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Interviews | February 14, 2012

Jill Owens: IMG Stephen Dau: The Powells.com Interview

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Stephen DauStephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is a marvelous, lyrical debut that examines the effects of war on everyone involved. Dau weaves together the stories... Continue »
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Brewer's Curious Titles: The Fascinating Stories Behind More Than 1500 Famous Titles

by Ian Crofton

Brewer's Curious Titles: The Fascinating Stories Behind More Than 1500 Famous Titles Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Find the origins of obscure titles of over 1,500 films, novels, plays, paintings, and musical compositions. Some are humorous or ironic, others risqué or purposely baffling. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is an ironic reference to blacked-out news reports while thousands of soldiers were dying. "Hobson's Choice," a 1916 play, comes from liveryman Thomas Hobson (c.1544-1631) who always offered customers the horse nearest the door of the stable, and no other. A "Yankee Doodle" comes from the Dutch pejorative, a Jan Kees (John Cheese), meaning an arrogant fellow. See how many films and books you can list with insects in the title, or that start with "I Was a..." or "I Married a...". Then see how many you missed.

Book News Annotation:

A London freelance writer-editor relates, as the cover reads, "the fascinating story behind more than 1500 famous titles"— including titles of well- and lesser-known novels, poems, plays, paintings, and musical compositions. The US distributor is Sterling. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Synopsis:

Find out the fascinating stories behind more than 1,500 titles of films, novels, plays, paintings, and musical compositions. Some are humorous or ironic, others risqui or purposely baffling. "Hobson's Choice, " a 1916 play, comes from liveryman Thomas Hobson (c.1544-1631), who always offered customers the horse nearest the stable door, and no other. "Yankee Doodle" comes from the Dutch pejorative for an arrogant fellow. Attractive feature boxes focus on a range of specialties and oddities, from monosyllabic titles to punning ones.

Synopsis:

BREWER'S CURIOUS TITLES tells the often intriguing, and sometimes surprising, stories behind an array of titles of works of literature, music and the visual arts. Arranged in simple A-Z order by title, it explains the meanings of, and reasons for, the titles of more than 1500 famous and not-so-famous novels, films, poems, plays, paintings and works of classical music. Embracing titles as diverse and as baffling as Flann O'Brien's AT SWIM TWO-BIRDS and Salvador Dali's ATMOSPHERIC SKULL SODOMIZING A GRAND PIANO, BREWER'S CURIOUS TITLES serves up a feast of explanation, allusion, quotation and hidden meaning that will satisfy the appetite of the most inquisitive of cultural magpies.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780304361304
Subtitle:
The Fascinating Stories Behind More Than 1500 Famous Titles
Compiled:
Crofton, Ian
Author:
Crofton, Ian
Publisher:
Cassell
Location:
London
Subject:
Bibliographies & Indexes
Subject:
Motion pictures
Subject:
Titles of musical compositions.
Subject:
Titles of works of art.
Subject:
Titles of motion pictures.
Subject:
Titles of publications
Subject:
General Reference
Copyright:
2003
Series Volume:
5, 1989
Publication Date:
April 2003
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Pages:
496
Dimensions:
8.18x5.48x2.04 in. 1.58 lbs.
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Brewer's Curious Titles: The Fascinating Stories Behind More Than 1500 Famous Titles Used Hardcover
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$6.95 In Stock
Product details 496 pages Cassell - English 9780304361304 Reviews:
"Synopsis" by , Find out the fascinating stories behind more than 1,500 titles of films, novels, plays, paintings, and musical compositions. Some are humorous or ironic, others risqui or purposely baffling. "Hobson's Choice, " a 1916 play, comes from liveryman Thomas Hobson (c.1544-1631), who always offered customers the horse nearest the stable door, and no other. "Yankee Doodle" comes from the Dutch pejorative for an arrogant fellow. Attractive feature boxes focus on a range of specialties and oddities, from monosyllabic titles to punning ones.
"Synopsis" by , BREWER'S CURIOUS TITLES tells the often intriguing, and sometimes surprising, stories behind an array of titles of works of literature, music and the visual arts. Arranged in simple A-Z order by title, it explains the meanings of, and reasons for, the titles of more than 1500 famous and not-so-famous novels, films, poems, plays, paintings and works of classical music. Embracing titles as diverse and as baffling as Flann O'Brien's AT SWIM TWO-BIRDS and Salvador Dali's ATMOSPHERIC SKULL SODOMIZING A GRAND PIANO, BREWER'S CURIOUS TITLES serves up a feast of explanation, allusion, quotation and hidden meaning that will satisfy the appetite of the most inquisitive of cultural magpies.
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