Literature in Art Books

Slightly wider than a standard paperback, this hardback book is like a mini-coffee table art book. It contains over 170 color illustrations, including a wide range of "paintings, frescoes, stained glass windows, icons, and sculpture." The book is structured into 13 chapters, each with an introductory essay by Margaret Barker, notes and comments on the paintings, quotes from significant thinkers and scriptures on topic, and interviews with theologians writers from various religious traditions (including Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and LDS). Those familiar with Barker's other works will recognize her distinctive approach emerging in her introductory essays and selection of quotations. Barker has authored 10 significant books of Biblical scholarship, and served a term as the president elect of the Society for Old Testament Study. She is also a Methodist preacher, and writes from a perspective of one involved and committed. Her writing is always vivid, insightful, and relevant. Those interested in angels for themselves, or as a gift book, will find here a delightful treasure of art and insight. Those interested in to Barker's approaches at an introductory level for general readers, either for themselves, or for others, should be well served here. Those familiar with her scholarship will be pleased that one of the art works depicted is the orthodox icon of Wisdom, which she discusses in several essays in The Great High Priest. Highly recommended, as are all her books.

Sylvia Plath is in the midst of a renaissance. Since the publication of her Unabridged Journals in 2000, hardly a week goes by without her name appearing in the news, and the publication of a succession of books continues to re-evaluate the poets status in the literary world. Although Plath proved to be one of the most contentious, interesting, and passionate writers of the 20th century, the 21st has been much kinder. The books about Plath published in the last seven years each attempt and succeed to change the way we read her works, examine archival material to enrich our readings, and call our attention to lesser-known poems, stories, and other creative products. This is most evident in Eye Rhymes: Sylvia Plath's Visual of the Art edited by Kathleen Connors and Sally Bayley.

In addition to six wonderful essays by leading scholars, Eye Rhymes publishes for the first time more than 70 art works by Plath. The earliest dates from when she was just seven years old, and the latest is her Cold War collage, perhaps the most familiar and talked about piece she created. The book marries the artwork and Plath's creative writing, illustrating a one-to-one translation between the two types of creativity; what Susan Gubar in her Afterword calls the "sister arts" of Sylvia Plath.

The essays draw heavily off the Sylvia Plath Materials held at the Lilly Library, Indiana University at Bloomington. It is evident, however, that The Sylvia Plath Collection at the Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College was used extensively as well. Plath's artwork informs and inspires each essayist; and it is Plath's writing, either contemporary to the artwork or her later, more mature writing, that allows for a clear, steady progression of Plath's talent. Often times, the essays show a kind of conversation taking place between ideas and themes present in Plath's art that resurface either immediately or much later in her poetry and prose. In a way then , Plath is talking back to herself, in addition to talking back to Ted Hughes by writing on the verso his compositions. Eye Rhymes, then, "follows the entire trajectory of Plath's creative genius, from her first signs of artistry on the seashores of New England, to the final culmination of her craft as a poet, essayist, and novelist..." (1). What the essays make perfectly clear that from early childhood straight through to her death, Plath continually worked creatively and that her adolescent and young adult interest in art translates and manifests itself in her best writing. The aim of the book is to "shed new light on Sylvia Plath as artist, critic, and intellectual, and the creative processes she employed throughout her life" (3).

As I state in my own biography of Plath, her pre-Smith years (1932-1950) are overlooked most often by scholars and researchers. Her published journals and letters both select her Freshman year at college as their starting point. Her Collected Poems start even later, in 1956. However, it is the formative, pre-college years that gave birth to this poet and, in the end, are responsible for The Bell Jar and the Ariel poems for which she is most famous. All the tools and values Plath needed to succeed as a writer came from this period, and it is a shame that it is so frequently neglected. No longer, as any reader of Eye Rhymes will develop a new appreciation for Plath the precocious child, Plath the driven adolescent, and Plath the talented artist. Eye Rhymes is a monumental contribution to Plath scholarship.

The author leads the reader from the birth of realism in the US in art, literature, history, etc. Although some of his points seem obvious once you read them, they are simply not matters that are taught in standard art history or other classes. I thought that this was truly a brilliant book. I shared many parts with my partner, etc.

As a writer/scholar, I appreciate good reference books such as this. Reasonably presented, reasonably priced.

As a student teacher I was given the assignment to teach Fairy Tales, Fables, Legends, and Myths. I had an idea as to what I wanted to do, but did not have a clue as how to start. This book put me on the right path with its concise defenitions of each category, plenty of examples, and great activities to do with the students. I originally borrowed this book from the library and I found it so helpful that I am adding it to my collection of must-have books. I give it 5 stars!

This is the best introduction to the field of mythology that I've come across.

Ms. Lowry starts off by defining what myths are, and what they do. She discusses how they provide personal guidance, support (or challenge) the social order, how they provide us with a sense of physical order, and how they help us face life's mysteries. She differentiates myth, legend, and folktale, and outlines the "diffusion vs. archetype" argument. The following sections cover the heroic pattern, the tension between chaos and an ordered cosmos, and the mystery of death. This is not merely an anthology of snippets from around the world; she discusses in-depth the underlying motifs, and the disguises they take on as they appear in different ages and cultures. The breadth of her scholarship is impressive...she's equally comfortable with Theseus and Gilgamesh, Horus and Beowulf. More than just a dry anthology, this book challenged me, taught me a great deal, and made me want to learn more. And you can't ask for much more than that.

When I ordered this book I thought I was purchasing a book of fantastic, surrealistic Fetish photographs. I was totally surprised with what arrived in the mail. I wasn't at all disappointed however, because I loved this text book of cultural and gender studies. It helped that the author looked like my daughter so that gave me a favorable first impression. Where in the world were these kinds of classes when I was attending college? I feel so cheated when I read text books like this one. It's fun reading and there are plenty of photographs and illustrations included and discussed in the volume. It was difficult to put the book aside even though it does have it's share of academic jargon but not enough to get in the way of the volume's readability. I particularly enjoyed the insights that the book provided into my own tastes. It's one thing to know that you instinctively like something, but it's something else entirely to learn why you may be intrigued by that particular thing. This is definitely an eye opening book. I'm still jealous of current college students who have the option of taking classes that would use a textbook like this one. It's a page turner and I can't recall feeling that way about any other text book I've ever studied. I suspect other people were also fooled about the book's subject by the wonderful cover illustration. I couldn't help but notice that as of the date of this review there are two used copies of the hardback edition are for sale as collectables. It is a most unusual text book that can become a successful seller in the non-text book and collectable market. That fact alone is a wonderful recommendation for reading it even if you aren't "post-human."

Fabulous book. Wonderful photos. Most students of Stuart fashion have probably seen most of these illustrations, but the details are fabulous and the text chock full of relevant and revelatory reference material. Extremely beautiful book.

This wondrous little yet expansive book of poetry makes a lot of sense, as the body gets haunted by lacks and excesses that work themselves out like demonic and even Muse-like possessions of the Mind/Body thing itself in all its hunger, quest, and blind brilliance. This is an awesome first book of poetry really by a fully original and caring cultural theorist who is working in te wings of poetry and on on edge of queering it into something better than the Victorian poesy of, say, the New Yorker weekly poems or (for that matter) the banal and liberal pioucs verse of the utterly safe Nation magazine whose poetry is pure Dunciad material. Keep writing poetry EKS, it will get across the distances and the ages. When I showed your Duke UP poetry book to my poetry students here in Santa Cruz, one of them stole it, a good sign of need and (well) the hunger to write...

This is essential reading for anyone interested in feminist art history. It was one of the earlier scholarly compliations of critical articles concerning issues in visual representation of women as subject and by women as artists. Ranging from a study of images of women in Greek art, to an analysis of the psycho-social motivations of 20th century Expressionism, to an investigation of American quilting and its influence on contemporary art, each essay contributes to our understanding of paradigms which are basic in forming a new context-- a context which is needed to re-examine the white, Western male canon of standard art histories. The essays also provide a fundamental vocabulary for investigation of specific works, and aptly balance the feminist positions about art with vital, challenging interpretations of cultural conditions and biases which have affected our perception of gender and the place of art in societies over time. The introduction by the editors defines the content, nuance and strategy of the feminist art historical project and is as pertinent today as it was twenty years ago. I would recommend this book as a useful starting point for research and education; and for students, teachers or anyone willing to cast off the blinders of assumed histories.