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The Selected Stories of Robert Bloch: Final reckonings

Robert Bloch
Best known as the author of "Psycho", Robert Bloch is world-renowned for his stories of horror, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. Many of the 25 stories in this first volume of "The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch" have been unavailable for decades. The stories are in his classic style of gripping suspense, science fiction and fantasy. As Bloch writes, "These stories in this collection have a common theme; they deal with monsters. Some of the monsters are human, some are not-- but all of them embody, in one way or another, the fears common to us in our dreams. We call these monsters by many names-- ghosts, vampires, extraterrestrials, changelings. But we recognize them for what they are; manifestations of the secret dreads and desires which lurk beneath the surface of consciousness." "Bloch has become a virtual fixture on the popular culture landscape." --Publishers Weekly "If you're not familiar with Bloch's short fiction, find someone to borrow this from; if you already are familiar, you know that you want to own these volumes." --Locus
Carol Publishing Group 1990 384 pages

Nietzsche, godfather of fascism? on the uses and abuses of a philosophy

Yaʿaḳov Golomb,Jacob Golomb,Robert S. Wistrich
Nietzsche, the Godfather of Fascism? What can Nietzsche have in common with this murderous ideology? Frequently described as the "radical aristocrat" of the spirit, Nietzsche abhorred mass culture and strove to cultivate an Übermensch endowed with exceptional mental qualities. What can such a thinker have in common with the fascistic manipulation of the masses for chauvinistic goals that crushed the autonomy of the individual? The question that lies at the heart of this collection is how Nietzsche came to acquire the deadly "honor" of being considered the philosopher of the Third Reich and whether such claims had any justification. Does it make any sense to hold him in some way responsible for the horrors of Auschwitz? The editors present a range of views that attempt to do justice to the ambiguity and richness of Nietzsche's thought. First-rate contributions by a variety of distinguished philosophers and historians explore in depth Nietzsche's attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, Christianity, anti-Semitism, and National Socialism. They interrogate Nietzsche's writings for fascist and anti-Semitic proclivities and consider how they were read by fascists who claimed Nietzsche as their intellectual godfather. There is much that is disturbingly antiegalitarian and antidemocratic in Nietzsche, and his writings on Jews are open to differing interpretations. Yet his emphasis on individualism and contempt for German nationalism and anti-Semitism put him at stark odds with Nazi ideology. The Nietzsche that emerges here is a tragic prophet of the spiritual vacuum that produced the twentieth century's totalitarian movements, the thinker who best diagnosed the pathologies of fin-de-siècle European culture. Nietzsche dared to look into the abyss of modern nihilism. This book tells us what he found. The contributors are Menahem Brinker, Daniel W. Conway, Stanley Corngold, Kurt Rudolf Fischer, Jacob Golomb, Robert C. Holub, Berel Lang, Wolfgang Müller-Lauter, Alexander Nehamas, David Ohana, Roderick Stackelberg, Mario Sznajder, Geoffrey Waite, Robert S. Wistrich, and Yirmiyahu Yovel.
Princeton University Press 2002 341 pages

Alpha 9

Robert Silverberg
Berkley Books, 1978. Mass market paperback. Final volume in this essential series of science fiction anthologies. Stories included here: “Dumb Waiter” (1952) by Walter M. Miller, Jr. "The Monsters” (1953) by Robert Sheckley "The Sliced-Crosswise Only-on-Tuesday World” (1971) by Philip José Farmer "The Funeral” (1972) by Kate Wilhelm "The Book” (1953) by Michael Shaara "Dusty Zebra” (1954) by Clifford D. Simak "Goodlife” (1963) by Fred Saberhagen "Nobody's Home” (1972) by Joanna Russ
Berkley Pub. Corp 1978 180 pages

Clocks for the Ages: How Scientists Date The Past

SILVERBERG, Robert
Geochronology is the name of the game & Silverberg plays for high stakes--all or nothing: for the ordinary nonspecialist this will be a burdensomely comprehensive cumulative history of the theories that have been advanced about the human past, beginning with the most unrefined notions chained on pain of heresy to Genesis. Archbishop Ussher calculated the age of the earth arithmetically according to the bible. His figures were accepted almost until Darwinism opened up conceptual horizons & Smith's nomenclature yielded a primitive relative calendar. Some means of assigning absolute numerical values was still wanting when Becquerel stumbled on radioactivity & started the Atomic Clock ticking, but here's where the reader without considerable mathematical aptitude & stamina may turn off: Silverberg explicates the physical properties of the atom & the progressive discoveries of half-life, isotopes & the neutron, all of which must be assimilated if the breakthroughs & contingencies are to be appreciated. "Rutherford realized that the heat of radioactive decay would serve to keep the interior of the planet warm for a much longer time than the 20 million years Kelvin had estimated as the earth's age"; "radioactivity could supply a new & far more accurate figure for the age of the earth, if only a way could be found to measure the rate at which the decay of radioactive elements occurs." Indeed with more research ways were found for dating the earth's crust, the ice ages, evolutionary Homo Sapiens, archeological finds, even tree-rings--& the methods are many: lead-uranium, helium, zircon, rubidium-strontium, potassium-argon, carbon 14... For each method as for each application, we must go thru the procedural motions in detail, & not only where the technique is proved viable but also where (5 pages later, say) it's proved erroneous. Colloquially, this encompasses everything under the sun that admits of chronological measurement (see index); more meaningfully, it embodies both the sum & the substance of Silverberg's other works (see bibliography). An interdisciplinary study for the extra-disciplined inquirer.--Kirkus (edited)
Macmillan 1971 244 pages

Tales of Majipoor

Robert Silverberg
Product Description Majipoor, an immense planet populated by a wide variety of exotic races, first appeared in Robert Silverberg's 1980 novel, Lord Valentine's Castle, a book that has since acquired the status of a modern classic. In subsequent decades, Silverberg has revisited Majipoor on numerous occasions, and it has become one of this gifted and prolific author's signature creations.The latest offering in the cycle, Tales of Majipoor, is both a superb literary accomplishment and a gift to Silverberg's legion of devoted fans. This generous volume contains seven long stories, each of which explores a different aspect of life on Majipoor. Together, they encompass several thousand years of colorful, dramatic history. The opening tale, 'The End of the Line,' tells the story of Lord Stiamot and his rise to the role of Coranol, a position second only to Pontifex in Majipoor's complex hierarchy. The final entry, 'The Seventh Shrine,' circles back to the very beginning of the series, giving us a murder mystery set during the reign of Lord Valentine. In between are stories that involve magic ('The Sorcerer s Apprentice'), religion ('The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar'), and even poetry ('The Book of Changes'). Supplementing all this is a brief but crucial historical prologue and a series of detailed maps that add richness and depth to these singular--and endlessly absorbing--narratives. Beautifully written and thoroughly imagined on every level, Tales of Majipoor combines irresistible storytelling with the sort of meticulously detailed world building that only the finest imaginative literature can provide. It is a book that only Robert Silverberg, a true Grand Master, could have written. From the Inside Flap Majipoor, an immense planet populated by a wide variety of exotic races, first appeared in Robert Silverberg's 1980 novel, Lord Valentine's Castle, a book that has since acquired the status of a modern classic. In subsequent decades, Silverberg has revisited Majipoor on numerous occasions, and it has become one of this gifted and prolific author's signature creations.The latest offering in the cycle, Tales of Majipoor, is both a superb literary accomplishment and a gift to Silverberg's legion of devoted fans. This generous volume contains seven long stories, each of which explores a different aspect of life on Majipoor. Together, they encompass several thousand years of colorful, dramatic history. The opening tale, “The End of the Line,” tells the story of Lord Stiamot and his rise to the role of Coranol, a position second only to Pontifex in Majipoor's complex hierarchy. The final entry, “The Seventh Shrine,” circles back to the very beginning of the series, giving us a murder mystery set during the reign of Lord Valentine. In between are stories that involve magic (“The Sorcerer's Apprentice”), religion (“The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar”), and even poetry (“The Book of Changes”). Supplementing all this is a brief but crucial historical prologue and a series of detailed maps that add richness and depth to these singular—and endlessly absorbing—narratives. Beautifully written and thoroughly imagined on every level, Tales of Majipoor combines irresistible storytelling with the sort of meticulously detailed world building that only the finest imaginative literature can provide. It is a book that only Robert Silverberg, a true Grand Master, could have written.
Subterranean Press 2013-09-30 372 pages

Singing the master: the emergence of African American culture in the Plantation South

Abrahams, Roger D.
“Impressive…A scrupulously researched work enlarging our understanding of an integral aspect of slave culture.”–-The Washington Post Book World What was it like to be a slave on a plantation of the antebellum South? How did the fiction of the happy slave and myth of the plantation “family” evolve? How did slaves create a performance style that unified them, while simultaneously entertaining and mocking the master? The answers to these questions may be found in the groundbreaking study of the corn-shucking ceremonies of the prewar South, where white masters played host to local slaves and watched their “guests” perform exuberant displays of singing and dancing. Drawing on the detailed written and oral histories of masters, slaves, and Northern commentators, distinguished folklorist Roger Abrahams peels through layers of racism and nostalgia surrounding this celebration to uncover its true significance in the lives and imagination of both blacks and whites – and in the evolution of an enduring African-American culture.
Pantheon Books 1992 341 pages

More surprises in theoretical physics

Peierls, Rudolf E.
Like its predecessor, this book by the renowned physicist Sir Rudolf Peierls draws from many diverse fields of theoretical physics to present problems in which the answer differs from what our intuition had led us to expect. In some cases an apparently convincing approximation turns out to be misleading; in others a seemingly unmanageable problem turns out to have a simple answer. Peierls's intention, however, is not to treat theoretical physics as an unpredictable game in which such surprises happen at random. Instead he shows how in each case careful thought could have prepared us for the outcome. Peierls has chosen mainly problems from his own experience or that of his collaborators, often showing how classic problems can lend themselves to new insights. His book is aimed at both graduate students and their teachers. Praise for Surprises in Theoretical Physics: "A beautiful piece of stimulating scholarship and a delight to read. Physicists of all kinds will learn a great deal from it."--R. J. Blin-Stoyle, Contemporary Physics
Princeton University Press 1991-09 106 pages