Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
The Novelist's Lexicon - Writers on the Words That Define Their Work - cover

The Novelist's Lexicon - Writers on the Words That Define Their Work

Gillet Villa, Monde Le

Publisher: Columbia University Press

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

In this anthology from the Villa Gillet literary conference, world-renowned authors from A.S. Byatt to Enrique Vila-Matas discuss their work.   At the international literary conference hosted by Villa Gillet and Le Monde, organizers asked more than seventy prominent authors to choose a word that opens a door to their work. Their musings, collected here and organized alphabetically by keyword, present an array of intriguing, amusing, and surprising insight into contemporary literature. Through these personal "passwords," authors articulate the function of language, character, plot, and structure in their work. Jonathan Lethem discusses the necessity of "furniture" in the novel. A. S. Byatt describes the power of the narrative web. Colum McCann details the benefits of anonymity. Daniel Mendelsohn expounds on the unknowable, or what the author should or should not impart to the reader. Etgar Keret explains the importance of balagan, a Hebrew word meaning "total chaos," and Annie Proulx clarifies terroir, which embodies the complexities of time, place, geography, weather, and climate.    Other participants include Rick Moody on adumbrated, Upamanyu Chatterjee on the bildungsroman, Adam Thirwell on hedonism, Nuruddin Farah on identities, Andre Brink on the heretic, and Péter Esterhazy on the power and potential of words.
Available since: 10/27/2010.
Print length: 169 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • Life to the Extreme - cover

    Life to the Extreme

    Ty Pennington, Travis Thrasher

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Ty Pennington shares stories from his life and offers a behind-the-scenes look at your favorite home shows! 
    As a kid, Ty Pennington had too much energy. He was chaotic, bouncing off the walls, and on a first-name basis with the local emergency room staff. Back then there wasn't public awareness of attention deficit disorder yet. People just thought Ty was rambunctious. A trouble maker. What do you do with a kid who just can't sit still? Who can't focus? 
    But Ty discovered something amazing when he was just a boy: he felt focused when he was building something. He discovered that he loved to work with his hands - to use tools and be creative. He loved to try new things, build and design new things. 
    In Life to the Extreme Ty shares his remarkable life story. In his characteristic humorous style, he takes you racing through his life with ADHD-infused diversions that will make you laugh out loud. He shares about how he was diagnosed with ADHD in college, and what it has meant to be an advocate for ADHD awareness. He shares about his start as a model and carpenter, and his eventual move to television where he starred in the hit shows Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Trading Spaces. 
    Life to the Extreme will inspire you. Ty's boundless energy and his sense of humor are infectious. You'll laugh. You might cry a little. And you'll definitely be inspired to change the lives of those around you.
    Show book
  • Our Shoes Our Selves - 40 Women 40 Stories 40 Pairs of Shoes - cover

    Our Shoes Our Selves - 40 Women...

    Bridget Moynahan, Amanda Benchley

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Forty remarkable women share the stories and memories behind their favorite shoes—accompanied by gorgeous photography. 
     
    Cinderella wasn’t the only one whose life was changed by a pair of shoes. Ask any woman about her favorite pair and you’re sure to get an answer that goes beyond their material design. In Our Shoes, Our Selves: 40 Women, 40 Stories, 40 Pairs of Shoes, actress Bridget Moynahan and journalist Amanda Benchley ask forty accomplished women to recount the memories behind their most meaningful footwear.  
     
    This collection features stories from icons like Bobbi Brown, Danica Patrick, and Misty Copeland; intrepid reporters like Christiane Amanpour and Katie Couric; and creative forces like Rupi Kaur, Maya Lin, and Gretchen Rubin. Beautifully illustrated with a portrait of each woman and her chosen shoes, the stories explore what most women already know: that what we wear can have power and significance beyond merely clothing our bodies. Our Shoes, Our Selves reveals these remarkable journeys, and the steps these inspiring women have taken to get there.
    Show book
  • Evita First Lady - A Biography of Evita Peron - cover

    Evita First Lady - A Biography...

    John Barnes

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    The story of one of the most fascinating women of all time—Maria Eva Duarte, who rose from poverty to become one of the richest, most powerful women in the world.   Eva Perón was a star and a legend during her lifetime, one of the most alluring women of the twentieth century. Through the hit Broadway musical Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber, her story became famous, and with the release of the film starring Madonna as Eva Perón, her life became a media obsession once again.   Evita, as she preferred to style herself, was the beautiful and legendary woman who rose up from poverty to become the hypnotically powerful first lady of Argentina. To millions of poor people, she was a savior; to her enemies, she was a monstrous dictator. In this riveting biography, John Barnes explores the astonishing paradox of this champion of the poor who attacked the rich and, in the process, made herself the wealthiest woman in the world.
    Show book
  • The Suffragette Bombers - Britain's Forgotten Terrorists - cover

    The Suffragette Bombers -...

    Simon Webbe

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    In the years leading up to the First World War, the United Kingdom was subjected to a ferocious campaign of bombing and arson. Those conducting this terrorist offensive were members of the Women's Social and Political Union; better known as the suffragettes. The targets for their attacks ranged from St Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England in London to theatres and churches in Ireland. The violence, which included several attempted assassinations, culminated in June 1914 with an explosion in Westminster Abbey.Simon Webb explores the way in which the suffragette bombers have been airbrushed from history, leaving us with a distorted view of the struggle for female suffrage. Not only were the suffragettes far more aggressive than is generally known, but there exists the very real and surprising possibility that their militant activities actually delayed, rather than hastened, the granting of the parliamentary vote to British women.
    Show book
  • Screams & Nightmares - The Films of Wes Craven - cover

    Screams & Nightmares - The Films...

    Brian J. Robb

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    “From the seminal Last House on the Left to Scream 2 . . . Robb’s concoction is entertaining and informative about a recognized cinematic auteur.” —Booklist   Writer, producer, and director Wes Craven has successfully tapped into the horror vein for over forty years, serving up scary, funny, cutting-edge thrillers that have become classics in the genre. His films have been both critical and commercial successes, most notably Nightmare on Elm Street, which spawned a series of sequels and made Craven (and his creation, Freddy Kruger) an international sensation. He then created a second indelible series in the horror movie trope with Scream. In Screams & Nightmares, Brian J. Robb examines Craven’s entire career, from his low-budget beginnings to his most recent box office hits, from the banned thriller The Last House on the Left and the cult classic The Hills Have Eyes to the outrageous Shocker and The People Under the Stairs. Through exclusive interviews with Craven, Robb provides in-depth accounts of the making of each of the films—including the final installments of the Scream series—Craven’s foray into writing novels, and his numerous television projects.  “Dripping with fascinating details . . . this is a treat.” —The Washington Post  “A remarkably addictive and easy-to-read guide to Craven’s work, piling in juicy snippets and lesser-known background . . . a comprehensive picture of Craven and his output.” —Sci-Fi Bulletin  “Definitive . . . info-packed and exceptionally well written . . . there is no writer better qualified to chronicle the life and work of a remarkable talent.” —The Dark Side
    Show book
  • Florence! Foster!! Jenkins!!! - The Life of the World's Worst Opera Singer - cover

    Florence! Foster!! Jenkins!!! -...

    Darryl W. Bullock

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    An inspiring biography of the socialite and amateur soprano who didn’t let her terrible voice stop her—Now the subject of a major motion picture. Magazine Madame Jenkins couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket: despite that, in 1944 at the age of seventy-six, she played Carnegie Hall to a capacity audience and had celebrity fans by the score. Her infamous 1940s recordings are still highly prized today. In his well-researched and thoroughly entertaining biography, Darryl W. Bullock tells of Florence Foster Jenkins’s meteoric rise to success and the man who stood beside her, through every sharp note. Florence was ridiculed for her poor control of timing, pitch, and tone, and terrible pronunciation of foreign lyrics, but the sheer entertainment value of her caterwauling packed out theatres around the United States, with the “singer” firmly convinced of her own talent, partly thanks to the devoted attention for her husband and manager St. Clair Bayfield. Her story is one of triumph in the face of adversity, courage, conviction and of the belief that with dedication and commitment a true artist can achieve anything.“Darryl W. Bullock’s charming FLORENCE! FOSTER!! JENKINS!!! is just about right for those who want to know more about the world’s worst opera singer. . . . Thoroughly readable and entertaining. This appealing little biography―which arrives just as a film version of its heroine’s story, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, has been released in the U.S.―is warmhearted and delightful. At its core is a touching love story, as well as a message about the human spirit.” —Alexander McCall Smith, The New York Times Book Review
    Show book