Author: Michael Levenson File Type: pdf This Companion has long been a standard introduction to the field. Now fully updated and enhanced with four new chapters, it addresses the key themes being researched, taught and studied in modernism today. Its interdisciplinary approach is central to its success as it brings together readings of the many varieties of modernism. Chapters address the major literary genres, the intellectual, religious and political contexts, and parallel developments in film, painting and music. The catastrophe of the First World War, the emergence of feminism, the race for empire, the conflict among classes the essays show how these events and circumstances shaped aesthetic and literary experiments. In doing so, they explain clearly both the precise formal innovations in language, image, scene and tone, and the broad historical conditions of a movement that aspired to transform culture.ReviewA highly successful project. Essential for all academic and large public collections. Choice Book DescriptionA current comprehensive interdisciplinary appraisal of the modernist movement, with contributions from fourteen leading scholars. Chapters address the major literary genres, the intellectual, religious and political contexts, and parallel developments in film, painting and music.

Author: Thad Nodine File Type: epub To escape an addiction, a young blind man in California steps into a station wagon with his friends and their foster kids to deliver a handmade casket to a dying grandfather in Florida. As they battle their way across the southern half of the nation, this rag-tag American family falls prey to love and lies, greed and violence, crime and Katrina. With a voice reminiscent of John Irving, Nodine produces a classic road-picture novel that is part Travels with Charley, part As I Lay Dying, and part On The Road. Touch and Go is a rich and rangy story about the careful and careless ways we treat each other, and ourselves, in a fast-paced, changing world. Kevin, the novels blind narrator, is one of the most perceptive figures in recent fiction. And his desire to do no harm is contagious. Through Kevins rich senses and boundless compassion, Nodine gives us a multicultural portrait of a true America. And he does so with deep affection for everyone along the way. From Publishers WeeklyNodines cinematic novel deserves to be hailed as one of the years finest fiction debuts. In addition to creating a memorable cast [of] characters--including Kevin, the blind unemployed journalist and recovering addict who narrates this contemporary road story--Nodine treats readers to a realistic portrayal of multicultural America and manages to make the plot pivot at the height of Hurricane Katrinas fury in Biloxi, Miss. Kevin, his husband-and-wife sponsors, and the couples two foster sons (one African-American and one Hispanic) hop into a battered station wagon nicknamed Betsy and travel through the South to deliver a handmade wooden casket for a dying grandfather. From Burbank, Calif., to Pensacola, Fla., they face peril and unexpected delays, with the rag-tag family falling prey to drugs, violence, deceit, and greed. However, an extended denouement and a last-minute plot twist will leave readers hoping that Nodine will pen a sequel. He deserves kudos for making this rollicking, often heartbreaking, tale believable, especially given the inherent constraints of having a blind narrator. With an honest, vulnerable voice, Kevin proves to be an appealing protagonist, never afraid of showing his feelings, and treating people with the respect he never received. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)ReviewTouch and Go is a strong debut -- a high-velocity vision quest that keeps surprising and surprising. -- Jonathan Franzen, author of FreedomNodines cinematic novel deserves to be hailed as one of the years finest fiction debuts. In addition to creating a memorable cast [of] characters..., Nodine treats readers to a realistic portrayal of multicultural America and manages to make the plot pivot at the height of Hurricane Katrina. --Publishers Weekly(starred review)A winning debut, a stunning vision of the fractured modern American family seen through the heightened observations of a man who has embraced his disability. --BooklistA rare experience...beautifully written...Jack Kerouac meets Huck Finn, with a dash of 21st century Tennessee Williams... Touch and Go insists upon the urgency of human connection, the sense that we too are ... traveling toward one thing and invariably arriving at something completely different. --Christine Waters, *Santa Cruz Sentinel*And the writing? Totally incredible. Set your skepticism about a blind narrators ability to present a fully-realized world aside because you. will. be. floored... Touch and Go marks the arrival of an astounding new voice in fiction and is destined for this years Best Of lists, no doubt. -- Book Ladys Blog