A mobster walked into a psychiatrist's office ... No, it wasn't the start of a joke: it was the start of a program that changed TV history. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, The Sopranos launched our current age of prestige television. Television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz were among the first to write about the series before it became a cultural phenomenon. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the show's debut, they reunite to produce a collection of recaps, conversations, and critical essays covering every episode, as well as new interviews with series creator David Chase. They explore the show's artistry, themes, and legacy, examining its portrayal of Italian Americans, its graphic depictions of violence, and its deep connection to other cinematic and television classics.

"An essential exploration of a rich literary tradition from the Bible to modern times, by a "rare literary authority" (New York Times Book Review). Jews have long embraced their identity as "the people of the book." But outside of the Bible, much of the Jewish literary tradition remains little known. The People and the Books shows how central questions and themes of our history and culture are reflected in the Jewish literary canon: the nature of God, the right way to understand the Bible, the relationship of the Jews to their Promised Land, and the challenges of living as a minority in Diaspora. Adam Kirsch explores eighteen classic texts including the biblical books of Deuteronomy and Esther, the philosophy of Maimonides, the autobiography of the medieval businesswoman Gluckel of Hameln, and the Zionist manifestos of Theodor Herzl. From the Jews of ancient Rome to the mystical devotees of Hasidism in Eastern Europe, The People and the Books brings the treasures of Jewish literature to life and offers new ways to think about their enduring power and influence"--

Is the Bible actually a love story between a deity and a people? And what does this love story have to do with the modern world? In With All Thine Heart distinguished cultural critic Ilan Stavans speaks to freelance writer Mordecai Drache about love in the Bible. Presented in an engaging, conversational format and touched with striking artwork, the textured dialogue between Stavans and Drache is meant to show how the Bible is a multidimensional text and one that, when considered over the course of history, still has the power to shape our world. The theme of love provides the connective tissue that binds this work. Addressing a wide range of topics, from biblical archaeology and fundamentalism to Hollywood movies, lexicography, and the act of praying, With All Thine Heart suggests that the Hebrew Bible is a novel worth decoding patiently, such as one does with classics like Don Quixote de la Mancha, In Search of Lost Time, and Anna Karenina. Similar to the protagonists in these tales, biblical characters, although not shaped with the artistic nuance of modern literature, allow for astonishing insight. This exploration of love through the pages of the Bible--organized chronologically from Genesis to Exodus and followed by insightful meditations on the Song of Songs and the Book of Job--is a delightful intellectual and spiritual treat . . . Shema Ysrael!

Nicholas Horsfall was one of the most recognizable and influential Latinists of his generation. His main legacy is his work on Virgil and the five erudite commentaries on the Aeneid, but he was also a prolific writer of papers, both Virgilian and non-Virgilian. A number of Horsfall's papers, including the important 'Camilla', are translated in this volume for the first time.0Stretching from 1971 to 2015, the papers are drawn from his entire output demonstrating his unparalleled ability to connect Roman poetry with history, antiquarianism, and Realien. While showcasing his unique analysis of Virgil, it also highlights Horsfall's work as both a Latinist and a Romanist, illuminating the coherence in his approach. This volume includes many Virgilian papers that have become classics-on Aeneas the colonist, and on the Aeneas-legend, for example. This does not detract from the value of the non-Virgilian papers, many of which-on the collegium poetarum, and on discussions of reading and libraries at Rome, for example-have become standard treatments of their subjects. Throughout all these works there is an astonishing degree of connection, with glimpses in many papers of his other research interests.0'Nicholas Horsfall needs to be approached through his short papers, typically fresh, innovative and stimulating, and he has been so productive that nobody can claim to have had a full view of his scholarship. When it comes to placing a literary text in the frames offered by material culture, documents, landscapes, history, and by religious, legal, military and antiquarian studies, he was unrivalled.' Professor Alessandro Barchiesi, Professor of Classics, New York University.