What makes a person an artist? How do works of art and their very own, extraordinary style come into being? And how does the prominent painter view his own work? The world-famous painter Sean Scully met with the philosopher David Carrier for several in-depth interview sessions. Their conversations explore these and many more questions about Scully's life, work, and ideas. The result is a rich manuscript that very closely approaches the status of a valid autobiography. Scully provides personal insights into his life and the important sources of inspiration for his career. He discusses his own view of his entire oeuvre, of art history and his position within it. Thus, this text becomes a literal eye-opener for Scully's art, which can be (re)discovered through his words. SEAN SCULLY (*1945, Dublin) is one of the most famous artists of his generation. In addition to numerous exhibitions worldwide, he has been honored with important awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship and Harckness Fellowship. DAVID CARRIER (*1944) is a philosopher and art critic. His contributions to art appear in ArtForum and ArtUS, among others. With this interview tape, he takes up an interest of his teacher Arthur C. Danto, whose texts on Scully were published by Hatje Cantz in 2015.
Ever thought about seeking the simple life in rural Spain? You may well think again after reading David Baird’s latest book. Inspired by real-life events, Don’t Miss The Fiesta! is a chilling tale about an Englishman who finds refuge in a remote village lost in the sierras of Granada. Soon he discovers that under the placid surface lurk sinister secrets. He has blundered into an emotional minefield —nasty surprises lurk at every corner. “Don’t Miss The Fiesta! is a joy to read, beautifully written and with characters so real they are flesh and blood,” — EuroWeekly review.
The artwork of Maria Bussmann, a trained academic German philosopher and a significant visual artist, provides an ideal test case for a philosophical study of visual art. Bussmann has internalized the relationship between art and philosophy. In this exploration of the history of German aesthetics through Bussmann's work, David Carrier places the philosophical tradition in the context of contemporary visual culture. Each chapter focuses on the arguments of a major philosopher whose concerns Bussmann has dealt with as an artist: Kant, Hegel, Merleau-Ponty, Wittgenstein and Arendt. Offering comparative accounts of artists and philosophers whose work is of especial relevance, Carrier shows how Bussmann responds visually to writings of philosophers in art that has an elusive but essential relationship to theorizing. Tackling the question of whether philosophical subjects can be presented visually, Carrier offers a fresh perspective on the German idealist position through the visual art of 21st-century artist steeped in the tradition and continually challenging it through her work.
Leaving on Top: Graceful Exits for Leaders explores what it means to move on from a career with a class and a view for what?s next. While most graceful exiters pursue a variety of interests throughout their professional lifetime, others are content to reach the top and then cling to it. Through this research, David Heenan has found that most leaders can be categorized into four exiting types: Timeless wonders: With their skills very much intact, these white-haired prodigies have no need to call it quits. Aging Despots: Reluctant to leave the spotlight, they are past their prime and should turn the reigns over to a new generation. Comeback Kids: Whether to return their enterprises to their former glory, or simply save themselves from boredom, these once-departed leaders have returned with a vengeance. Graceful Exiters: Quitting while ahead, they leave a sterling reputation as they move on. Heenan understands how to exit gracefully from his profession?he?s done it several times. In Leaving On Top, he pairs wisdom derived from his experience with dozens of high-profile exits, both graceful and untimely. Heenan?s examination includes ten exiting lessons from leaders of industry, such as: Know Thy Situation: Situations change, and the intuitive know when a great career has fizzled. Take Risks: Accept change as a natural part of your transition, push your comfort zone to confront new challenges. Keep Good Company: Build alliances to help plan your exit strategy, then stay connected. Keep Learning: Graceful exiters remain curious. They are intellectually interested, alert, and adaptable. Know When to Walk Away: Blind determination often backfires. Don?t let professional success cloud your personal life.
This is an epic drama about unlimited energy, the realignment of international power in a truly new world order unlike anything envisioned before, and deadly conflict between political and military centers of power. Controlled laser fusion energy ignites a firestorm of competing interests from within the top levels of government to the oil patch to the United Nations and ultimately to the world. How is it that a visionary physicist/entrepreneur was able to achieve the technological breakthrough of the century? What does the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff really want? What flaws in the laws of presidential succession empower his plans? How does a young, black scientist find herself in a pivotal role in the new world order? What replaces a failed United Nations and who gets in and who doesnt? How is the worldwide addiction to fossil fuels finally broken and at what cost? These are just some of the questions raised and answered in this story that is part Ayn Rand and part Robert Ludlum. On Deception Watch paints a plausible future of global confrontation, unforgettable characters, and a stunning resolution that takes you out of this world. "The story is a good one...compelling..." Robert Thixton, Pinder Lane & Garon-Brooke Associates
Fifty years after they first came together and changed the sound of rock 'n' roll, the Grateful Dead remain one of rock's most beloved bands -- a musical and cultural phenomenon that spans generations and paved the way for everything from the world of jam bands and the idea of independently released music to social networking. Much has been written about the band, but nothing quite as vibrant and vivid as So Many Roads. Drawing on new interviews with surviving members and people in their inner circle -- along with the group's extensive archives and his own research from years of covering the group -- David Browne, longtime music journalist and contributing editor at Rolling Stone, does more than merely delve into the Dead's saga. By way of an altogether unique structure -- each chapter centered around a significant or pivotal day in their story -- he lends this epic musical and cultural story a you-are-there feel unlike any other book written about the band. So Many Roads takes us deep into the world of the Dead in ways that will be eye-opening even to the most rabid Deadheads. Readers will find themselves inside their communal home in Haight-Ashbury during the band's notorious 1967 bust; behind the scenes in the studio, watching the Dead at work (and play); backstage at the taping of the legendary "Touch of Grey" video and at their final shows; and in the midst of the Dead's legendary band meetings. Along the way, readers will hear not only from the Dead but also from friends, colleagues, lovers, and crew members, including some who've never spoken to the press before. The result is a remarkably detailed and cinematic book that paints a strikingly fresh portrait of one of rock's greatest and most enduring institutions and sheds new light -- for fans and newcomers alike -- on the band's music, dynamics, and internal struggles. "There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert," read the legendary bumper stickers. Similarly, there's nothing like So Many Roads, which explores all-new routes on the band's long, strange trip.
David will never forget the day he met Theoas much as he might want to. On a mission to right a wrong done to his sister as a child, David walks into LAO Schulz, a famous toy Mecca in the heart of New York City. What he sees that day in the stuffed-animal aisle challenges everything he understands about reality. As David turns the corner, he hears the sound of slapping. He investigates and sees a rather large stuffed bear viciously smacking a toddler around. As quickly as it starts, the attack ends. The bear regards David with cold, plastic eyes, climbs up on its shelf, and quickly settles into the lifeless pose one would expect from stuffed bears. Not only is this stuffed bear alive, David realizes, hes evil. David decides he must own this bear, and with that, their bizarre relationship begins. His name is Theo, and hes got a whopper of a story to further challenge Davids belief system. Cruelly put to death as a real bear cub, Theo is given a second chance at lifeas a stuffed animal. Theo is forced to become a killer as a rising star among the ranks of a secret brotherhood of gangster teddy bears. Betrayed, Theo is left to rot in the slammer. Theo and his friends conspire to escape. With the loyal Houdini by his side, the gang breathes free air again, but karma, as they say, is no friend to an ex-con.
“Students of the Civil War, Catholic history, and women’s history, among others, will welcome [Soldiers of the Cross] . . . Brilliantly edited.” —Randall M. Miller, co-editor of Religion and the American Civil War Shortly after the Civil War, an Irish Catholic journalist and war veteran named David Power Conyngham began compiling the stories of Catholic chaplains and nuns who served during the conflict. His manuscript, Soldiers of the Cross, is the fullest record written during the nineteenth century of the Catholic Church’s involvement in the Civil War, as it documents the service of fourteen chaplains and six female religious communities, representing both North and South. Many of Conyngham’s chapters contain new insights into the clergy during the war that are unavailable elsewhere, either during his time or ours, making the work invaluable to Catholic and Civil War historians. The introduction contains over a dozen letters written between 1868 and 1870 from high-ranking Confederate and Union officials, such as Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Union Surgeon General William Hammond, and Union General George B. McClellan, who praise the church’s services during the war. Chapters on Fathers William Corby and Peter P. Cooney, as well as the Sisters of the Holy Cross, cover subjects relatively well known to Catholic scholars, yet other chapters are based on personal letters and other important primary sources that have not been published prior to this book. Due to Conyngham’s untimely death, Soldiers of the Cross remained unpublished, hidden away in an archive for more than a century. Now annotated and edited so as to be readable and useful to scholars and modern readers, this long-awaited publication of Soldiers of the Cross is a fitting presentation of Conyngham’s last great work
Examines the history of the federal trial courts in Western Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. A Lincoln Legacy: The History of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michiganby David Gardner Chardavoyne with Hugh W. Brenneman, Jr. provides the first and only comprehensive examination of the history of the United States federal courts in the Western District of Michigan. The federal courts were established by the U.S. Constitution to adjudicate disputes involving federal laws, disputes between litigants from different states involving state and federal laws, and to punish violations of criminal laws passed by Congress. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating two federal districts in the state of Michigan: the Eastern and Western Districts—the latter of which is headquartered in Grand Rapids and which now encompasses the western half of the Lower Peninsula and all of the Upper Peninsula. With the rapid expansion of legislation passed by Congress, the increasing mobility of society, and the growth of interstate commerce, the federal courts have assumed an important and sometimes dominant role in major litigation today. In A Lincoln Legacy, Chardavoyne tracks the history of these courts over eleven chapters, from their creation by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to 2020. He discusses the changes in society that drove the evolving federal litigation and some significant cases heard in the Western District. Additionally, fifteen appendices are included in the book, listing of all the federal circuit and district judges in the Western District; commissioners; magistrate judges and bankruptcy judges; U.S. Attorneys; clerks of the courts; and more. Chardavoyne also identifies auxiliary offices and organizations revolving around the federal court that play a major role in its activities (e.g., the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Public Defender’s Office, the Federal Bar Association, etc.). A Lincoln Legacyprovides a thorough examination of the history of the federal courts of Western Michigan. It will appeal to those learning and practicing law, as well as those with an interest in Michigan history.
Much of our time at the movies is spent in other people’s homes. Cinema is, after all, often about everyday life. Spectacle of Property is the first book to address the question of the ubiquitous conjuncture of the moving image and its domestic architecture. Arguing that in cinema we pay to occupy spaces we cannot occupy, John David Rhodes explores how the house in cinema both structures and criticizes fantasies of property and ownership. Rhodes tells the story of the ambivalent but powerful pleasure we take in looking at private property onscreen, analyzing the security and ease the house promises along with the horrible anxieties it produces. He begins by laying out a theory of film spectatorship that proposes the concept of the “spectator-tenant,” with reference to films such as Gone with the Wind and The Magnificent Ambersons. The book continues with three chapters that are each occupied with a different architectural style and the films that make use of it: the bungalow, the modernist house, and the shingle style house. Rhodes considers a variety of canonical films rarely analyzed side by side, such as Psycho in relation to Grey Gardens and Meet Me in St. Louis. Among the other films discussed are Meshes of the Afternoon, Mildred Pierce, A Star Is Born, Killer of Sheep, and A Single Man. Bringing together film history, film theory, and architectural history as no book has to date, Spectacle of Property marks a new milestone in examining cinema’s relationship to realism while leaving us vastly more informed about, if less at home inside, the houses we occupy at the movies.
Jeffrey Dahmer. Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Over the past thirty years, serial killers have become iconic figures in America, the subject of made-for-TV movies and mass-market paperbacks alike. But why do we find such luridly transgressive and horrific individuals so fascinating? What compels us to look more closely at these figures when we really want to look away? Natural Born Celebrities considers how serial killers have become lionized in American culture and explores the consequences of their fame. David Schmid provides a historical account of how serial killers became famous and how that fame has been used in popular media and the corridors of the FBI alike. Ranging from H. H. Holmes, whose killing spree during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair inspired The Devil in the White City, right up to Aileen Wuornos, the lesbian prostitute whose vicious murder of seven men would serve as the basis for the hit film Monster, Schmid unveils a new understanding of serial killers by emphasizing both the social dimensions of their crimes and their susceptibility to multiple interpretations and uses. He also explores why serial killers have become endemic in popular culture, from their depiction in The Silence of the Lambs and The X-Files to their becoming the stuff of trading cards and even Web sites where you can buy their hair and nail clippings. Bringing his fascinating history right up to the present, Schmid ultimately argues that America needs the perversely familiar figure of the serial killer now more than ever to manage the fear posed by Osama bin Laden since September 11. "This is a persuasively argued, meticulously researched, and compelling examination of the media phenomenon of the 'celebrity criminal' in American culture. It is highly readable as well."—Joyce Carol Oates
Looks at the economics of animal food production through an examination of meat consumption's effects on personal health, the environment, and animal welfare and the animal food industry's control over legislation and regulation.
How the Hippies Saved Physics gives us an unconventional view of some unconventional people engaged early in the fundamentals of quantum theory. Great fun to read." —Anton Zeilinger, Nobel laureate in physics The surprising story of eccentric young scientists—among them Nobel laureates John Clauser and Alain Aspect—who stood up to convention and changed the face of modern physics. Today, quantum information theory is among the most exciting scientific frontiers, attracting billions of dollars in funding and thousands of talented researchers. But as MIT physicist and historian David Kaiser reveals, this cutting-edge field has a surprisingly psychedelic past. How the Hippies Saved Physics introduces us to a band of freewheeling physicists who defied the imperative to “shut up and calculate” and helped to rejuvenate modern physics. For physicists, the 1970s were a time of stagnation. Jobs became scarce, and conformity was encouraged, sometimes stifling exploration of the mysteries of the physical world. Dissatisfied, underemployed, and eternally curious, an eccentric group of physicists in Berkeley, California, banded together to throw off the constraints of the physics mainstream and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the “Fundamental Fysiks Group,” they pursued an audacious, speculative approach to physics. They studied quantum entanglement and Bell’s Theorem through the lens of Eastern mysticism and psychic mind-reading, discussing the latest research while lounging in hot tubs. Some even dabbled with LSD to enhance their creativity. Unlikely as it may seem, these iconoclasts spun modern physics in a new direction, forcing mainstream physicists to pay attention to the strange but exciting underpinnings of quantum theory. A lively, entertaining story that illuminates the relationship between creativity and scientific progress, How the Hippies Saved Physics takes us to a time when only the unlikeliest heroes could break the science world out of its rut.
In the late nineties, Wales (is) the centre for guitar bands in the UK so says John Robb in THE NINETIES and with bands as strikingly fresh and individual as Catatonia Welsh denomination looks assured. It has taken Catatonia eight years of hard work and persistance to gain the recognition and adulation that they so richly deserve, but finally Cerys' searing vocals and lilting guitar pop have made the breakthrough. Hardly surprisingly really, considering the wealth of talent that is Catatonia and the crest of the Welsh wave they are so assuredly riding. But as anyone will tell you, what makes Catatonia different from the rest, the Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics and others, is Cerys. Cerys Matthews is fast becoming an icon in herself - a combination of sweetness and South Walesian toughness that is proving to be so endearing to her legion of fans. Often likened to Blondie, Cerys has graced more magazine covers than you care to mention, yet she is the sort of pop star who still sends away for free tights. This book will be the first to chart the rise and yet further rise of Catatonia, from Cerys busking outside Debenhams in Cardiff to their new found fame.
The late Toni Morrison was the first African-American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. A powerful writer, she wove stories depicting the largely overlooked Black experience in America and exploring the intersection of gender and race through the lives of Black women. Morrison's writing continues to move people and push readers to reassess their beliefs about what it means to be Black in America. Synthesizing some 250 scholarly works about Morrison's writing, this book examines eight novels as well as the short story "Recitatif." They are analyzed for techniques used to deepen meaning and emotional weight, and reveal Morrison's mastery over prose.
(FAQ Pop Culture). Since the famed Kenneth Arnold "flying saucer" sighting of 1947, the world has been fascinated and unnerved by these mysterious objects in the sky. Millennia of recorded human history report UFOs, and everything from the extinction of dinosaurs to the origins of humankind have been attributed to them but what exactly are UFOs? Featuring material from a treasure trove of UFO/Project Blue Book archives declassified in 2015, UFO FAQ is an all-inclusive guide to UFO lore hard science and hoaxes, sightings and abductions, noted UFO proponents and skeptics, and sanctioned research and purported government cover-ups. Readers will meet cultists and explore worldwide UFO "hot spots." They'll learn about UFOs in World War II, the Cold War, and the age of terrorism. And they'll zip along with UFOs in movies, comics, TV, and other popular media. Also featured are an international UFO timeline and a valuable UFO checklist that includes step-by-step suggestions on how to prepare and make the most of your UFO sightings while ensuring your credibility. Dramatically illustrated with nearly 100 photographs and drawings, UFO FAQ combines historical accuracy, provocative speculation, and compulsive readability in one handy volume.
Proust/Warhol : Analytical Philosophy of Art employs three key intellectual tools : the aesthetic theory of Arthur Danto, the account of Proust by Joshua Landy, and the analysis of the art of living by Alexander Nehamas. Proust/Warhol concludes with a discussion of an issue of particular importance for Warhol, the relationship between art and fashion."--Jacket
Examining a wide range of ekphrastic poems, David Kennedy argues that contemporary British poets writing out of both mainstream and avant-garde traditions challenge established critical models of ekphrasis with work that is more complex than representational or counter-representational responses to paintings in museums and galleries. Even when the poem appears to be straightforwardly representational, it is often selectively so, producing a 'virtual' work that doesn't exist in actuality. Poets such as Kelvin Corcoran, Peter Hughes, and Gillian Clarke, Kennedy suggests, relish the ekphrastic encounter as one in which word and image become mutually destabilizing. Similarly, other poets engage with the source artwork as a performance that participates in the ethical realm. Showing that the ethical turn in ekphrastic poetry is often powerfully gendered, Kennedy also surveys a range of ekphrastic poets from the Renaissance and nineteenth century to trace a tradition of female ekphrastic poetry that includes Pauline Stainer and Frances Presley. Kennedy concludes with a critique of ekphrastic exercises in creative writing teaching, proposing that ekphrastic writing that takes greater account of performance spectatorship may offer more fruitful models for the classroom than the narrativizing of images.
Is writing a world art history possible? Does the history of art as such even exist outside the Western tradition? Is it possible to consider the history of art in a way that is not fundamentally Eurocentric? In this highly readable and provocative book, David Carrier, a philosopher and art historian, does not attempt to write a world art history himself. Rather, he asks the question of how an art history of all cultures could be written—or whether it is even possible to do so. He also engages the political and moral issues raised by the idea of a multicultural art history. Focusing on a consideration of intersecting artistic traditions, Carrier negotiates the way meaning and understanding shift or are altered when a visual object from one culture, for example, is inserted into the visual tradition of another culture. A World Art History and Its Objects proposes the use of temporal narrative as a way to begin to understand a multicultural art history.
In these boldly original studies, Heidegger's thought is carried critically and constructively beyond its original limitations, re-presenting his project in terms of an emerging body of understanding, making sense of this project not only in its historical, cultural significance but also in its bearing on the emergence of future possibilities. Continuing Heidegger's commitment to a way of thinking that is formed from reflectively lived experience, David Michael Kleinberg-Levin suggests what can be learned regarding the character of our typical and habitual ways of looking and seeing, hearing and listening, and touching, holding, handling, and gesturing. The body of ontological understanding consequently emerges as we learn how to take responsibility for the meaning of being in forming and developing the character of our relationship to all the beings in our world. In this original reading of Heidegger's thought, Kleinberg-Levin suggests what his project could mean for an ethical way of life.
The phase of American architectural history we call 'mid-century modernism,' 1940-1980, saw the spread of Modern Movement tenets of functionalism, social service and anonymity into mainstream practice. It also saw the spread of their seeming opposites. Temples, arcades, domes, and other traditional types occur in both modernist and traditionalist forms from the 1950s to the 1970s. Hut Pavilion Shrine examines this crossroads of modernism and the archetypal, and critiques its buildings and theory. The book centers on one particularly important and omnipresent type, the pavilion - a type which was the basis of major work by Louis I. Kahn, Paul Rudolph, Philip Johnson, Minoru Yamasaki, and other eminent architects. While focusing primarily on the architecture culture of the United States, it also includes the work of British, European Team X, and Scandinavian designers and writers. Making connections between formal analysis, historical context, and theory, the book continues lines of inquiry which have been pursued by Neil Levine and Anthony Vidler on representation, and by Sarah Goldhagen and Alice Friedman on modernism’s 'forbidden' elements of the honorific and the visually pleasurable. It highlights the significance of 'pavilionizing' mid-century designers such as Victor Lundy, John Johansen, Eero Saarinen, and Edward Durell Stone, and shows how frequently essentialist and traditionalist types appeared in the roadside vernacular of drive-in restaurants, gas stations, furniture and car showrooms, branch banks, and motels. The book ties together the threads in mid-century architectural theory that addressed aspects of type, 'essential' structure, and primal 'humanistic' aspects of environment-making and discusses how these concerns outlived the mid-century moment, and in the designs and writings of Aldo Rossi and others they paved the way for Post-Modernism.
The great poet Charles Baudelaire (1821&–1867) was also an extremely influential art critic. High Art relates the philosophical issues posed by Baudelaire's art writing to the theory and practice of modernist and postmodernist painting. Baudelaire wrote in an age of transition, David Carrier argues, an era divided by the Revolution of 1848, the historical break that played for him a role now taken within modernism by the political revolts of 1968. Moving from the grand tradition of Delacroix to the images of modern life made by Constantin Guys, this movement from &"high&" to &"low,&" from the unified world of correspondences to the fragmented images of contemporary city life, motivates Baudelaire's equivalent to the post-1968 turn away from formalist art criticism. Viewed from the perspective of the 1990s, Carrier argues, the issues raised by Baudelaire's criticism and creative writing provide a way of understanding the situation of art writing in our own time.
Mountain Bike! Orange County covers the gamut of mountain biking behind the Orange Curtain. From the majestic peaks of the Santa Ana Mountains to the rolling grasslands of Chino Hills State Park, there's something for everyone here. Rip extreme drops in Laguna Canyon, explore the vast reaches of the Cleveland National Forest, and race down suburban singletrack on the Fullerton Loop. Whether you are looking for an after work workout or a day long exhibition, this is the book for you. Orange County is not just concrete roadways and Disneyland. There's more E Ticket off-road adventures here than you can shake a spoke at. Mountain Bike! Orange County provides detailed descriptions for all the classic rides and a few undiscovered gems.
David Halliburton's book is a richly textured study of the complete writings of Stephen Crane. Offering close readings of the works within a broad framework, Halliburton sets out to explore the imaginative world Crane created in his total œuvre of fiction, poetry and reportage.
Running a successful sporting event—whether it’s a local event, state championship, or international competition—requires the knowledge and skills to plan, organize, promote, lead, and communicate effectively. Managing Sport Events, Second Edition With Web Resource, will prepare readers to manage events with ease, guiding them through the entire process, from event conception to postevent evaluation. Merging research findings with best practices, Managing Sport Events, Second Edition, presents the key principles of event management to prepare students to enter the field with the skills needed to immediately engage in event production and evaluation. With updated references throughout, the second edition emphasizes practical application by offering plenty of contemporary examples and learning opportunities for students: New industry profiles at the beginning of each chapter showcase professionals putting theory into practice Added sections address emerging trends and topics, such as sustainability and event security Examples show how new technologies can be utilized for event management and event presentation Scenarios highlighting recreational and community events better represent smaller-scale events such as a local 5K run or a youth basketball tournament Case studies and learning activities at the end of each chapter allow students to put theory into practice A new web resource offers mini case studies with multiple-choice questions that provide immediate feedback to help students gauge their comprehension Managing Sport Events, Second Edition, leads students through the reality of what it takes to conduct a successful event. Starting with event conception and development, the text then addresses key planning areas, including staffing, budgeting, marketing, promotion, sponsorship, and legal and risk management. It then moves into key operational areas such as services, logistics, and on-site management, and it concludes the process with postevent duties and considerations. Managing Sport Events, Second Edition, integrates the traditional business segments of sport management with the unique requirements of event management. This guide is an essential resource for current and future professionals working in parks and recreation, tourism and hospitality, and sports at all levels—youth, high school, college, amateur, minor league, professional, and international competition.
Contemplative reading is a spiritual practice developed by Christian monks in sixth- and seventh-century Mesopotamia. Mystics belonging to the Church of the East pursued a form of contemplation which moved from reading, to meditation, to prayer, to the ecstasy of divine vision. The Library of Paradise tells the story of this Syriac tradition in three phases: its establishment as an ascetic practice, the articulation of its theology, and its maturation and spread. The sixth-century monastic reform of Abraham of Kashkar codified the essential place of reading in East Syrian ascetic life. Once established, the practice of contemplative reading received extensive theological commentary. Abraham's successor Babai the Great drew upon the ascetic system of Evagrius of Pontus to explain the relationship of reading to the monk's pursuit of God. Syriac monastic handbooks of the seventh century built on this Evagrian framework. 'Enanisho' of Adiabene composed an anthology called Paradise that would stand for centuries as essential reading matter for Syriac monks. Dadisho' of Qatar wrote a widely copied commentary on the Paradise. Together, these works circulated as a one-volume library which offered readers a door to "Paradise" through contemplation. The Library of Paradise is the first book-length study of East Syrian contemplative reading. It adapts methodological insights from prior scholarship on reading, including studies on Latin lectio divina. By tracing the origins of East Syrian contemplative reading, this study opens the possibility for future investigation into its legacies, including the tradition's long reception history in Sogdian, Arabic, and Ethiopic monastic libraries.
American social policy, writes David Stoesz, is currently experiencing an alarming paradigm shift. Quixote's Ghost, a provocative new analysis of the ideological fight for control of American social welfare policy, demonstrates how the Right pirated the pragmatism championed by the Left since the New Deal and what that means for the future of social policy. Stoesz's fascinating account documents how conservative think tanks arose to combat the dominance of liberal intellectualism in the university system, and by now have taken command of the "means of analysis," flooding Congress with proposals and effectively shifting American public philosophy from liberalism to conservatism. While the Right devoted enormous amounts of energy in reconstructing social policy, Stoesz argues that the American liberal-intellectual class-the Liberati-abandoned its original mission, defecting from the welfare state project to pursue a philosophical tangent, postmodernism, that vilified social policy and romanticized oppressed populations. Presenting case studies from welfare reform and children's services, he illustrates how both the Right and the Left have shortchanged American social policy. In the process, he proposes radical pragmatism as the solution to counter the dominance of an emerging welfare-industrial complex and revive a Progressive orientation to social policy. Only through citizen empowerment, social mobility, and government restructuring, Stoesz argues, can we effectively craft a new approach to social policy that meets the requirements of the 21st century and transcends the impasse between the Left and the Right. Quixote's Ghost, framed by the metaphor of a Romantic Left whose actions-like Don Quixote's obsession with chivalry-are out of synch with the present reality, will be of immense interest to students and academics alike. As one of the few books to chart this radical shift in social policy and its implications on the ground, it will be sure to challenge both the Right and the Left to craft a new approach to thinking about American social policy.
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