Anthropologist Mary Douglas’ controversial study of patterns in ancient world literature, Thinking in Circles: An Essay on Ring Composition was featured in an article in yesterday’s New York Times. Douglas explains that many famous ancient texts are misunderstood and many others have been completely neglected due to the literary style
This weekend’s New York Times Book Review devoted the “TBR: Inside the List” column to discussing The Yale Book of Quotations, specifically the relative dearth of quotations from recent literature. Dwight Garner says, “A lot’s been written already – most of it deservedly positive – about the new ‘Yale Book
Edmund White reviewed Tennessee Williams’ Notebooks in this weekend’s New York Times Book Review, which tracks Williams’ growth as a writer from his undergraduate years to his early successes of “The Glass Menagerie” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” to his troubled descent into alcohol and drug addiction. Although continually plagued
Tennessee Williams’s later life often proved mysterious to his colleagues and critics; he was infamous for being erratic, and was lambasted by critics who longed for his earlier days. His Notebooks, recently published for the first time in an annotated edition by the Yale University Press, offer insight into the
Today is the birthday centenary of W.H. Auden, one of the most famed poets of the twentieth century. Arthur Kirsch’s Auden and Christianity, published by Yale University Press, is the first book to explore in depth how the poet turned to faith for guidance in his art and his life,
February is American Heart Month, a time to promote awareness of the risks, causes and ways to reduce the chance of developing heart disease, which is currently the leading cause of death in the United States. More than 70 million Americans have some form of heart disease. It is important
Richard Gilman, noted theater critic and former professor at the Yale School of Drama, passed away last fall at his home in Kusatsu, Japan at the age of 83. Yale University Press published three books by Mr. Gilman: Chekhov’s Plays, winner of the Choice 1996 Outstanding Academic Book Award, The
The latest issue of the New Yorker features artwork from Ivan Brunetti, editor of our very own Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories. Image from www.newyorker.com
Steve Coates reviewed Adrian Goldsworthy’s biography of Caesar in Sunday’s New York Times Book Review. Says Coates: The dramatic trajectory of [Caesar’s] life, with its bloody denouement, well suits Goldworthy’s vigorous and un-self-conscious style. The result is an authoritative and exciting portrait not only of Caesar but of the complex
Posted by Fred R. Shapiro, Editor of The Yale Book of Quotations: I am often asked about who are the most-quoted authors in The Yale Book of Quotations. The first two are, unsurprisingly: William Shakespeare . . . 455 quotations Bible . . . 400 The next two on the