"Two Jews were traveling on a train. . . . " Many Eastern European jokes-and several of the charming and often hilarious conversations in this book-begin this way. From all regions of the world and from all walks of life, the characters are young and full of life and old and ugly; they are rabbis, matchmakers, students, and immigrants. They gossip and speak about everything from the banalities of the world to the unspeakable evils of existence all for a single purpose: to laugh and to celebrate the good luck of being alive. As Biro recounts these tales, we hear not only his voice and the...
"Two Jews were traveling on a train. . . . " Many Eastern European jokes-and several of the charming and often hilarious conversations in this book-be...
"In olden days, in a village peopled by animal creatures, lived Wild Cat (another name for Lynx). He was old and mangy, and he was constantly scratching himself with his cane. From time to time, a young girl who lived in the same cabin would grab the cane, also to scratch herself. In vain Wild Cat kept trying to talk her out of it. One day the young lady found herself pregnant; she gave birth to a boy. Coyote, another inhabitant of the village, became indignant. He talked all of the population into going to live elsewhere and abandoning the old Wild Cat, his wife, and their child to their...
"In olden days, in a village peopled by animal creatures, lived Wild Cat (another name for Lynx). He was old and mangy, and he was constantly scratchi...
For many of us, one of the most important ways of coping with the death of a close relative is talking about them, telling all who will listen what they meant to us. Yet the Gypsies of central France, the Manu, not only do not speak of their dead, they burn or discard the deceased's belongings, refrain from eating the dead person's favorite foods, and avoid camping in the place where they died. In "Gypsy World," Patrick Williams argues that these customs are at the center of how Manu see the world and their place in it. The Manu inhabit a world created by the "Gadzos" (non-Gypsies), who...
For many of us, one of the most important ways of coping with the death of a close relative is talking about them, telling all who will listen what th...
In this volume Robert Morrissey explores a millenium's worth of history and myth surrounding Charlemagne (768-814). Charlemagne's persona - derived from a blending of myth, history and poetry - assumes a constitutional value in France, where for more than ten centuries it was deemed useful to trace national privileges and undertakings back to Charlemagne. His plasticity, Morrissey argues, endows Charlemagne with both legitimizing power and subversive potential. Part one of the book explores a fundamental cycle in the history of Charlemagne's representation, beginning shortly after the great...
In this volume Robert Morrissey explores a millenium's worth of history and myth surrounding Charlemagne (768-814). Charlemagne's persona - derived fr...
This study explains how the myths of Greece and Rome were transmitted from antiquity to the Renaissance. Luc Brisson argues that philosophy was ironically responsible for saving myth from historical annihilation. Although philosophy was initially critical of myth because it could not be declared true or false and because it was inferior to argumentation, mythology was progressively reincorporated into philosophy through allegorical exegesis. Brisson shows to what degree allegory was employed among philosophers and how it enabled myth to take on a number of different interpretive systems...
This study explains how the myths of Greece and Rome were transmitted from antiquity to the Renaissance. Luc Brisson argues that philosophy was ironic...
Christian De Portzamparc Philippe Sollers Catherine Tihanyi
The creative forms of literature and architecture appear to be distinct, one constructing a world on the page, the other producing the world in which we live. It is a conscious act to read literature, but the effects of architecture can pass by unnoticed. Yet, despite such obvious differences, writers and architects share a dynamic with their readers and visitors that is unpredictably similar.
Writing and Seeing Architecture unveils a candid conversation between Christian de Portzamparc, celebrated French architect, and influential theorist Philippe Sollers that...
The creative forms of literature and architecture appear to be distinct, one constructing a world on the page, the other producing the world in whi...
Christian De Portzamparc Philippe Sollers Catherine Tihanyi
The creative forms of literature and architecture appear to be distinct, one constructing a world on the page, the other producing the world in which we live. It is a conscious act to read literature, but the effects of architecture can pass by unnoticed. Yet, despite such obvious differences, writers and architects share a dynamic with their readers and visitors that is unpredictably similar.
Writing and Seeing Architecture unveils a candid conversation between Christian de Portzamparc, celebrated French architect, and influential theorist Philippe Sollers that...
The creative forms of literature and architecture appear to be distinct, one constructing a world on the page, the other producing the world in whi...
"Jewish stories," writes Adam Biro, "resemble every people's stories." Yet at the same time there is no better way to understand the soul, history, millennial suffering, or, crucially, the joys of the Jewish people than through such tales--"There's nothing," writes Biro, "more revelatory of the Jewish being."
With Is It Good for the Jews? Biro offers a sequel to his acclaimed collection of stories Two Jews on a Train. Through twenty-nine tales--some new, some old, but all finely wrought and rich in humor--Biro spins stories of characters coping with the...
"Jewish stories," writes Adam Biro, "resemble every people's stories." Yet at the same time there is no better way to understand the soul, history,...
Perhaps the most contested patch of earth in the world, Jerusalem's Old City experiences consistent violent unrest between Israeli and Palestinian residents, with seemingly no end in sight. Today, Jerusalem's endless cycle of riots and arrests appears intractable--even unavoidable--and it looks unlikely that harmony will ever be achieved in the city. But with Jerusalem 1900, historian Vincent Lemire shows us that it wasn't always that way, undoing the familiar notion of Jerusalem as a lost cause and revealing a unique moment in history when a more peaceful future seemed possible. ...
Perhaps the most contested patch of earth in the world, Jerusalem's Old City experiences consistent violent unrest between Israeli and Palestinian res...
