From Moby-Dick to The Unnamable, from A Tale of a Tub to The Book of Questions, Bruce Kawin explores the nature of self-conscious fiction and compares its structure to that of human consciousness. Focusing on texts that confront their own limits by trying to name the unnamable, the ineffable self, Kawin draws on methods from literary criticism to systems theory to explain a variety of first-person works that "dance around the ungraspable subject."

Horror films can be profound fables of human nature and important works of art, yet many people dismiss them out of hand. "Horror and the Horror Film" conveys a mature appreciation of horror films along with a comprehensive view of their narrative strategies, their relations to reality and fantasy, and their cinematic power. The volume covers the entire genre, considering every kind of monster in it - including the human.

After defining horror and thoroughly introducing the genre, the text offers a rich survey of all of the horror film's subgenres, before concluding with a look at...

Horror films can be profound fables of human nature and important works of art, yet many people dismiss them out of hand. "Horror and the Horror Film" conveys a mature appreciation of horror films along with a comprehensive view of their narrative strategies, their relations to reality and fantasy, and their cinematic power. The volume covers the entire genre, considering every kind of monster in it - including the human.

After defining horror and thoroughly introducing the genre, the text offers a rich survey of all of the horror film's subgenres, before concluding with a look at...

This engaging collection of Bruce F. Kawin s most important film essays (1977 2011) is accompanied by his interviews with Lillian Gish (1978) and Howard Hawks (1976). The Hawks interview is particularly concerned with his work with William Faulkner and their friendship. The Gish interview emphasizes her role as a producer in the 1920s. The essays take up such topics as violence and sexual politics in film, the relations between horror and science fiction, the growth of video and digital cinema and their effects on both film and film scholarship, the politics of film theory, narration in...

This engaging collection of Bruce F. Kawin s most important film essays (1977 2011) is accompanied by his interviews with Lillian Gish (1978) and Howard Hawks (1976). The Hawks interview is particularly concerned with his work with William Faulkner and their friendship. The Gish interview emphasizes her role as a producer in the 1920s. The essays take up such topics as violence and sexual politics in film, the relations between horror and science fiction, the growth of video and digital cinema and their effects on both film and film scholarship, the politics of film theory, narration in...