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Shakespeare and Modern Culture


What do John Wilkes Booth, Paul Robeson and Megan Fox all have in common? Well, it turns out not much besides William Shakespeare. In her new book, Shakespeare and Modern Culture, world premier Shakespeare scholar Marjorie Garber doesn’t just imply that the sweet swan of Avon remains a heavy hitter in literature classes; she contends that Shakespeare and modern culture are inseparable. From George W Bush and Sex and the City to Sigmund Freud and the foundations of continental philosophy, Garber takes the reader on a lively jaunt through the bawdy bard’s colossal and complex legacy, highlighting the appropriations and misappropriations of character, verse and original thought from ten of his most celebrated plays. This book is not just for serious students of literature, but for anyone interested in the evolution of modern culture, for as Cole Porter said, “If she says your behavior is heinous / Kick her right in the Coriolanus / Brush up on your Shakespeare / And they’ll all kowtow.”

Garber, Marjorie. Shakespeare and Modern Culture. Pantheon, 2008. Cloth, dj, octavo, 326 pp. List price: $30.00. Our in-store sale price: $12.95.

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Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World

The Man Who Recorded the World

No figure deserves greater credit for the preservation of America’s folk music traditions than archivist, anthropologist, singer, political activist, ethnomusicologist, filmmaker, talent scout, concert coordinator, record producer and folklorist Alan Lomax. Acclaimed biographer John Szwed has written a thorough and romantic survey of the man whose tenacity and research helped lay the foundation for the folk music revival of the ‘60’s and whose passion opened a portal through which a new kind of musicology began to transform America’s perception of itself. Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World follows Lomax’s journey from his father’s field recordings in rural America to his own ambitious series of recordings in Europe and the Caribbean, highlighting his acquaintance with such memorable artists as Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Jelly Roll Morton, Carl Sandburg, and Bob Dylan. Szwed’s dynamic and adoring account of Lomax’s life examines the revolutionary landscape of 20th century American culture through the eyes, ears and microphone of one of its most extraordinary characters.

Szwed, John. Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World. Viking Penguin, 2010. Cloth, dj, octavo, 438 pp. List price: $29.95. Our in store sale price: $5.95.

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Eva Hesse: Sculpture

Sussman, Elisabeth and Fred Wasserman. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. Yale University Press, 2006. Cloth, dj, quarto, 175 pp., illustrated throughout in color. List price: $50.00. Our in store sale price: $11.95

Though Eva Hesse’s career ended prematurely after 10 short years, her first and only solo exhibition Chain Polymers cemented her place in the American art world.  Eva Hesse: Sculpture highlights the artist’s exploration of Minimalism and her journey beyond its strict, sharp geometry to more organic, handmade forms.  The thirty-three stunning plates of her latex and fiberglass large-scale sculptures are complimented by a thorough chronology of her life, illustrated by the diaries of her childhood kept by her father.  The four essays place her work within the context of her own heartbreaking biography, the volatile art world of the 1960’s, and her legendary 1968 solo exhibition.  This wonderful photographic reproduction of her provocative and groundbreaking work is a must-have for post-war art aficionados and all art-lovers alike (especially for our price!).

If you really want to get deep into Eva Hesse, we have copies of the facsimile of her datebooks from 1964/65!

Sussman, Elisabeth and Fred Wasserman. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. Yale University Press, 2006. Cloth, dj, quarto, 175 pp., illustrated throughout in color. List price: $50.00. Our in store sale price: $6.95