Aldous Huxley's acclaimed and gripping account of one of the strangest occurrences in historyIn 1643 an entire convent in the small French village of Loudun was apparently possessed by the devil. After a sensational and celebrated trial, the convent's charismatic priest Urban Grandier—accused of spiritually and sexually seducing the nuns in his charge—was convicted of being in league with Satan. Then he was burned at the stake for witchcraft. In this classic work by the legendary Aldous Huxley—a remarkable true story of religious and sexual obsession considered by many to be his nonfiction masterpiece—a compelling historical event is clarified and brought to vivid life.Review"Huxley has reconstructed with skill, learning and horror one of the most appalling incidents in the history of witch-hunting during its seventeenth-century heyday. The Devils of Loudun is fascinating, erudite, and instinct with intellectual vitality" Times Literary Supplement "Huxley's analysis of motive, his exposition of the unconscious causes of behaviour, his exposure of the perversions to which religious emotion is subject, his discursions on the witch cult, on mass hysteria, on sexual eccentricity have the brilliance that all his writing has had from the very beginning" Spectator "One of Huxley's best books" Guardian "His masterpiece, and perhaps the most enjoyable book about spirituality ever written. In telling the grotesque, bawdy and true story of a 17th-century convent of cloistered French nuns who contrived to have a priest they never met burned alive ...Huxley painlessly conveys a wealth of information about mysticism and the unconscious" Washington Post About the AuthorAldous Huxley (1894-1963) is the author of the classic novels Island, Eyeless in Gaza, and The Genius and the Goddess, as well as such critically acclaimed nonfiction works as The Devils of Loudun, The Doors of Perception, and The Perennial Philosophy. Born in Surrey, England, and educated at Oxford, he died in Los Angeles. Views: 6
Charlie is recruited to use his mathematical prowess to discover what happened to a box of stolen moon rocks in this follow up to Bringing Down the Mouse.Charlie Lewis is really good at math. So good, that he's approached by a mysterious woman who needs his help. The woman is carrying an incredible item: an actual moon rock, one of the most valuable objects on Earth, and she's investigating the theft of a box of moon rocks from NASA's vault at the Johnson Space Center, and believes the stolen rocks are now in the possession of a former astronaut. Although she claims to work at NASA, Charlie suspects she is something else—but he decides the adventure is too good to pass up. Charlie and the whiz kids go undercover by entering the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's paper airplane contest, and head down to the nation's capital. Working together, they master the principles of aerodynamics, wind science, and gravity to excel in the competition.... Views: 6
Annie Dillard -- "one of the most distinctive voices in American letters today" (Boston Globe) -- collects her favorite selections from her own writings in this compact volume. A perfect introduction to one of America's most acclaimed and bestselling authors. Views: 6
All over the English-speaking world critics have greeted these essays with such comments as “brilliant… provocative… magnificent.” Many find that Huxley is the finest essayist since Montaigne. It has been said that “Mr. Huxley is not only a literary giant, but one of the greatest thinkers of our time.” Mr. Huxley’s topic is man, the total compass of his faculties in science, literature, music, religion, art, love, sex, speculative thinking and simple being. Here, displayed to the full, is the astonishing virtuosity of Huxley’s genius. The range of Aldous Huxley’s thinking was astonishing. His opinions on art were as original and well-founded as his discussions of biology or architecture, poetry, music, or history. As a virtuoso of letters, he was unequalled. Born into a famous family with a long intellectual tradition, Huxley attended Eton and Oxford. His reputation as a writer was well-established before he was thirty. Mr. Huxley was not only a master essayist; in 1959 he received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award of Merit for “having done the best work of our time in what threatens to be a neglected field, the novel of ideas.” His novels include “Crome Yellow” and “The Genius and the Goddess”. Views: 6
More than any other poet, Wordworth was his own biographer, and told his story through his verse. This work on the poet's entire life and times, first published in 1980, remains the only full-length popular biography. It draws upon the letters and diaries of Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, and of their contemporaries Coleridge and Southey. Hunter Davies also draws upon his own knowledge of the Lake District, which featured so strongly in Wordsworth life, to present a complete portrait of England's best known poet. Views: 6
Jane Bunker returns in Bimini Twist, another thrilling, small-town mystery by Linda Greenlaw set in Down East Maine.It seems like everyone in Green Haven knows that Jane Bunker has scored an invite to the ultra-exclusive Summer Solstice Soiree—and they all assume she'll be in attendance, as one of the few eligible single women in town. Of course, that's the last place Jane would like to be; hobnobbing and making small talk with the upper crust isn't exactly her idea of a good time. She prefers to put in her hours working as an insurance investigator, and part-time as the deputy sheriff. When she gets to work one morning, the sheriff asks her to take a break on her personal war on drugs—it seems that she's been so successful catching dealers and interrupting the flow of drugs in the area that she's called too much attention to just how bad it's gotten, and the community is worried that all the attention on the drug trade will deter the summer... Views: 6
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE Music legend Bob Dylan's only work of fiction—a combination of stream of consciousness prose, lyrics, and poetry that gives fans insight into one of the most influential singer-songwriters of our time.Written in 1966, Tarantula is a collection of poems and prose that evokes the turbulence of the times in which it was written, and gives a unique insight into Dylan's creative evolution. It captures Bob Dylan's preoccupations at a crucial juncture in his artistic development, showcasing the imagination of a folk poet laureate who was able to combine the humanity and compassion of his country roots with the playful surrealism of modern art. Angry, funny, and strange, the poems and prose in this collection reflect the concerns found in Dylan's most seminal music: a sense of protest, a verbal playfulness and spontaneity, and a belief in the artistic legitimacy of chronicling everyday life and eccentricity on the street. Views: 6
Glenn Beck, #1 bestselling author and radio host, reveals the cold truth behind the ideology of progressivism and how the tenets of this dangerous belief system are eroding the foundation of this country.WHY DO WE ACCEPT THE LIES? Politics is no longer about pointing to a shining city on the hill; it’s about promising you a shiny new car for your driveway. The candidate who tells the people what they want to hear is usually the one who wins—facts be damned. Politicians may be sleazy and spineless, but they’re not stupid. They see that the way to win is by first telling people everything that is wrong with the world, and then painting a vision of the life they want—a Utopian vision that they’ll create right here on earth, one where no one is ever sick or hungry, jobless, or homeless. All we have to do is surrender our freedom and someone else’s wallet and they’ll make it happen. And so they continue to lie, and... Views: 6
