Breaking the magic spell

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Jack Zipes

"The fairy tale may be one of the most important cultural and social influences on children's lives. But until Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion little attention had been paid to the ways in which the writers and collectors of tales used traditional forms and genres in order to shape children's lives -- their behavior, values, and relationship to society. As Jack Zipes convincingly shows, fairy tales have always been a powerful discourse, capable of being used to shape or destabilize attitudes and behavior within culture. For this new edition, the author has revised the work throughout and added a new introduction bringing this classic title up to date." Information from publisher.

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Jonathan P. Davis

Few can argue with the unprecedented success author Stephen King has established in the two decades following the publication of his first novel, Carrie. He has built a reputation as the world's premier storyteller, and his name has become commonplace within the home. American publishers, producers, and fans have all capitalized on his unquestionable ability to entertain. But it is this same success that has often overshadowed the elements of his fiction that contribute to the canvas of literature established in the twentieth century by authors such as William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Flannery O'Connor. All have lasting reputations as masters of the American literary tradition. Stephen King's America aims to heighten awareness of the numerous American issues that resonate throughout King's fiction, issues that bear universal application to the evolution of the human condition. Within his stories can be found a diverse study of all that makes life in America, land of the free, unique: the struggle for moral health; leaving the splendor of childhood at the corruption of innocence; an advanced technology that often exceeds its understood potentials; the rewards and sacrifices within a free-market society; the delicate balance between autonomy and collective social harmony; and the simple solution to survival in an adverse world. Take a closer look at these subtexts and discover a new dimension in the reading of Stephen King's fiction. By focusing on these issues, and by presenting four rich interviews with men close to the work of Stephen King, Stephen King's America lifts the veil that is the surface of his stories, shining a pleasantly distinct light on the sources that are both his subliminal and apparent strengths as a modern author.

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Tony Watkins

""My books are about killing God." So declares Philip Pullman. Appealing to millions of children and adults alike, Pullman's books create a universe in which the church is the enemy and God is the master villain. Cultural analyst Tony Watkins offers an evenhanded and appreciative critique of Philip Pullman's books, exploring their religious and scientific underpinnings and highlighting their cultural and spiritual significance. Interacting deeply with Pullman's published writings and providing exclusive interview material, Watkins sheds light and insight on the worldview of one of today's most influential fantasy novelists."--Jacket.

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Christopher Palmer

"Philip K. Dick: Exhilaration and Terror of the Postmodern examines a wide range of Dick's work, including his short stories and posthumously published realist novels. Christopher Palmer analyses the puzzling and dazzling effects of Dick's fiction, and argues that at its heart is a clash between exhilarating possibilities of transformation, and a frightening lack of ethical certainties. Dick's work is seen as the inscription of his own historical predicament, the clash between humanism and postmodernism being played out in the complex forms of the fiction. The problem is never resolved, but Dick's ways of imagining it become steadily more ingenious and challenging."--BOOK JACKET.