In a work of great wisdom and insight, art critic and philosopher Arthur Danto delivers a compact, masterful tour of Andy Warhol’s personal, artistic, and philosophical transformations. Danto traces the evolution of the pop artist, including his early reception, relationships with artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and the Factory phenomenon. He offers close readings of individual Warhol works, including their social context and philosophical dimensions, key differences with predecessors such as Marcel Duchamp, and parallels with successors like Jeff Koons. Danto brings to bear encyclopedic knowledge of Warhol’s time and shows us Warhol as an endlessly multidimensional figure—artist, political activist, filmmaker, writer, philosopher—who retains permanent residence in our national imagination. Danto suggests that "what makes him an American icon is that his subject matter is always something that the ordinary American understands: everything, or nearly everything he made art out of came straight out of the daily lives of very ordinary Americans. . . . The tastes and values of ordinary persons all at once were inseparable from advanced art."

An elegant, masterful portrait of Andy Warhol's life, character, and lasting influence by an eminent art critic. "Danto . . . sums up the Pop master's evolution as both artist and persona. . . . It is, in essence, everything you need to dive deeper into Brillo boxes and Empire ."--Rachel Wolff, The Daily Beast (Best Art and Photography Books of 2009) In a work of great wisdom and insight, art critic and philosopher Arthur Danto delivers a compact, masterful tour of Andy Warhol's personal, artistic, and philosophical transformations. Danto traces the evolution of the pop artist, including his early reception, relationships with artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and the Factory phenomenon. He offers close readings of individual Warhol works, including their social context and philosophical dimensions, key differences with predecessors such as Marcel Duchamp, and parallels with successors like Jeff Koons. Danto brings to bear encyclopedic knowledge of Warhol's time and shows us Warhol as an endlessly multidimensional figure--artist, political activist, filmmaker, writer, philosopher--who retains permanent residence in our national imagination. Danto suggests that "what makes him an American icon is that his subject matter is always something that the ordinary American understands: everything, or nearly everything he made art out of came straight out of the daily lives of very ordinary Americans. . . . The tastes and values of ordinary persons all at once were inseparable from advanced art."

Mr. Danto argues that recent developments in the artworld, in particular the production of works of art that cannot be told from ordinary things, make urgent the need for a new theory of art and make plain the factors such a theory can and cannot involve. In the course of constructing such a theory, he seeks to demonstrate the relationship between philosophy and art, as well as the connections that hold between art and social institutions and art history. The book distinguishes what belongs to artistic theory from what has traditionally been confused with it, namely aesthetic theory and offers as well a systematic account of metaphor, expression, and style, together with an original account of artistic representation. A wealth of examples, drawn especially from recent and contemporary art, illuminate the argument.

*Are you a parent looking to make sense of a daunting digital world, with new technical challenges appearing daily? * Feel you're not keeping up with the demands of technology? * Feel you're not keeping up with your children's use of social media? * Worried it's getting harder to keep your children safe in the digital world? Tech-Savvy Parenting brings together the experience, research, observations and advice of respected parenting expert Nikki Bush, and leading technology commentator Arthur Goldstuck. This insightful duo will help you get a handle on what's happening in the digital space to ensure your children are safe and savvy in this fast-changing world. They'll guide you through the terminology, dangers and opportunities of technology, while placing children's use of all things digital firmly in the context of the relationship between parents and their children. For families to remain connected, both online and offline, and for young people to develop into responsible digital citizens, parents must bridge the digital divide to their children by understanding the attraction of social media and technology, how communication is changing, and how technology is changing the world. This book is filled with practical advice that will help you to navigate the digital space, together with your children, with greater confidence.

An account of the life of a militant civil rights leader who was born, a female slave, in 1797

The story of Koestler's imprisonment in France in 1940, his escape and his extraordinary and adventurous journey to the safety of London, which unfolds like some travel nightmare by Kafka. The 'scum of the earth' are those heroic individuals, like Koestler himself, who had fought the tide of fascism and come to live in liberal France under the mistaken impression that they would be safe.

On September 23, 1926, and Austrian experimental biologist named Dr. Paul Kammerer blew his brains out on a footpath in the Austrian mountains. His suicide was the climax of a great evolutionary controversy which his experiments had aroused. The battle was between the followers of Lamarck, who maintained that acquired characteristics could be inherited, and the neo-Darwinists, who upheld the theory of chance mutations preserved by natural selection. Dr. Kammerer's experiments with various amphibians, including salamanders and the midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans), lent much weight to the Lamarckian argument and drew upon him the full fury of the orthodox neo-Darwinists. Arthur Koestler had known about Dr. Kammerer's work when he himself was a student in Vienna, and he has always been interested in this tragic story. He gives a fascinating description of the venomous atmosphere in which the battle was fought and of the lengths to which apparently respectable scholars would go to discredit their opponents. Heading the attack on Kammerer was a British scientist, William Bateson, who hinted that the Viennese's experiments were fakes, but who failed to examine the evidence, including the so-called nuptial pads of Kammerer's last remaining specimen of the midwife toad. It was a young American scientist who delivered the coup de grace; on a visit to Vienna, he discovered that the discoloration of the nuptial pads was due not to natural causes but to the injection Indian ink. When his findings were published, Kammerer shot himself. Mr. Koestler, whose recent writings, in books such as The Act of Creation and The Ghost in the Machine, have been in part concerned with evolutionary theory, decided to investigate this old mystery. When he started on his researches, he expected to relate the tragedy of a man who had betrayed his calling, for Kammerer's suicide was accepted as a confession of guilt and his work was discredited from that day to this. Instead, as Mr. Koestler read the contemporary papers, corresponded with Kammerer's daughter, Bateson's son, and the surviving scientists who attended Kammerer's lecture in Cambridge, he found himself writing a vindication of a man who in all probability was himself betrayed. The story that emerges is, on one level, fascinating piece of scientific detection; on another, it is a moving and human narrative about a much abused, brilliant and lovable figure. Though no Lamarckian himself, Mr. Koestler ends the book with an appeal to biologists to repeat Kammerer's experiments with an open mind in order to verify or refute them. If Kammerer's claims were posthumously confirmed our outlook on evolution would be significantly changed. A superb intellectual thriller whose implications still reverberate today, The Case of the Midwife Toad is an entirely new kind of book for Mr. Koestler, and perhaps only he could have written it, for it required expert knowledge and familiarity with the academic world of science, combined with the creativity and imaginative insight of an outstanding novelist.

"Jewish History For Dummies provides unbiased, factual history of Jewish life, culture, and history. You'll take a look at the roots of Jewish history, beginning in 2000 B.C.E. with Abraham and his descendants. Chapter by chapter, you'll trace the evolution of the Jewish people through the biblical record and other sources, learning how King David united Israel, how the Jews were exiled under Babylonian rule, and how Jewish people have adapted to life in the diaspora, from ancient times all the way up to today. Whatever era of Jewish history you're interested in, you'll find comprehensive coverage in this Dummies guide."--

THE STORY: A group of American soldiers volunteer for a dangerous mission to a Japanese-occupied island. One soldier develops a complex because he convinces himself that he has failed in his duty to a dying buddy. He imagines that being a Jew and t

(Applause Books). Here is the original story of a true original, the celebrated and internationally renowned director, playwright and screenwriter Arthur Laurents, whose creative genius continues to energize American stage and screen today. Say his name, and images of West Side Story , Gypsy, Anastasia, The Turning Point , and The Way We Were appear. Laurents' highly praised memoir is a dazzling portrait of his life as he recounts the great moments, the trials and the joys of his incredible career. He takes us into his world, peopled with the creative artists, directors, actors and personalities who came of age in the theatre and in Hollywood after WWII. Later, back in New York, he writes about jump-starting Barbra Streisand's career by casting her in I Can Get It for You Wholesale . He writes about the creation of Gypsy with Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim. And he writes about coming together in a complex, fraught collaboration with his three old pals, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein and Sondheim for West Side Story . Throughout, Laurents is funny, fierce, and frank a life recounted as richly as it was lived. "This is a historic work. A 'must' for show biz mavens." LIZ SMITH, Newsday & Syndicated

Book by Arthur Loesser; Jacques Barzun

In Retrospect: The History of a Historian

Follows the roller-coaster life and career of the veteran actor, from his first appearance in burlesque to his success in "Sugar Babies"

In his long and rich career as the author of masterworks such as The Crucible and Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller has charted some of the most hidden aspects of the American character. This year, Miller turns 80, and Viking is pleased to mark the occasion with a lavishly packaged work of fiction that shows all the insight, precision, and greatness of spirit of his classic plays.

Szyk, a prominent Polish-Jewish artist who witnessed the rise of Nazi Germany, created this haggadah in the mid-1930s, offering the Jews of Europe a vision of hope in a dark time. Within the framework of the traditional Passover haggadah, he included forty-eight illuminations depicting Moses, David, and Judith triumphing over their oppressors and righting injustice.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov is a figure of enigma and mystery. It may therefore come as a surprise to find how much detailed information has survived about his life. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan s biography is the fruit of meticulous research into all the surviving source material, including the oral tradition of the Breslover Chassidim themselves. The work is accompanied by a rich array of supplementary material covering Rabbi Nachman s family and leading followers, other key personages in his life and period, contemporary historical trends, and the towns and cities which figure in his career. With a leader of Rabbi Nachman s stature a biographical approach of interpretation and evaluation is likely to be more misleading than illuminating. Rabbi Nachman s Torah, his teachings and his spiritual exploits were his life: to attempt to explain them from an extraneous perspective is to miss the point. Until the Mashiach presents the facts, leaving the reader free to reach his own conclusions about Rabbi Nachman's significance. What emerges is a picture of a leader who, while passionately concerned about the currents of his time, rose way above to become a torch to all the ensuing generations. His challenge to us is to free ourselves and prepare to greet the Mashiach. For my fire will burn until the Mashiach will come." Features an extensive historical overview, detailed maps, and full appendices listing significant towns and cities, biographical data, and anecdotes about Rebbe Nachman's family, followers and other contemporary figures, with full source references throughout. An essential reference work for every student of Breslov.

READ THE THRILLING, ACERBIC AND HILARIOUS NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE "The Avengers meets The Breakfast Club... wry and engaging." - James Swallow, Sunday Times bestselling author of Nomad "A spiky, fierce, erudite riff on the wonderful world of silver age superheroes." - Charles Stross, bestselling author of The Atrocity Archives "Blending the lurid, anything-goes madness of Silver Age comic books with emotionally complicated characters and realistic consequences on a cosmic scale." - SFX ---- Dr. Rick Tower is a mild-mannered English professor easing into middle-age at a medium-sized New England college. A genial blur, he thinks. Even his vices are unremarkable. But it wasn't always like this. Not until they changed his name, altered his looks and told him: 'pretend you were never different'. Because, decades earlier after a very bad day at high school, he was committed to a secret government facility with three other kids, Cat, Jack and Stephanie, each special in their own way. Tested, tutored and trained, this extraordinary quartet were then told to save the world. It was the best thing that ever happened to them. Until it became the worst. Now, twenty years after the tragedy that forced him into academic non-entity, a mysterious disappearance means Tower must reunite with his former comrades. Each returns with their own agenda. And while great power might come with great responsibility, there's little of that on display from any of them. Combining compelling storytelling and fierce imagination with a rich cast of characters, Fight Me is a page-turning and distinctive thriller, a unique tale of good and evil, and a memorable portrait of man trying to do the right thing at any cost. Against impossible odds . . . ---- PRAISE FOR FIGHT ME "Hugely enjoyable... kept me up till 3am." - Conn Iggulden, Sunday Times bestselling author of Lion "Combining a coming-of-age story with costume thrills . . . it has sly, smart things to say." - Herald "Fight Me embraces the fun of the genre, while treating its battle-weary characters with heart and empathy. A noir-tinged Big Chill for the superhero set." - Bob Proehl, author of The Nobody People "A treasure that manages to be sad, funny, and hilariously fun at all once. A thrilling adventure but also a searing, intimate look at what it would really cost to have such incredible power, and yet still be human." - Peng Shepherd, bestselling author of The Cartographers "There is a vibrancy to the writing, and a beating heart, reminiscent of my favorite coming-of-age novels." - Nick Cutter "A sucker-punch of sheer delight, and couldn't be happier to be on the receiving end." - Adam Christopher