The Dreams Of Departure

Short stories.

In his final years, Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz distilled his storyteller's art to its most essential level. Written with the compression and power of dreams, these poetic vignettes, originally collected in two books, The Dreams and Dreams of Departure, here combined in one volume for the first time. These stories telescope epic tales into tersely haunting miniatures. A man finds his neighborhood has turned into a circus, but his joy turns to anger when he cannot escape it. An obscure writer finally achieves fame-through the epitaph on his grave. A group of friends telling jokes in an alley face the murderous revenge of an ancient Egyptian queen. Figures from Mahfouz's past-women he loved, men who inspired him, even fictional characters from his own novels-float through tales dreamed by a mind too fertile ever to rest, even in sleep. Translated by Raymond Stock

The most authoritative and comprehensive book available on dreams and dreaming. Enter the fascinating world of dreams, their mysteries, their meanings: to dream of a bird flying freely represents hopes and aspirations; to dream of winter means a time in life that is not fruitful; to be visited by someone in a dream can mean that there is information, warmth, or love available; to be searching in a dream is an attempt to find an answer to a problem. These are just a few of the 10,000 dream images and interpretations contained in this volume, a book that can bring insight, clarification, and guidance.

Friends Kit and Liza have been looking forward to this trip forever. Five girls, five tickets overseas. It's exactly what they all need after the final slog of high school. But when Kit is suddenly forced to drop out, Liza's left with three girls she barely knows. There's Mai, committed only to partying. There's Tam, who already has her doubts about leaving her sick father behind. And there's Olivia, so miserable about screwing up exams she's not even sure she wants to get out of bed, let alone on a plane. All Liza wants from this trip is to discover a new version of herself. She just hadn't planned on doing it without Kit by her side. And they're all learning that travel isn't just about the places you go, but about who you're with at the time.

This volume describes how the conceptual and technical sophistication of contemporary cognitive and neuroscientific fields has enhanced the neurocognitive understanding of dreaming sleep. Because it is the only naturally-occurring state in which the active brain produces elaborate cognitive processes in the absence of sensory input, the study of dreaming offers a unique cognitive and neurophysiological view of the production of higher cognitive processes. The theory and research included is driven by the search for the most direct relationships linking the neurophysiological characteristics of sleepers to their concurrent cognitive experiences. The search is organized around three sets of theoretical models and the three classes of neurocognitive relationships upon which they are based. The contributions to this volume demonstrate that the field has begun to move in new directions opened up by the rapid advances in contemporary cognitive science, neuropsychology, and neurophysiology.

Almost a year since the publication of The Interpretation of Dreams, this anthology brings together key issues from Europe and America and invites the reader to consider new perspectives on the dream that have emerged since then.

Svetlana Boym was a prolific writer, a charismatic professor, a novelist, and a public intellectual. She was also a fiercely resourceful and reflective immigrant; her most resonant book, The Future of Nostalgia, was deeply rooted in that experience. Even after The Future of Nostalgia carried her fame beyond academic circles, few readers were aware of all of her creative personas. She was simply too prolific, and her work migrated across most people's disciplinary boundaries-from literary and cultural studies through film, visual, and material culture studies, performance, intermedia, and new media. The Svetlana Boym Reader presents a comprehensive view of Boym's singularly creative work in all its aspects. It includes Boym's classic essays, carefully chosen excerpts from her five books, and journalistic gems. Showcasing her roles both as curator and curated, the reader includes interviews and excerpts from exhibition catalogues as well as samples of intermedial works like Hydrant Immigrants. It also features autobiographical pieces that shed light on the genealogy of her scholarly work and rarities like an excerpt from Boym's first graduate school essay on Russian literature, complete with marginalia by her mentor Donald Fanger. Last but not least, the reader includes late pieces that Boym did not live to see through publication, as well as transcripts of her memorable last lectures and performances.