In this thought-provoking, endlessly enlightening, and entertaining essay on the art of the novel, renowned author Milan Kundera suggests that "the curtain" represents a ready-made perception of the world that each of us has-a pre-interpreted world. The job of the novelist, he argues, is to rip through the curtain and reveal what it hides. Here an incomparable literary artist cleverly sketches out his personal view of the history and value of the...

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year The witty and exuberant New York Times bestselling author Ken Jennings relays the history of humor in lively, insightful, and crawling with goofy factlings-from fart jokes on clay Sumerian tablets to the latest Twitter gags and Facebook memes. Where once society's most coveted trait might have been strength or intelligence or honor, today, in a clear sign of evolution sliding off the trails, it is being funny....

Essays examine rock performers and bands including David Bowie, Lou Reed, Chicago, the Clash, James Taylor, and Iggy Pop

Kundera brilliantly examines the evolution, construction, and essence of the novel as an art form through the lens of his own work and through the work of such important and diverse figures as Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Diderot, Flaubert, Tolstoy, Musil, Kafka, and perhaps the least known of all the great novelists of our time, Hermann Broch. Kundera's discussion of his own work includes his views on the role of historical events in fiction, the...

Rates and evaluates one hundred noteworthy novels, from the medieval Japanese "Tale of Genji" to contemporary works, and provides summaries, details about their origins, critical opinions, and an account of their impact

Classics, according to Italo Calvino, are not only works of enduring cultural value, but also something much more personal: talismans, touchstones, books through which we understand our world and ourselves. In Why Read the Classics?, Calvino shares over thirty of his classics in essays of warmth, humor, and striking insight. He ranges from Homer to Jorge Luis Borges, from the Persian folklorist Nezami to Charles Dickens. Whether tracing the links...

A factbook on the history of classical music, written for young adults. Presents a history of the form, leading composers and musicians in the form, plus sidebars, quotations, annotated bibliographies, and an index.