Synopses & Reviews
Inventing the Enemy covers a wide range of topics on which Umberto Eco has written and lectured for the past ten years, from a disquisition on the theme that runs through his most recent novel, The Prague Cemeteryand#8212;every country needs an enemy, and if it doesnand#8217;t have one, must invent itand#8212;to a discussion of ideas that have inspired his earlier novels. Along the way, he takes us on an exploration of lost islands, mythical realms, and the medieval world. Eco also sheds light on the indignant reviews of James Joyceand#8217;s Ulysses by fascist journalists of the 1920s and 1930s, and provides a lively examination of Saint Thomas Aquinasand#8217;s notions about the soul of an unborn child, censorship, violence, and WikiLeaks. These are essays full of passion, curiosity, and obsessions by one of the worldand#8217;s most esteemed scholars and critically acclaimed, best-selling novelists.
Review
Praise for Call Me by Your Name: "Aciman ... has an ability to make the finest, the tiniest and most convincing distinctions between moods, responses, and registers. Everything is watched as it shifts and glitters and then hesitates and maybe is shadowed over ... This really is fiction at its most supremely interesting; every clause and subclause shimmers with a densely observed and carefully rendered invention that seems oddly and delightfully precise and convincing ... There are many layers and levels in this story." —Colm Tóibín, The New York Review of Books
Review
"Beautiful...Acimans deep fidelity to the world of the senses, and to the translation of those sensations into prose, makes Alibis a delight."---Teju Cole, The New York Times Book Review"André Aciman is, quite simply, one of the finest essayists of the last hundred years---youd have to go back much farther, perhaps a visit to Montaigne, to find the combination of elegance, restraint, and longing that Aciman so generously bestows upon his readers."---Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Review of Books "The journey is always beguiling and its conclusion often poignant....Aciman is a brilliant chronicler of ‘the disconnect, the hiatus, the tiny synapse between who we are and who---or where---we wish we might have been."---Elizabeth Lowry, The Wall Street Journal"With his sly self-deprecation and supple, curious mind, Aciman is the perfect guide through the mysteries of time and place."---Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe "The quality of his writing and his intellectual breadth [make] Aciman a major contemporary writer….He seems to excel at anything he tackles."---Jake Marmer, Tablet"Reminds us of the gold standard in literature…Aciman shares with Proust an ability to plumb the depths of memory and meaning in the observed details of ordinary life…a work of alchemy."---Jonathan Kirsch, The Jewish Journal
Review
"This selection underscores the writerand#8217;s profound erudition, lively wit, and passion for ideas of all shapes and sizes...these occasional writings touch upon potentially provocative topics of contemporary interest...Ecoand#8217;s pleasure in such explorations is obvious and contagious."
--Booklist
"Thought provoking...nuanced...the collection amply shows off Eco's sophisticated, agile mind."
--Publishers Weekly
"Inventing the Enemy is definitely sublime"--Sanand#160;Francisco Chronicle Bookand#160;Review
Synopsis
A Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of 2011 Celebrated as one of the most poignant stylists of his generation, André Aciman has written a luminous series of linked essays about time, place, identity, and art that show him at his very finest. From beautiful and moving pieces about the memory evoked by the scent of lavender; to meditations on cities like Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and New York; to his sheer ability to unearth life secrets from an ordinary street corner, Alibis reminds the reader that Aciman is a master of the personal essay.
Synopsis
A Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of 2011 Celebrated as one of the most poignant stylists of his generation, André Aciman has written a luminous series of linked essays about time, place, identity, and art that show him at his very finest. From beautiful and moving pieces about the memory evoked by the scent of lavender; to meditations on cities like Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and New York; to his sheer ability to unearth life secrets from an ordinary street corner, Alibis reminds the reader that Aciman is a master of the personal essay.
Synopsis
A New York Times Book Review Editors ChoiceA Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
Celebrated as one of the most poignant stylists of his generation, André Aciman has written a luminous series of linked essays about time, place, identity, and art. From a beautiful and moving piece about the memories evoked by the scent of lavender; to elegiac meditations on the cities Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and New York; to his sheer ability to unearth life secrets from an ordinary street corner, Aciman displays in full the art of the personal essay.
Synopsis
Aand#160; collection of timely essays,and#160;writtenand#160;over the last ten years, by Umberto Eco, internationally acclaimed and bestselling author
About the Author
UMBERTO ECO was born in Alessandria, Italy in 1932. He is the author of five novels and numerous collections of essays. A semiotician, philosopher, medievalist, and for many years a professor at the University of Bologna, Eco is now president of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici there. He has received Italyand#39;s highest literary award, the Premio Strega, has been named a Chevalier de la Landeacute;gion dand#39;Honneur by the French government, and is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Milan.
Table of Contents
Introductionand#8195;ix
Inventing the Enemyand#8195;1
Absolute and Relativeand#8195;22
The Beauty of the Flameand#8195;44
Treasure Huntingand#8195;67
Fermented Delightsand#8195;78
No Embryos in Paradiseand#8195;88
Hugo, Hand#233;las!: The Poetics of Excessand#8195;97
Censorship and Silenceand#8195;126
Imaginary Astronomiesand#8195;134
Living by Proverbsand#8195;162
I Am Edmond Dantand#232;s!and#8195;170
Ulysses: Thatand#8217;s All We Needed . . .and#8195;185
Why the Island Is Never Foundand#8195;192
Thoughts on WikiLeaksand#8195;217