A veritable intellectual historical thriller concerning the wire-thin survival into modern times of Lucretius' On the Nature of Things - an astonishingly humanist view arrived at centuries before the Enlightenment. It reads like a novel, and reminds us of how tenuous can be the survival of ideas - especially when a power structure like the Roman Church is trying to obliterate them.
Gary
The perfect Halloweeny read- creepy tension builds up slowly to a devastating climax. Teenage Mary Katherine lives in a decrepit mansion with her sister and uncle: “The rest of my family is dead.” But then cousin Charles shows up to wreck her perfect home and destroy the family- at least, that’s what she says. But should we believe her?
Marie
This
is one of the best works of criticism in recent memory. Nelson
examines everything from Yoko Ono’s weird performance art to the
contemporary horror flick in a sweeping attempt to understand the nature
of cruelty in art and determine how moral beings might navigate a world
enriched and complicated by it. Her voice is incendiary, sensitive,
and thoroughly unpretentious. Though I was a fan way back at Jane: A Murder, The Art of Cruelty put Maggie Nelson on the map as a thinker to watch.Kim
Just about the time cartoonist Finn Darby's getting over his wife's death, an anthrax attack hits Atlanta; he soon realizes the dead are slowly coming back via the bodies of the living--including his wife. A weird and wonderful body snatchers tale for this Halloween.
Jennifer
In 1962 the world was scandalized when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton fell in love on the set of their epic movie Cleopatra in Rome. Beautiful Ruins returns to this romantic time weaving their story with that of Pasquale, a young Italian, who falls in love with a dying American actress working on the film. Is she truly dying, or merely pregnant? Nearly fifty years pass until we find out the truth.
Nathan
They say it only takes 10 to 15 minutes a day AND it's fun....hopefully after I've finished this book I'll never forget anyone's name again, or where I parked the damn car.
Susannah
age 51 and already having "senior moments"