all kinds of comedy fans as well as fans of Keegan-Michael Key. With epic personal tangents and hilarious asides, their story takes you on an illuminating look at all facets of comedy from the stock characters of commedia del arte in the 16th century, to the rise of vaudeville and burlesque, the golden age of television comedy, the influence of the most well-known comedy schools, and ascension of comedy...

"Comedy is king. From multimillion-dollar TV specials to sold-out stand-up shows and TikTok stardom, comedy has never been more popular, democratized, or influential. Comedians have become organizing forces across culture--as trusted as politicians and as fawned-over as celebrities--yet comedy as an art form has gone under-considered throughout its history, even as it has ascended as a cultural force. In Comedy Book, Jesse David Fox--the country's...

"In Don't Read Poetry, award-winning poet and literary critic Stephanie Burt offers an accessible introduction to the seemingly daunting task of reading, understanding, and appreciating poetry. Burt dispels preconceptions about poetry and explains how poems speak to one another--and how they can speak to our lives. She shows readers how to find more poems once they have some poems they like, and how to connect the poetry of the past to the poetry...

"Describes the history of popular music genres, starting with the rock-and-roll movement of the 1950s. Explains how genres have been created based on social and cultural events through recent history. Case studies highlight how world events and technology influenced artists that led new genres of music"--Provided by publisher.

What PC English professors don't want you to know...in Beowulf - If we don't admire heroes, there's something wrong with us , in Chaucer: Chivalry has contributed enormously to women's happiness, in Shakespeare: Some choices are inherently destructive (it's just built into the nature of things) , in Milton: Our intellectual freedoms are Christian, not anti-Christian, in origin , in Jane Austen: Most men would be improved if they were more patriarchal...