5/24/2023 0 Comments A confederacy of dunces hardcoverThe 35th anniversary edition of A Confederacy of Dunces celebrates Toole's novel as well as one of the most memorable protagonists in American literature, Ignatius J. This literary underdog and comic masterpiece has sold more than two million copies in twenty-three languages. Though the manuscript was rejected by many publishers during Toole's lifetime, his mother successfully published the book years after her son's suicide, and it won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. After more than three decades, the peerless wit and indulgent absurdity of A Confederacy of Dunces continues to attract new readers.
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5/24/2023 0 Comments Embers of war by fredrik logevallBush’s war in Iraq, by the time Kennedy became president, he was saddled with Truman’s and then Eisenhower’s Vietnam. But much as President Obama inherited George W. Kennedy in 1951, reporting on his return home that France was foolishly trying to cling to an empire even as the people of Vietnam rejected the French-installed Vietnamese puppet government. Terrorism and 9/11: A Reader, 2002, etc.) opens his long, deeply complex narrative with a little-known event: namely, a fact-finding mission to Vietnam on the part of then-Sen. Logevall (International Studies and History/Cornell Univ. Comprehensive history of the early years of what in Vietnam is called “the American War”-the time in which one Western power took the place of another, only for both to be defeated. From the vantage of intellectual and political discourse, the usually nebulous idea of Central Europe was a reply to the disappearance of empires in this region after 1918, and to the rise of totalitarianism in 1938-48. This essay, in an interdisciplinary manner, traces the origins and the functioning of Central Europe as a concept through the lens of cartography, history and culture. But when people subscribe to and act in accordance with a concept of this kind, it becomes reality, that is, part of social reality. Central Europe is as much invented as the continent of Europe, and as any human concept for that matter. 5/24/2023 0 Comments The yellow wallpaper settingWithin the house itself, the narrator is primarily confined to a "big, airy room. Her emotional position mirrors the house’s physical set-up. Now think about the narrator’s emotional position: isolated and restricted. It’s separate from the road and therefore separated from society the house itself is described as a place that binds and restricts. It’s a fancy house, yes, but it stands back away from the road and contains many "locks" and "separate little houses." This is a super-isolated (and isolating) place. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people. is quite alone standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. What do we mean by this? Let’s start with this passage: The setting of "The Yellow Wallpaper" reinforces all of the intangible feelings and attitudes expressed in the story. Rambling, isolated countryside estate, around 1885. 5/24/2023 0 Comments Pachinko book coverHer short fiction has been featured on NPR’s Selected Shorts. MIN JIN LEE’s debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, was one of the “Top 10 Novels of the Year” for the Times (London), NPR’s Fresh Air, and USA Today. Struggling to find their place in Japanese society, Sunja’s family finds work in the pachinko business and attempts to build their lives in a new land. Many Korean-Japanese families today have some original ties to the pachinko industry. Those who run and operate pachinko parlors, many of them of Korean ethnicity, are looked down upon socially, but some parlors can generate immense fortunes. Pachinko is a popular type of adult pinball game, which originated in Japan in the first half of the twentieth-century. Min Jin wanted to acknowledge their stories when so much of their lives had been denied, erased and despised. While writing PACHINKO, Min Jin (who herself was born in Korea before moving to the United States) lived in Japan with her husband and son and interviewed dozens of ethnic Koreans about their family histories. Some never disclose their heritage, although it can follow them in their identification papers and government records. There is a long and troubled history of legal and social discrimination against Koreans living in Japan, even those who have partial ethnic Korean background. 5/24/2023 0 Comments I want a hatWell, I am a goldfish! And I do not wish for hats to be gatekept from anyone who wishes to wear them. Someone once told me that there are hat people, and then there are also people who wish to be hat people. I was a little intimidated by this hat before I wore it, but to be fair, I was also intimidated by the concept of hats more generally. My hat is not like other hats, and I'm not just talking style, although it is certainly distinct in this regard, kind of like a Teen-Titan–colored layer cake with no clear center of gravity. new? I don't mean to fish for compliments-yes I'm aware of the pun we don't need to make it a thing-but I was just wondering, do you like my hat? I don't mean to drop hints, but have you noticed anything. It's comfortable enough here, but what I would give for some gravel, let alone a plant! I have 14 roommates, but we all have our own tanks at the temperature of the same room, like a co-op. The water is room temperature, which could really mean anything, I suppose, depending on the room. I actually just got a new place-a tank full of water inside of a room. Hey! It's been a minute, how's it hangin'? Me, I've been doing well. I feel that this book is more of a reminder of what goes on in certain families and not really helpful in how to achieve mindful parenting, how to be more aware and how to quickly assess our children's needs. Most parents do think about their childrens needs and often but they just don't know how to make things better in a fast paced world where society is constantly changing. I'm not sure if she's merely trying to show that she empathises with us (by speaking the words that are often thought) but there appears to be a lot of placing the blame on the parents in a way that suggests we're all too wrapped up in materialism and ego and selfishness. I am surprised to say that the author is also quite negative with her labelling of the parents in her stories. The author refers to 'sitting with your emotions' quite often which I fear may be the only advice given other than think before you speak. I'm over half way through this book and so far there have been no suggestions on actually how to deal with a situation, only stories of happenings with other families that are usually quite negative. 5/24/2023 0 Comments Goldfinger first editionBookseller's ticket of Henry Sotheran on front pastedown of For Your Eyes Only neat ink ownership inscription of "Peris Sinnett Jones April 1963" on pastedowns of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Casino Royale housed in a custom morocco-backed black solander box. Original boards, lettering and devices on some boards in gilt or colour, spines lettered in gilt, The Man with the Golden Gun in bronze. Dr No is in the second state binding with the Honeychile silhouette on the front cover The Man with the Golden Gun is in the second state as usual, without the gilt gun design on the front board, which proved too expensive and was dropped after the first 940 copies had been sent abroad, here in binding B with the spine bronze-lettered Diamonds are Forever in binding B (no priority). Moonraker is signed on the front free endpaper by Roger Moore For Your Eyes Only is from the library of Baron Fanshawe of Richmond, with his bookplate on the front pastedown. All except Dr No and The Man with the Golden Gun are in the first states, and all are in the first state jackets. The complete set of the original sequence of James Bond novels and stories, all first editions, first impressions. 5/24/2023 0 Comments Vampire academy book setUnfortunately for Rose, no one believes her fears are credible-though Dimitri might. Vladimir's has not passed, and she and Lissa have a strange psychic connection that neither of them can explain, but could prove dangerous if it's known. Rose is less than thrilled-the danger at St. But their runaway life is interrupted by a mysterious new Russian Dhampir named Dimitri, who hauls them back to St. Vladimir's Academy when a mysterious danger threatened their safety, choosing to risk facing Strigoi rather than stay in their gilded prison. Rose Hathaway, a Dhampir, and her best friend Lissa, Moroi royalty, ran away from St. It's also a refuge from the undead evil vampires known as the Strigoi. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, it's a super-secretive nocturnal institution for Moroi (vampires) and the Dhampir (half-vampire, half-human) who are sworn to protect them. Vladimir's Academy is no ordinary school. Head back to school with this YA boarding school series with bite! Soon after the Titanic leaves port, the secret plans are stolen, while a blackmail plot against Baroness Von Stern and the shooting of a ship's officer, found dead in a Rolls-Royce below decks, add to the intrigue. Smith at his table, where they meet a lively group of dining companions, including Colonel Moriarty, brother of Holmes's most notorious adversary a German baron, Hans Von Stern, and his wife, Elizabeth and crime writer Jacques Futrelle. Accompanying Holmes is Christine Norton, Irene Adler's grown daughter, who's carrying secret plans for a prototype submarine. First published in 1996 as Sherlock Holmes and the Titanic Tragedy, this captivating pastiche finds the famous sleuth, in disguise as a Royal Navy commodore, and his loyal friend and narrator, John Watson, on board for the equally famed ocean liner's fateful maiden voyage. |