Bibliotopia Or Mr Gilbar S Book Of Books Catch All Of Literary Facts Curiosities

What is the origin of the word "book"? What is the oldest working library still in existence? What is an "enchiridion"? An "amphigory"? A "duodecimo"? Which two Nobel laureates refused the prize in literature? How many trees must sacrifice their lives to produce a thousand copies of a 96-page volume of verse? These are some of the questions posed (and answered) in this fascinating farrago of literary trivia, a treasure trove of obscure and irresistible facts, definitions, lists, and quotations that touch on every aspect of books, including their authors, publishers, printers, collectors, critics, readers, and enemies. Under headings that explore the entire history of bibliomania from "The Invention of Paper" to "Some Horror Writers' Offcial Websites," the entries in Bibliotopia provide the insatiably curious reader a delightfully desultory literary education, the kind one might pick up at a cocktail party on Parnassus.

Behind-the-book stories and facts about authors, publishing, and everything..

Jocelyn Guenevere Marchantiere Jones, sometime resident of Scarsdale, educated at Bryn Mawr, has been brought up always to behave like a lady. But what with chiselling divorce lawyers, fraudulent advisors and importunate and oversexed suitors, the patience of even the most impeccable lady might wear thin. Which is why Joy ends up with a pair of matching Purdey shotguns across her knees and a .38 Smith & Wesson under her pillow, waiting for the next lying bastard to cross her threshold. Trigger happy she may be, and no longer quite welcome in polite society, but Joy James, one of J. P. Donleavy's most inspired comic creations, will always follow her South Carolina granny's advice on the matter of clean rest rooms, a preference which had some rather surprising consequences... A hilarious and charming novella from the author of such classics as THE GINGER MAN and A FAIRY TALE OF NEW YORK.

Looks at the literary contribution of various of women authors throughout the ages.

There's nothing better than a book you can't put down—or better yet, a book you'll never forget. This book puts the power of transformational reading into your hands. Jack Canfield, cocreator of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, and self-actualization pioneer Gay Hendricks have invited notable people to share personal stories of books that changed their lives. What book shaped their outlook and habits? Helped them navigate rough seas? Spurred them to satisfaction and success? The contributors include Dave Barry, Stephen Covey, Malachy McCourt, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Mark Victor Hansen, John Gray, Christiane Northrup, Bernie Siegel, Craig Newmark, Michael E. Gerber, Lou Holtz, and Pat Williams, to name just a few. Their richly varied stories are poignant, energizing, and entertaining.Author and actor Malachy McCourt tells how a tattered biography of Gandhi, stumbled on in his youth, offered a shining example of true humility—and planted the seeds that would help support his sobriety decades later. Bestselling author and physician Bernie Siegel, M.D., tells how William Saroyan's The Human Comedy helped him realize that, in order to successfully treat his patients with life-threatening illnesses, "I had to help them live—not just prevent them from dying." Actress Catherine Oxenberg reveals how, at a life crossroads and struggling with bulimia, a book taught her the transforming difference one person could make in the life of another—and why that person for her was Richard Burton. Rafe Esquith, the award-winning teacher whose inner-city students have performed Shakespeare all over the world, recounts his deep self-doubt in the midst of his success—and how reading To Kill a Mockingbird strengthened him to continue teaching. Beloved librarian and bestselling author Nancy Pearl writes how, at age ten, Robert Heinlein's science fiction book Space Cadet impressed on her the meaning of personal integrity and gave her a vision of world peace she'd never imagined possible. Two years later, she marched in her first civil rights demonstration and learned that there's always a way to make "a small contribution to intergalactic harmony." If you're looking for insight and illumination—or simply for that next great book to read—You've Got to Read This Book! has treasures in store for you.

This unique memoir of reading the classics to find strength and wisdom “makes an elegant case for literature as an everyday companion” (The New York Times Book Review). While undergoing a series of personal and family crises, Christopher R. Beha discovered that his grandmother had used the Harvard Classics—the renowned “five foot shelf” of great world literature compiled in the early twentieth century by Charles William Eliot—to educate herself during the Great Depression. He decided to follow her example and turn to this series of great books for answers—and recounts the experience here in a smart, big-hearted, and inspirational mix of memoir and intellectual excursion that “deftly illustrates how books can save one’s life” (Helen Schulman). “As he grapples with the death of his beloved grandmother, a debilitating bout with Lyme disease and other major and minor calamities, Beha finds that writers as diverse as Wordsworth, Pascal, Kant and Mill had been there before, and that the results of their struggles to find meaning in life could inform his own.” —The Seattle Times “An important book [and] a sheer blast to read.” —Heidi Julavits

Elliott Banfield uses Photoshop to digitally create stunning, ink-and-pen-like drawings reminiscent of engravings that were once possible to produce only through the use of non-digital materials like charcoal. This was a messy process and resulting images were hard to recreate and reproduce in bulk (i.e. for publication). Elliott’s personally developed methods will appeal to those who want to create the old-timey aesthetic of ink-and-pen engravings in a much tidier, more easily repoduced digital method. The book will be accompanied by downloadable versions of all of the tools and shortcuts that Elliott has developed using Photoshop.

This volume is a collection of commemorative essays by some of the world's greatest literary talent--about some of the world's greatest literary talents: Emerson on Thoreau, Howells on Twain, Cather on Crane, Baldwin on Wright, Bellow on Cheever, and forty-three further pairings.