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Of all the writings on theory and aesthetics ancient, medieval, or modern the most important is indisputably Aristotle’s Poetics, the first philosophical treatise to propound a theory of literature. In the Poetics, Aristotle writes that he will speak of comedy but there is no further mention of comedy. Aristotle writes also that he will address catharsis and an analysis of what is funny. But he does not actually address any of those ideas. The surviving...

Edmund Wilson's last collection of criticism, The Devils & Canon Barham, contains ten essays on Poets, Novelists, and Monsters. Previously published in the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, Wilson's writing featured in this volume sees the critic returning to his roots and youth, with essays on his childhood love for The Ingoldsby Legends, the works of Hemingway, Eliot's The Waste Land, and ends with a piece on The Monsters of Bomarzo...

"Fairy tale expert Jack Zipes has assembled what he describes as his last theoretical and critical study of fairy tales. His purpose is to create a coherent collection that pays tribute to a group of writers that he views as 'survivors with a mission' whose tales inspire readers to this day. The book begins with a substantial introduction in which Zipes discusses the history of his interest in fairy tales and the motivation for his scholarship in...

"While working at the Newark Star-Ledger, Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall created a popular column debating the merits of then-current television. Eventually they went on to successful careers as critics elsewhere, but the debate raged on and now comes to an epic conclusion in TV (THE BOOK). Alan and Matt have established The Pantheon of top TV shows using a complex, obsessively all-encompassing ranking system by which to order and stack them...

For many of us, classical music is something serious-something we study in school, something played by cultivated musicians at fancy gatherings. In Language of the Spirit, renowned music scholar Jan Swafford argues that we have it all wrong: classical music has something for everyone and is accessible to all. Ranging from Gregorian chant to Handel's Messiah, from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons to the postmodern work of Philip Glass, Swafford is an affable...

This commentary offers a rich introduction and useful guide to the seven surviving plays attributed to Aeschylus. Though it may profitably be used with any translation of Aeschylus, the commentary is based on the acclaimed Chicago translations, The Complete Greek Tragedies, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. James C. Hogan provides a general introduction to Aeschylean theater and drama, followed by a line-by-line commentary on each of...

P. D. James--one of the most widely admired writers of detective fiction at work today--gives us a personal, lively exploration of the human appetite for mystery and mayhem, and of those writers who have satisfied it. She examines the genre from top to bottom, beginning with the mysteries at the hearts of such novels as Charles Dickens's Bleak House, and bringing us into the present with such writers as Colin Dexter and Sara Paretsky. She compares...

"So how did a basic cable television show based on Robert Kirkman's graphic comic series, set in an apocalyptic dog-eat-dog world filled with flesh-eating zombies and even scarier human beings, become a ratings juggernaut and cultural phenomenon? Why is the show such a massive hit? In this playful yet comprehensive guide, Vigna dissects every aspect of The Walking Dead to assess its extraordinary success" -- provided by publisher.

Extrait: "Au milieu des chaînes de montagnes qui sillonnent l'Espagne en tous sens, de Bilbao à Gabraltar, et d'Alicane au cap Finistère, la plus poétique sans contredit et par son aspect pittoresque et par ses souvenirs historiques, est la sierra Nevada, laquelle fait suite à la sierra de Guaro, séparée qu'elle en est seulement par la charmante vallée o prend une de ses sources le petit fleuve d'Orgiva, qui va se jeter à la mer entre Almunecar...

• Asserts a novel and controversial theory on the origins of rhetoric that differs radically from the standard view • Argues that it was the theatre of Ancient Greece, first appearing around 500 BC, that prompted • the development of formalized rhetoric, which evolved soon thereafter • Provides a cogent reworking of existing evidence • Reveals the bias and inconsistency of Aristotle.