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Foreign Language
The first critical study of writing without language
In recent years, asemic writing--writing without language--has exploded in popularity, with anthologies, a large-scale art exhibition, and flourishing interest on sites like tumblr, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Yet this burgeoning, fascinating field has never received a dedicated critical study. Asemic fills that gap, proposing new ways of rethinking the nature of writing.
Pioneered in the work of creators such as Henri Michaux, Roland Barthes, and Cy Twombly, asemic writing consolidated as a movement in the 1990s. Author Peter Schwenger first covers these "asemic ancestors" before moving to current practitioners such as Michael Jacobson, Rosaire Appel, and Christopher Skinner, exploring how asemic writing has evolved and gained importance in the contemporary era.
Asemic includes intriguing revelations about the relation of asemic writing to Chinese characters, the possibility of asemic writing in nature, and explanations of how we can read without language. Written in a lively style, this book will engage scholars of contemporary art and literary theory, as well as anyone interested in what writing was and what it is now in the process of becoming.
Una novela sobre el deseo, el rencor y la arbitrariedad del perdón. Libro del año 2014 según Babelia. Así empieza lo malo cuenta la historia íntima de un matrimonio de muchos años, narrada por su joven testigo cuando este es ya un hombre plenamente adulto. Juan de Vere encuentra su primer empleo como secretario personal de Eduardo Muriel, un antaño exitoso director de cine, en el Madrid de 1980. Su trabajo le permite entrar en la privacidad de la casa familiar y ser espectador de la misteriosa desdicha conyugal entre Muriel y su esposa Beatriz Noguera. Muriel le encarga que investigue y sonsaque a un amigo suyo de media vida, el Doctor Jorge Van Vechten, de cuyo indecente comportamiento en el pasado le han llegado rumores. Pero Juan no se limitará a eso y tomará dudosas iniciativas, porque, como él mismo reconoce desde su edad madura, -los jóvenes tienen el alma y la conciencia aplazadas-. Así descubrirá que no hay justicia desinteresada, sino que está siempre contaminada por el rencor personal y por los propios deseos, y que todo perdón o castigo son arbitrarios. «Es un libro sobre el deseo, como uno de los motores más fuertes en la vida de las personas, que a veces lleva a pasar por encima de cualquier lealtad, consideración e incluso respeto en el trato con los demás. Otro de los temas de la novela es la impunidad y la arbitrariedad del perdón y del no perdón. Cómo la idea de justicia que la gente reclama a veces tiene mucho que ver con que el acto en sí nos afecte o no.»
Javier Marías La crítica ha dicho... «No es una novela autobiográfica, pero sí tiene vivencias de la juventud del autor. No es una novela política, pero sus resonancias están allí. No es una novela sobre los años 80, pero la acción transcurre en esa década. No es una novela histórica, pero las esquirlas de la posguerra Guerra Civil, en los años 40 y 50, alcanzan a sus personajes. No es una novela de amor, pero sí de la desdicha del matrimonio protagonista. No es una novela de venganzas, pero sí sobre la impunidad y la arbitrariedad del perdón.»
Winston Manrique, El País «Javier Marías es un escritor maravilloso.»
John Banville «Javier Marías es uno de los más grandes escritores vivos.»
Claudio Magris «Independientemente de nuestras expectativas, al leer elegimos pasar tiempo en compañía de un autor. En el caso de Javier Marías, se trata de una buena decisión: su mente es profunda, aguda, a veces turbadora, a veces hilarante, y siempre inteligente.»
Edward St Aubyn, The New York Times Book Review «Un escritor profundamente necesario, un caballero andante, divertido, punzante, lleno de ira y amor.»
The Guardian «De una inteligencia deslumbrante y cautivadora, parece que no haya nada que Marías no pueda conseguir con la ficción. No es extraño que se lo mencione continuamente como potencial Premio Nobel.»
Kirkus Reviews «Hechizante... evoca a creadores de acertijos como Borges, y las tramas de Marías, ingeniosas como jugadas de ajedrez, traen a la mente al gran maestro estratega del siglo XX, Vladimir Nabokov.»
Los Angeles Times «Una de las obras mayores de la literatura contemporánea... Tiene que abrir este libro.»
Ali Smith, The Sunday Telegraph «Javier Marías es, en mi opinión, uno de los mejores escritores europeos contemporáneos.»
J.M. Coetzee ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Award-winning author Javier Marías examines a household living in unhappy the shadow of history, and explores the cruel, tender punishments we exact on those we love As a young man, Juan de Vere takes a job that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Eduardo Muriel is a famous film director - urbane, discreet, irreproachable - an irresistible idol to a young man. Muriel's wife Beatriz is a soft, ripe woman who slips through her husband's home like an unwanted ghost, finding solace in other beds. And on the periphery of all their lives stands Dr Jorge Van Vechten, a shadowy family friend implicated in unsavoury rumours that Muriel cannot bear to pursue himself - rumours he asks Juan to investigate instead. But as Juan draws closer to the truth, he uncovers more questions, ones his employer has not asked and would rather not answer. Why does Muriel hate Beatriz? How did Beatriz meet Van Vechten? And what happened during the war? As Juan learns more about his employers, he begins to understand the conflicting pulls of desire, power and guilt that govern their lives - and his own. Marias presents a study of the infinitely permeable boundaries between private and public selves, between observer and participant, between the deceptions we suffer from others and those we enact upon ourselves. 'No one else, anywhere, is writing quite like this' Daily Telegraph on The Infatuations
Javier Marías La crítica ha dicho... «No es una novela autobiográfica, pero sí tiene vivencias de la juventud del autor. No es una novela política, pero sus resonancias están allí. No es una novela sobre los años 80, pero la acción transcurre en esa década. No es una novela histórica, pero las esquirlas de la posguerra Guerra Civil, en los años 40 y 50, alcanzan a sus personajes. No es una novela de amor, pero sí de la desdicha del matrimonio protagonista. No es una novela de venganzas, pero sí sobre la impunidad y la arbitrariedad del perdón.»
Winston Manrique, El País «Javier Marías es un escritor maravilloso.»
John Banville «Javier Marías es uno de los más grandes escritores vivos.»
Claudio Magris «Independientemente de nuestras expectativas, al leer elegimos pasar tiempo en compañía de un autor. En el caso de Javier Marías, se trata de una buena decisión: su mente es profunda, aguda, a veces turbadora, a veces hilarante, y siempre inteligente.»
Edward St Aubyn, The New York Times Book Review «Un escritor profundamente necesario, un caballero andante, divertido, punzante, lleno de ira y amor.»
The Guardian «De una inteligencia deslumbrante y cautivadora, parece que no haya nada que Marías no pueda conseguir con la ficción. No es extraño que se lo mencione continuamente como potencial Premio Nobel.»
Kirkus Reviews «Hechizante... evoca a creadores de acertijos como Borges, y las tramas de Marías, ingeniosas como jugadas de ajedrez, traen a la mente al gran maestro estratega del siglo XX, Vladimir Nabokov.»
Los Angeles Times «Una de las obras mayores de la literatura contemporánea... Tiene que abrir este libro.»
Ali Smith, The Sunday Telegraph «Javier Marías es, en mi opinión, uno de los mejores escritores europeos contemporáneos.»
J.M. Coetzee ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Award-winning author Javier Marías examines a household living in unhappy the shadow of history, and explores the cruel, tender punishments we exact on those we love As a young man, Juan de Vere takes a job that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Eduardo Muriel is a famous film director - urbane, discreet, irreproachable - an irresistible idol to a young man. Muriel's wife Beatriz is a soft, ripe woman who slips through her husband's home like an unwanted ghost, finding solace in other beds. And on the periphery of all their lives stands Dr Jorge Van Vechten, a shadowy family friend implicated in unsavoury rumours that Muriel cannot bear to pursue himself - rumours he asks Juan to investigate instead. But as Juan draws closer to the truth, he uncovers more questions, ones his employer has not asked and would rather not answer. Why does Muriel hate Beatriz? How did Beatriz meet Van Vechten? And what happened during the war? As Juan learns more about his employers, he begins to understand the conflicting pulls of desire, power and guilt that govern their lives - and his own. Marias presents a study of the infinitely permeable boundaries between private and public selves, between observer and participant, between the deceptions we suffer from others and those we enact upon ourselves. 'No one else, anywhere, is writing quite like this' Daily Telegraph on The Infatuations
Así es como la pierdes es un libro sobre mujeres que quitan el sentido y sobre el amor y el ardor. Y sobre la traición porque a veces traicionamos lo que más queremos, y también es un libro sobre el suplicio que pasamos después -los ruegos, las lágrimas, la sensación de estar atravesado un campo de minas- para intentar recuperar lo que perdimos. Aquello que creíamos que no queríamos, que no nos importaba. Estos cuentos nos enseñan las leyes fijas del amor: que la desesperanza de los padres, la acaban sufriendo los hijos, que lo que les hacemos a nuestros ex amantes nos lo harán inevitablemente a nosotros, y que aquello de "amar al prójimo como a uno mismo" no funciona bajo la influencia de Eros. Pero sobre todo, estos cuentos nos recuerdan que el ardor siempre triunfa sobre la experiencia, y que el amor, cuando llega de verdad, necesita más de una vida para desvanecerse.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Finalist for the 2012 National Book Award
A Time and People Top 10 Book of 2012Finalist for the 2012 Story PrizeChosen as a notable or best book of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The LA Times, Newsday, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, the iTunes bookstore, and many more...
Electrifying. -The New York Times Book Review
"Exhibits the potent blend of literary eloquence and street cred that earned him a Pulitzer Prize... Díaz's prose is vulgar, brave, and poetic." -O Magazine
From the award-winning author, a stunning collection that celebrates the haunting, impossible power of love.
On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In a New Jersey laundry room, a woman does her lover's washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses.
In prose that is endlessly energetic, inventive, tender, and funny, these stories lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weakness of the human heart. They remind us that passion always triumphs over experience, and that "the half-life of love is forever."
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Finalist for the 2012 National Book Award
A Time and People Top 10 Book of 2012Finalist for the 2012 Story PrizeChosen as a notable or best book of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The LA Times, Newsday, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, the iTunes bookstore, and many more...
Electrifying. -The New York Times Book Review
"Exhibits the potent blend of literary eloquence and street cred that earned him a Pulitzer Prize... Díaz's prose is vulgar, brave, and poetic." -O Magazine
From the award-winning author, a stunning collection that celebrates the haunting, impossible power of love.
On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In a New Jersey laundry room, a woman does her lover's washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses.
In prose that is endlessly energetic, inventive, tender, and funny, these stories lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weakness of the human heart. They remind us that passion always triumphs over experience, and that "the half-life of love is forever."
The Attraction of Things concerns the entirety of beauty and the possibility of grace, relayed via obsessions with rare early gramophone records, the theater, translation, dying parents: all these elements are relayed in a dizzying strange traffic of cultural artifacts, friendships, losses, discoveries, and love. Roger Lewinter believes that in the realm of art, "the distinction between life and death loses its relevance, the one taking place in the other."
Whereas Story of Love in Solitude is a group of small stories, The Attraction of Things is a continuous narrative (more or less) of a man seeking (or stumbling upon) enlightenment.
"The Attraction of Things," states Lewinter, "is the story of a being who lets himself go toward what attracts him, toward what he attracts--beings, works, things--and who, through successive encounters, finds the way out of the labyrinth, to the heart, where the bolt of illumination strikes. This is the story of a letting go toward the illumination."
Gearld is careful. Piggie is not.Piggie cannot help smiling. Gearld can.Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
In Are You Ready to Play Outside? Piggie can't wait to go play in the sunshine. But will a rainy day ruin all the fun?
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
In Are You Ready to Play Outside? Piggie can't wait to go play in the sunshine. But will a rainy day ruin all the fun?
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
In Can I Play Too? Gerald and Piggie meet a new friend, Snake, who wants to join in a game of catch. But don't you need arms to catch?
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
In Can I Play Too? Gerald and Piggie meet a new friend, Snake, who wants to join in a game of catch. But don't you need arms to catch?
Nosotros, el pueblo de Who HQ, traemos a los lectores la historia completa (argumentos y todo) de cómo surgió la Constitución de los Estados Unidos. We the people at Who HQ bring readers the full story--arguments and all--of how the United States Constitution came into being in this Spanish entry in the WHO HQ series. Firmada el 17 de septiembre de 1787, cuatro años después de la Guerra de la Independencia, la Constitución estableció la ley suprema de los Estados Unidos de América. Hoy es fácil que demos por sentado este proyecto de gobierno. Pero los legisladores (cincuenta y cinco hombres de casi todos los 13 estados originales), discutieron ferozmente durante muchos meses sobre lo que acabó siendo solo un documento de cuatro páginas. Esta es una fascinante mirada entre bastidores a las cuestiones más disputadas (las de los estados del Norte y del Sur; los estados grandes y los pequeños) y a los actores clave, como James Madison, Alexander Hamilton y George Washington, que sufrieron innumerables revisiones para hacer realidad la Constitución. Signed on September 17, 1787--four years after the American War for Independence--the Constitution laid out the supreme law of the United States of America. Today it's easy for us to take this blueprint of our government for granted. But the Framers--fifty-five men from almost all of the original 13 states--argued fiercely for many months over what ended up being only a four-page document. Here is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the hotly fought issues--those between Northern and Southern States; big states and little ones--and the key players such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington who suffered through countless revisions to make the Constitution happen.
Descubra más sobre Frida Kahlo, la mujer que pasó a la historia como una de las artistas más emblemáticas del siglo XX. Find out more about Frida Kahlo, the woman who painted herself into history as one of the most iconic female artists of the twentieth century -- now available for Spanish speakers everywhere! Siempre se puede reconocer un cuadro de Kahlo porque ella está en casi todos, con su pelo negro trenzado y sus coloridos trajes mexicanos. Una mujer valiente que estuvo inválida la mayor parte de su vida, se transformó en una obra de arte viva. Tan famosa por sus autorretratos e imágenes inquietantes, así como por su matrimonio con otro famoso artista, Diego Rivera, esta pintora fuerte y valiente se inspiró en la antigua cultura e historia de su amada patria, México. Sus cuadros siguen informando e inspirando a la cultura popular de todo el mundo. You can always recognize a painting by Kahlo because she is in nearly all--with her black braided hair and colorful Mexican outfits. A brave woman who was an invalid most of her life, she transformed herself into a living work of art. As famous for her self-portraits and haunting imagery as she was for her marriage to another famous artist, Diego Rivera, this strong and courageous painter was inspired by the ancient culture and history of her beloved homeland, Mexico. Her paintings continue to inform and inspire popular culture around the world.
La trayectoria relámpago de Roberto Clemente, que pasó de ser un adolescente con talento a un deportista legendario, es una historia para los libros de récords. Descubra cómo un joven de Puerto Rico se convirtió en un MVP, un Todos Estrellas y el primer latinoamericano en el Salón de la Fama del Béisbol. Roberto Clemente's whirlwind journey from talented teen to legendary sportsman is one for the record books. Learn how a young boy from Puerto Rico became an MVP, All-Star, and the first Latin American in the Baseball Hall of Fame in this Spanish edition of the WHO HQ series. Roberto Clemente, el menor de siete hermanos en Puerto Rico, tenía talento para el béisbol. Su increíble habilidad pronto lo llevó a las Grandes Ligas, donde pasó 18 temporadas jugando en el jardín derecho de los Piratas de Pittsburgh. Quién fue Roberto Clemente? cuenta la historia de este extraordinario deportista: 12 veces Todos Estrella, MVP de la Serie Mundial y primer latinoamericano incluido en el Salón de la Fama del Béisbol. Growing up the youngest of seven children in Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente had a talent for baseball. His incredible skill soon got him drafted into the big leagues where he spent 18 seasons playing right field for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Who Was Roberto Clemente? tells the story of this remarkable athlete: a 12 time All-Star, World Series MVP, and the first Latin American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Descubra por qué Selena, la reina de la música tejana, ¡se convirtió en una de las artistas méxico-americanas más célebres del siglo XX! Discover why Selena, the Queen of Tejano music, became one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the twentieth century in this Spanish edition of the WHO HQ series! De joven, Selena Quintanilla cantaba en un grupo llamado Selena y Los Dinos con su hermano y su hermana. La familia actuaba en ferias, bodas, fiestas de quince años y en las esquinas de su Texas natal. Selena aprendió a cantar en español y pronto se hizo muy popular entre la comunidad latina, hasta el punto de convertirse en la artista latina más vendida de la década de 1990. Selena estaba lista para llegar a la cumbre del éxito, pero su vida se vio truncada tras ser herida de muerte por la presidenta de su club de fans. Las contribuciones de Selena a la música y a la moda durante su vida la convirtieron en una de las principales estrellas latinas de la década de 1990, y los lectores querrán saber más sobre la mujer que introdujo en el mundo la música tejana. As a young girl, Selena Quintanilla sang in a band called Selena y Los Dinos with her brother and sister. The family performed at fairs, weddings, quinceañeras, and on street corners in their native Texas. Selena learned how to sing in Spanish and soon became hugely popular within the Latino community--so much so that she became the best-selling Latin artist of the 1990s. Selena was poised to be a great success, but her life was cut short after being fatally wounded by the president of her fan club. Selena's contributions to music and fashion during her life made her one of the top Latin musicians in the 1990s, and readers will want to know more about the woman who introduced the world to Tejano music.
Children are able to communicate by signing before they develop the skills necessary for speech. By teaching simple sign language to children from as young as eight months, we can help them to convey their emotions and their needs. When children begin to talk, having sign language to fall back on provides a comforting safety net. Add to the fun of signing by singing well-known nursery rhymes and songs. Even proficient speakers will long enjoy signing to a favourite song or rhyme. Simple and clear signing instructions allow anyone to join in.
English is the world language, except that most of the world doesn't speak it--only one in five people does. Dorren calculates that to speak fluently with half of the world's 7.4 billion people in their mother tongues, you would need to know no fewer than twenty languages. He sets out to explore these top twenty world languages, which range from the familiar (French, Spanish) to the surprising (Malay, Javanese, Bengali). Babel whisks the reader on a delightful journey to every continent of the world, tracing how these world languages rose to greatness while others fell away and showing how speakers today handle the foibles of their mother tongues. Whether showcasing tongue-tying phonetics or elegant but complicated writing scripts, and mind-bending quirks of grammar, Babel vividly illustrates that mother tongues are like nations: each has its own customs and beliefs that seem as self-evident to those born into it as they are surprising to the outside world.
Among many other things, Babel will teach you why modern Turks can't read books that are a mere 75 years old, what it means in practice for Russian and English to be relatives, and how Japanese developed separate "dialects" for men and women. Dorren lets you in on his personal trials and triumphs while studying Vietnamese in Hanoi, debunks ten widespread myths about Chinese characters, and discovers that Swahili became the lingua franca in a part of the world where people routinely speak three or more languages. Witty, fascinating and utterly compelling, Babel will change the way you look at and listen to the world and how it speaks.
YES! Now in a dual language Spanish-English edition, this must-have toddler title sheds light on some concepts with a comical flair that will make readers HAPPY. A towering ice-cream cone makes Baby HAPPY. But when that delectable treat goes splat, it makes Baby SAD. And how quickly HAPPY turns to SAD when a favorite red balloon flies away! Even the littlest listeners will relate to this playful look at a pair of emotions that are part of every baby's day. Cosas FELICES. Cosas TRISTES. ¡Todas forman parte del día de un bebé!
A business magnate calls on wine expert Benjamin Cooker to kickstart his new wine business in Beaujolais, sparking bitter rivalries. Can the Winemaker Detective and his assistant keep calculating real estate agents, taciturn winegrowers, dubious wine merchants and suspicious deaths from delaying delivery of the world-famous Beaujolais Nouveau?
The leading figure of absurdist theater and one of the great innovators of the modern stage, Eugène Ionesco (1909-94) did not write his first play, The Bald Soprano, until 1950. He went on to become an internationally renowned master of modern drama, famous for the comic proportions and bizarre effects that allow his work to be simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and profound. As Ionesco has said, "Theater is not literature. . . . It is simply what cannot be expressed by any other means."
First published in France in 1985, The Bathroom was Jean-Philippe Toussaint's debut novel, and it heralded a new generation of innovative French literature. In this playful and perplexing book, we meet a young Parisian researcher who lives inside his bathroom. As he sits in his tub meditating on existence (and refusing to tell us his name), the people around him--his girlfriend, Edmondsson, the Polish painters in his kitchen--each in their own way further enables his peculiar lifestyle, supporting his eccentric quest for immobility. But an invitation to the Austrian embassy shakes up his stable world, prompting him to take a risk and leave his bathroom . . .