“alastair mcewen”

From the author of "The Name of the Rose" comes this collection of six essays where Eco explores in depth questions of reality, perception, and experience. At once philosophical and amusing, "Kant and the Platypus" is a tour of the world of senses told by a master of knowing what is real and what is... More

In these essays, Eco explores in depth such subjects as perception, the relationship between language and experience, and iconism. Forgoing a formal, systematic treatment, he engages in a series of explorations based on common sense, and shares a wealth of ideas that are at once philosophical and am... More

The time: 2000 to 2005, the years of neoconservatism, terrorism, the twenty-four-hour news cycle, the ascension of Bush, Blair, and Berlusconi, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Umberto Eco's response is a provocative, passionate, and witty series of essays--which originally appeared in the... More

Embracing the web of multiculturalism that has become a fact of contemporary life from New York to New Delhi, Eco argues that we are more connected to people of other traditions and customs than ever before, making tolerance the ultimate value in today's world. What good does war do in a world where... More

'Eco remarks at the outset that he doesn't offer a theoretical approach to translation, but a common sense approach ... Then he gives us enough theory to satisfy the most demanding readers.'-Floyd Merrell, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Purdue UniversityIn this book Umberto Eco arg... More

"What is beauty? What is art? What is taste and fashion? Is beauty something to be observed coolly and rationally or is it something dangerously involving?" So begins Eco's intriguing journey into the aesthetics of beauty, in which he explores the ever-changing concept of the beautiful from the anci... More

This book is the follow up to the previous volume On Beauty. Apparently beauty and ugliness are concepts that imply each other, and by ugliness we usually mean the opposite of beauty, so all we need do is define the first to understand the nature of the second. But the various manifestations of ugli... More

The first illustrated book by one of the world's most acclaimed authors, History of Beauty presents an intriguing journey into the wonderful realm of aesthetics, exploring the ever-changing concept of the beautiful from ancient Greece to today with abundant examples. Closely examining the developmen... More

Like many memorable works of fiction, this surprising mystery--and love story--set in rural Sicily hinges on a single question, in this case: who is Maria Rosalia Inzerillo, known as Mennulara, the almond picker?The child of poor farmers, La Mennulara became a maid for a well-to-do local family when... More

A triumphant follow-up to Simonetta Agnello Hornby's internationally acclaimed "The Almond Picker," this entertaining new novel is an intricate family saga interwoven with violent passions, cruelty, deceit, and the abuse of power.From the award-winning and internationally acclaimed author of "The Al... More