Summer Reading-Filter,
bis: what contemporary fiction or non-fiction can I get for our week in the sun that will be decidedly erotic, pornographic even, but still have some literary merit? My husband thinks Dan Brown is really enjoyable whereas I cringe at that kind of writing - my preferences go towards Booker Prize-type stuff. Separate recs for each of us, I expect.
posted by Dragonness
on Jun 9, 2010 -
38 answers
Summer Reading-Filter: intelligent true crime? Essentially, I want all the gruesome pleasure of the content, without having to cringe through a sensationalistic treatment thereof.
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posted by Beardman
on Jun 9, 2010 -
49 answers
I'm looking for a short (1-2 minute) humorous wedding reading. Ideally, it's from a well-known/classic author (Mark Twain, Jonathan Swift, etc.). I'm specifically hoping to find a bit of wit, and perhaps even a little snark, but still with a happy/warm tone. The topic could be love, weddings, marriage, men & women, or anything along those lines.
The key is to have some lightness and humor in it.
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posted by davebug
on Jun 5, 2010 -
14 answers
Help me find a picture book about which I can remember almost nothing, and what I remember may or may not be true.
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posted by geneva uswazi
on Jun 5, 2010 -
5 answers
Know an author whose later writings were considered/known to be parodies of the genre they worked in earlier?
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posted by mdrew
on May 25, 2010 -
9 answers
Please help me think of cheerful novels, plays, or even short stories suitable for an advanced high school freshman curriculum.
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posted by anonymous
on May 16, 2010 -
29 answers
I know of Salinger's Glass family and of Hal Incandenza in
Infinite Jest. Who are your other favorite fictional child/adolescent geniuses? Literature preferred, although films are okay, too.
posted by Houyhnhnm
on May 16, 2010 -
33 answers
LiteraratureFilter: this summer, my travels will take me to Copenhagen, Oslo, and Reykjavík. Please recommend fiction (either historical or contemporary) that is set in these cities and conveys the local atmosphere well.
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posted by halogen
on May 11, 2010 -
13 answers
What's a good translation of Goethe's Faust? Possibly with annotations or commentary?
posted by sonofslim
on May 4, 2010 -
5 answers
I have overly intense emotional reactions to literature, films, & TV shows. Please help me enjoy art like a normal person again.
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posted by granted
on Apr 26, 2010 -
15 answers
[PhilosophyFilter] Are there any responses in the 20th/21st century to Bertrand Russel's stance on existence, beliefs, logic, truth, and knowledge, as he presented it in
The Problems of Philosophy? If yes, what and from whom?
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posted by knz
on Apr 14, 2010 -
16 answers
This might be a bit of a long shot, but I have a question about a particular passage in Herman Melville's Billy Budd.
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posted by synecdoche
on Apr 14, 2010 -
8 answers
I'm writing a postgrad research paper on Michael Ende's
The Neverending Story. I'm keen to hear from anyone who has done any academic work on the novel, or those who have a personal interest in understanding aspects of the novel.
Very little in terms of scholarly research exists on the topic to date . My particular focus is a Jungian analysis of archetypes within the novel. It's an introduction of sorts, a quick overview (10 000 words) of a topic I have the potential of working onto a longer thesis.
posted by New England Cultist
on Apr 6, 2010 -
12 answers
Should I try to move from the newspaper industry to the book publishing industry? Or is this just jumping from one sinking ship to another? Canada-specific advice appreciated.
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posted by anonymous
on Mar 24, 2010 -
5 answers
Apparently the version of The Little Mermaid I read as a child is way different than the original Hans Christian Andersen version. Can someone help me find this decidedly more gruesome version?
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posted by katyggls
on Mar 20, 2010 -
5 answers
I need help building my French-language library. I'm looking for good books in French that aren't too tough for someone who isn't used to the language. All genres are welcome, but non-fiction and YA especially.
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posted by Tamanna
on Mar 19, 2010 -
13 answers
I'd like to expand my reading in German literature. What good, non-depressing/sad works should I read?
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posted by lysimache
on Mar 14, 2010 -
11 answers
I just finished 2666. It seems like the sort of book that requires a few reads, and at 900 pages, that is not likely to happen any time soon. Thus, I am looking to AskMeFi for some insight on things that I may have missed. I guess, in short, what is this book about?
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posted by kensington314
on Mar 14, 2010 -
12 answers
What was the nature of Leopold Bloom's relationship with Paddy Dignam? How did they know each other? Why did Bloom attend his funeral?
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posted by mumblelard
on Feb 28, 2010 -
10 answers
I'm looking for names of books where people enter into a contest with the devil, and lose. Other than Faust, and The Master and Margarita, what other examples can you think of?
posted by MisterCoffeeWithAnAutomaticDrip
on Feb 26, 2010 -
27 answers
Sacrifice, speech, writing and art: I am interested in the different ways in which a sacrifice, a sacrament, a spoken word and a written word act as signifiers. The notion for instance that the sacrament, at the point of its acceptance, is understood as
becoming the signified. What can you tell me / what has been written about the notions of sacrifice and their relationship to speech, art and the technologies of writing?
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posted by 0bvious
on Feb 24, 2010 -
8 answers
I need a subject or a theme. I'd like to read a wide range of books and discover lots of stuff. Last time I did, I was at the university, studying to get a degree in Comparative Literature.
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posted by nicolin
on Feb 24, 2010 -
18 answers
What novel, published in the last five years, will keep my interest and be not-too-overly-verbose as to make my job harder (I have to write a paper discussing it's literary merits)?
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posted by makethemost
on Feb 23, 2010 -
24 answers
I'm looking for examples from literature, comic books, film, and other media, in which a character, for no clear reason (or unexpectedly), is a cowboy.
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posted by Astro Zombie
on Feb 15, 2010 -
46 answers
What sci-fi novels feature small community habitats which are the petri dishes of social/political experimentation? By "habitat" I mean a structure or ship that's totally isolated and self-sufficient. Dystopia in miniature!
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posted by cowbellemoo
on Feb 13, 2010 -
45 answers
A friend is trying to find the title of an urban fantasy she read in the late '90s/early '00s. The main character was a young homeless woman who gathered companions over the course of the book (or at least one, a man who was a possible love interest) and ended up at a magical house.
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posted by Ky
on Feb 12, 2010 -
7 answers
I"m looking for good hints on teaching a literature survey course to (mostly) college freshmen. This will be my second year of this course, and I really need to make some changes from the way I approached it last year. Any hints from current/former teachers or students would be more than welcome!
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posted by lucky25
on Feb 9, 2010 -
8 answers
I'm looking for suggestions for a "common read" book for a large public university. Any ideas?
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posted by Madamina
on Feb 9, 2010 -
26 answers
