Author: Derek B. Miller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1668020904
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 384
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Book Description
From the Dagger Award–winning author of Norwegian by Night comes a vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult—for fans of All the Light We Cannot See. August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls. But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a café owner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier, and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari. Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans. Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of City of Thieves by David Benioff, The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a philosophical coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most enigmatic and morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.
Author: Umberto Grassi
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040087140
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 137
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Book Description
Cursed Blessings explores the relationship between sexual nonconformity and religious radical dissent in the early modern Western European world. While many studies have been devoted to the process of the "hereticalization" of nonnormative sexual practices and its use in anti-heretical propaganda, this book is entirely devoted to understanding the meaning of unconventional sexual behaviors from the perspective of the dissenters. Divided into three parts, the first focuses on the Italian peninsula and explores alternative views on sexuality inspired by Renaissance currents of anti-clericalism, ancient Christian heresies, traditions of apocrypha of the New Testament, and Rabbinic literature. It also examines how embodied and gendered experiences influenced the dissenting views of religious women. The second part explores how reflections on Original Sin led to the questioning of Christian assumptions regarding sex and gender, highlighting the relationship between the criticism of sexual morality and disputes on free will, spirituality, and redemption. The third part examines how most of these threads were entwined into a more coherent philosophical framework in the writings of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century erudite libertines. This book is designed for academic readers, including graduate and undergraduate students. Given its intersectional approach, it will be of interest to researchers, teachers, and students in a wide array of fields, including religious, gender, and sexuality studies, as well as literature. This book also tackles issues that are relevant to present-day debates, such as the problematic relations between sexuality and religion and the ongoing polemics surrounding the complicated interactions between religion and politics.
Author: David M. Goldenberg
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110521679
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 387
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Book Description
Studies of the Curse of Ham, the belief that the Bible consigned blacks to everlasting servitude, confuse and conflate two separate origins stories (etiologies), one of black skin and the other of black slavery. This work unravels the etiologies and shows how the Curse, an etiology of black slavery, evolved from an earlier etiology explaining the existence of dark-skinned people. We see when, where, why, and how an original mythic tale of black origins morphed into a story of the origins of black slavery, and how, in turn, the second then supplanted the first as an explanation for black skin. In the process we see how formulations of the Curse changed over time, depending on the historical and social contexts, reflecting and refashioning the way blackness and blacks were perceived. In particular, two significant developments are uncovered. First, a curse of slavery, originally said to affect various dark-skinned peoples, was eventually applied most commonly to black Africans. Second, blackness, originally incidental to the curse, in time became part of the curse itself. Dark skin now became an intentional marker of servitude, the visible sign of the blacks’ degradation, and in the process deprecating black skin itself.
Author: Cornelia Funke
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 1338215566
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 504
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Book Description
Dragons, myth, and magic unite in the third installment of Cornelia Funke's bestselling Dragon Rider series. Ben and the Greenblooms must protect a mythical new creature rising from the ocean -- a creature who can bring either light or darkness to whoever it first meets. A new peril has emerged in the world of Fabulous Creatures. One that could cause the disappearance of their kind. Luckily, all of our favorite characters are back--Ben and Firedrake, his wonderful dragon friend, plucky Guinevere and the Greenbloom family, Sorrel the irrepressible brownie, the miniature man Twigleg and a host of new Fabulous Animals and sturdy helpers. But the threat is real and qucikly encroaching. A villian from the family's past is seeking revenge. And all the while, the mysterious Aurelia, the most fabulous and powerful creature of all, moves across oceans to its final destination, introducing a new underwater world to enjoy.
Author: María Herrera-Sobek
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253207951
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 186
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Book Description
... well-written and well-documented landmark study... " --Choice This book raises important ideological and esthetic questions about the interpretation of artistic and cultural manifestations in a given society."--Hispanic American Historical Review The present volume is provocative in direction and a refreshing addition to the extant literature on the Mexican corrido genre." --American Ethnologist [Herrera-Sobek's] refreshing approach to analyzing masculine attitudes toward the feminine as expressed in the Mexican corrido is not only insightful but courageous." --Inez Cardozo-Freeman, Southern Folklore ... well-researched, insightful, clearly written, and well-illustrated study of a genre familiar in Hispanic culture." --Journal of the American Studies Association ... provides tantalizing insights into the inner workings and meanings of Mexico's favorite folk ballads..." --Journal of Third World Studies Challenging the stereotypical view of the passive Mexican/Chicana woman of the archetype, the author examines the portrayal of female figures in over three thousand corridos or Mexican ballads and shows that in spite of long-dominant patriarchal ideology, the corridos reveal the presence of self-confident women throughout Mexican history. Included are a discography, a detailed bibliography of corrido collections, and several photographs of soldaderas from the internationally famous Augustin Casasola collection.
Author: Giuseppe Marco Antonio Baretti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 578
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Book Description
Author: Hannah Whitten
Publisher: Orbit
ISBN: 031659279X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 436
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Book Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The first daughter is for the Throne. The second daughter is for the Wolf. An instant NYT bestseller and word-of-mouth sensation, this dark, romantic debut fantasy weaves the unforgettable tale of a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood. As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose—to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods. Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again. But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood—and her world—whole. "If you ever wished Beauty and the Beast had more eldritch forest monsters and political machinations, this is the romance for you."―Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January "A brilliant dark fantasy debut!" —Jodi Picoult, NYT bestselling author
Author: Kate Serine
Publisher: Ekensington
ISBN: 1601833253
Category : Fairies
Languages : en
Pages : 284
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Book Description
"Kate SeRine knows how to pack a punch " --Donna Grant, New York Times bestselling author To Catch a Thief. . . For centuries, Gideon Montrose has served the King of Fairies without question and, often, without mercy. So when the King orders him to apprehend a notorious thief, Gideon obeys. But when he finally gets his hands on the beautiful culprit, Gideon's in for a shock. Arabella Locksley is none other than the spirited, unpredictable woman he knew back in Make Believe as Robin Hood--the love of his life whose tragic death destroyed his chance at Happily Ever After. Now, he has an impossible choice. Betray the woman he once loved, or the king he's bound to serve? "Totally new and entertaining." --Kate Douglas
Author: Helge Waldemar Heimer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Mondial (Artificial language)
Languages : en
Pages : 166
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Book Description
Author: V. Theile
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137010495
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
Bringing together scholars who have critically followed New Formalism's journey through time, space, and learning environment, this collection of essays both solidifies and consolidates New Formalism as a burgeoning field of literary criticism and explicates its potential as a varied but viable methodology of contemporary critical theory.
