You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Leyla is a headstrong Brooklyn-born art historian at a prestigious upstate New York college. When she meets feckless young computer technician Pablo at a party, she quickly becomes pregnant with his child. There’s only one problem: she can’t stand him. And one more problem: her student Michael wants Pablo for himself. Amid this love triangle, the objects of Leyla and Michael’s study take on a life of their own. Trying to learn more about Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Seven Works of Mercy, they pore over the journal and prison writings of maverick 17th-century utopian philosopher Tommaso Campanella, which, as if by enchantment, transport them back four centuries to Naples. And while the past and present miraculously converge, Leyla, Michael, and Tommaso embark on a voyage of self-discovery in search of a new life. In this fusion of historical, queer, and speculative fiction, Alessandro Giardino combines the intellectual playfulness of Umberto Eco with the psychological finesse of Michael Cunningham.
Headstrong art historian Leyla is expecting a baby with feckless computer technician Pablo. There's only one problem: she can't stand him. And one more problem: her student Michael wants Pablo for himself. But when the writings by utopian philosopher Tommaso Campanella unlocks the secret of a painting and a mystical gateway to 17th-century Naples, Leyla and Michael embark on a voyage of self-discovery in search of a new life.
In this volume you will find stories about hyperactive relics, ghosts in spiritual or bodily form, as well as accounts of the dead being conjured, resurrected, and brought back to life from decomposing matter. This is not so much for the purpose of assembling a kind of Neapolitan Wunderkammer, but rather to allow these bodies – in physical or spiritual form, or sometimes both at the same time – to speak as protagonists, and to offer their own contribution to the historical anthropology of the Kingdom of Naples. This volume explores the boundaries between body and spirit, life and death, as well as the natural, preternatural, and supernatural in the long early modern era in southern Italy.
Pulcinella, a Neapolitan clown born of the commedia dell’arte tradition, went viral in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He was an unlikely hero, grotesque in his mannerisms, with a bulging belly, occasional hunchback, and an insatiable desire for macaroni. Still, this bulbous misfit took his place next to kings, caliphs, and intellectual heavyweights. Pulcinella’s Brood traces the transnational arc of the Enlightenment-era Pulcinella, from his native Naples to Paris, from Rome to London. The book explores how Pulcinella was inserted into discourses about social order, aesthetics, and politics – how he became a revolutionary, a critic of the Catholic Church, and a cha...
None
Desire for love, desire for knowledge, desire to possess, desire to desire and to be desired: our life is shaped by what we want and by our efforts to achieve it. Hailed by philosophers and psychoanalysts as the core of human identity, desire informs not only our actions, but also our dreams and hopes and their sublimation into art and literature. This collection of essays explores how desire is portrayed in modern and contemporary Italian literature, by analysing some of the most interesting literary figures of the last two centuries. The authors of this collection approach desire from various perspectives – psychoanalytical, sociological, political and semiotic – in order to show that ...
This book provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the Neapolitan Baroque, through original and in-depth interpretations of pivotal masterpieces of Neapolitan art, literature, philosophy, theater. The book also presents the city of Naples as a cultural space in which the body functions as a visual, literary, and urban metaphor. By examining the works of Giordano Bruno, Caravaggio, Giambattista Basile, Silvio Fiorillo and Raimondo di Sangro, Principe di San Severo, the essays comprising this volume show the contribution of these world renowned figures to the Baroque imagery of Naples, but also highlight the impact the city had on their work. Finally, the book stirs reflection on the enduring presence and current revival of the Neapolitan Baroque, by looking at contemporary culture and the cinematic adaptation of baroque works, such as Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales.
This book provides a unique and comprehensive overview of minimally invasive (MI) surgical options for the treatment of pancreatic diseases. The opening chapters present the state of the art of MI pancreatic resection according to the 2016 IHPBA Conference, offer information on the safe dissemination of MI pancreatic surgical techniques, and discuss preoperative evaluations protocols and surgical planning options. The book subsequently investigates the full range of currently available minimally invasive techniques, which includes: biliary and gastric bypass, ampullectomy, central and distal pancreatectomy, laparoscopic and robotic pancreatoduodenectomy, and robotic pancreas transplantation. Combining the acknowledged expertise of the Italian school in pancreatic surgery and the contributions of many leading international experts, the book offers a valuable guide for all surgeons who perform this complex surgery, as well as for residents and fellows-in-training.
Three generations of women live together under the same roof. Though they are united by blood, each of the Cascadei women has a very different personality and way of expressing herself. Teenage daughter Lori scribbles impulsively in her diary, so eager to speed off on her moped that she rarely bothers with punctuation. Mother Maria, a professional translator, writes detailed and observant letters yet doesn’t see what is happening right in front of her. And grandmother Gesuina, a former stage actress, speaks into an audio recorder, giving a provocative and brutally candid performance for an imagined audience that might never listen. Life, Brazen and Garish offers a fresh take on the epistol...