Seeking either a) a specific name for the literary genre best described as "literature based on or inspired by Bible stories", or b) EXAMPLES of major works of literature based on or inspired by Bible stories. [more inside]
posted by EmpressCallipygos on Dec 10, 2009 - 48 answers

Oh, Inverted World! Where did your pages go (help me find them)? [more inside]
posted by le morte de bea arthur on Dec 9, 2009 - 6 answers

[Obscure book filter] Anyone remember a book about a grandfather hired to make a notebook to teach someone's daughter about the world, but he secretly makes two copies? [more inside]
posted by BusyBusyBusy on Nov 23, 2009 - 11 answers

What are the most fun, memorable, interesting, exciting, and long-lasting learning experiences you have had? [more inside]
posted by Cygnet on Nov 20, 2009 - 25 answers

I'm looking for a list of American Literary Time Periods along with the essential works for each time period (all genres)? Define the time period, if possible, with a list of qualities which embody the literary essence of that time period, both in content and style. Extra credit for other source to accompany your answers. Thanks all.
posted by boots77 on Oct 18, 2009 - 5 answers

Recommend some great literature in the Steinbeck tradition. [more inside]
posted by Go Banana on Oct 14, 2009 - 18 answers

My wife and I are interested in writing and illustrating kids books and getting them published. I realize there are plenty of neat books great illustrations, so what's the best way to find out what we'd be getting into if we were to pursue this as a hobby, or even as a main source of income?
posted by filthy light thief on Sep 15, 2009 - 17 answers

Name this short story about an immigrant student working as a babysitter for an American professor. [more inside]
posted by Bizurke on Sep 9, 2009 - 3 answers

Another forgotten book from childhood. Time travel/survival. Dinosaurs. And yes, it vibrates. Help? [more inside]
posted by rokusan on Aug 26, 2009 - 9 answers

Please help me read The Master and Margarita. [more inside]
posted by cranberrymonger on Aug 19, 2009 - 8 answers

Is there any way of determining what percentage of ships arrived safely at their destinations - or did not - during a given period in history? [more inside]
posted by AngerBoy on Jul 16, 2009 - 14 answers

Romeo & Juliet: I seem to remember a portion in the play where someone exhorts "wit" to help them out, or says they're running out of wit—but I can never find it when look through the stuff. Is it just a false memory, or maybe something mentioned very much in passing? [more inside]
posted by Non Prosequitur on Jul 9, 2009 - 8 answers

It's summertime and that means detective stories. I've read ALL of Simenon, Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot), Dorothy Sayers, John Sandford, Denise Hamilton, Lee Child, Edward Wright, Henning Mankell. Tried but didn't like Tony Hillerman. Any suggestions for another engaging series? Thanks.
posted by holdenjordahl on Jun 8, 2009 - 63 answers

I'm trying to find a prep course for the Literature Subject Test of the GRE (which is not the same as the general GRE) in NYC. [more inside]
posted by miss-lapin on May 27, 2009 - 6 answers

Help me find classic English literature! [more inside]
posted by coolnik on May 10, 2009 - 16 answers

Help me find a (really) quick, easy way to familiarize myself with French literature. (more inside) [more inside]
posted by Tamanna on Apr 30, 2009 - 3 answers

Help me find a short story I read in high school Spanish about an anthill beneath a magical garden... [more inside]
posted by wanderingmind on Mar 5, 2009 - 1 answer

Help me identity this 1910s/20s/30s British poet (from precious little information). [more inside]
posted by taramosalata on Feb 14, 2009 - 3 answers

I'm looking for the title of a French short story, in which a father kills his son. [more inside]
posted by Isingthebodyelectric on Jan 29, 2009 - 5 answers

Help me find the first book I hated. When I was about 12 years old (IIRC, it may have been a couple of years later) I read a fantasy novel that I absolutely hated. It was the first time I disliked a book for aesthetic reasons. It was a fantasy novel set in a largely magic-less faux-medieval world with a princess as the main protagonist. What I remember best is that there were a lot of completely inappropriate descriptions from the point of the view of the princess. The one that's really stayed in my memory was that the protagonist likened marching soldiers to plastic soldiers (the world of the novel had no plastics).
posted by Kattullus on Nov 13, 2008 - 14 answers

I can't figure out the exact quote and who wrote it. It goes something like this but I'm not completely sure - "The world either breaks the heart or turns it to stone" My suspicion is Rochefoucauld, once again shaky.
posted by bodywithoutorgans on Oct 28, 2008 - 6 answers

Why do publishers slap on "A Novel" to the titles and/or covers of, well, novels? [more inside]
posted by CKmtl on Oct 16, 2008 - 22 answers

I've never read the Bible, and I'd like to. Which version should I read and what resources are good ones to help me understand and historically contextualize what I'm reading?
posted by arcticwoman on Oct 16, 2008 - 25 answers

Where do I start with ancient classic literature, especially accessible versions of mythological or vaguely historical tales? Preferably from Anglo-Saxon or Norse traditions, but I'm open to anything really good. [more inside]
posted by rocks009 on Oct 3, 2008 - 26 answers

ProseFilter: Nabokov's Lolita was once hailed as "a love letter to the English language." I'm looking for modern and contemporary authors with similar aspirations. [more inside]
posted by zoomorphic on Sep 12, 2008 - 43 answers

What are the best films and books on the Muslim experience in America? [more inside]
posted by McBearclaw on Sep 1, 2008 - 13 answers

Art Filter: Who creates those incredibly beautiful artworks which interpret literature graphically by theme, word usage etc.? [more inside]
posted by lottie on Aug 31, 2008 - 3 answers

Why do novelists use "________" in place of a character's name? [more inside]
posted by serazin on Aug 11, 2008 - 10 answers

What are some of the best examples of epic storytelling that have taken place? [more inside]
posted by SpacemanStix on May 21, 2008 - 56 answers

Do you know any good sites in Spanish about literature, preferably with an emphasis on classic books or writers? Sites about both international and Spanish/Latin American literature are welcome. [more inside]
posted by ersatz on May 8, 2008 - 7 answers

Literary Identification, please! Help me remember a passage about the quality of sleep and how it is transcendent when shared. I believe it is in one of the US-public-school-required-reading-by-a-British-guy novels. [more inside]
posted by crush-onastick on May 2, 2008 - 4 answers

I just finished the last book on my Must Read list. Help make me a new one. [more inside]
posted by zoomorphic on Oct 27, 2006 - 57 answers

Trying to figure out the name of a poem... it starts something like "no one expects / very much from poets anymore / not flowing prose / or expert sex / or even absentmindedness..." I can't find it anywhere (even the google). Any help?
posted by tngrn on Aug 24, 2006 - 4 answers

I'm looking for three or four real-life adventure stories that would entertain and enthrall a twelve year-old boy. [more inside]
posted by Dasein on Dec 15, 2005 - 35 answers

More FictionFilter: Nuclear warhead, meet Oz. Sound familiar? [more inside]
posted by melissa may on Nov 19, 2004 - 8 answers

A friend in a sociology graduate program has turned to me for advice and I could use yours: she is required to read a book of fiction (a novel or short story collection) per week for a course, and wants recommendations. [more inside]
posted by melissa may on Sep 12, 2004 - 56 answers