Letters from the Earth

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Ray Billington

This witty and open-minded introduction to ethics presupposes no knowledge of philosophy, and is constructed around the problems that occur in everyday life.

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Stella Partheniou Grasso

We Canadians are known for our humour -- and here's a joke book to prove it! You'll laugh and you'll groan -- but either way you will rejoice in these punchlines with a distinctly Canadian flavour!

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Simon Critchley

The question of how to lead a happy and meaningful life has been at the heart of philosophical debate since time immemorial. Today, however, these questions seem to be addressed not by philosophers but self-help gurus, who frantically champion the individual's quest for self-expression and self-realization; the desire to become authentic. Against these new age sophistries, *How to Stop Living and Start Worrying* tackles the question of 'how to live' by forcing us to explore our troubling relationship with death. For Critchley, philosophy begins with the question of finitude and with his understanding of a key classical theme - that to philosophize is to learn how to die. Learning how to accept both our own and others' mortality as a part of life also raises the question of how to love. Critchley argues that the act of love requires us to give up something of ourselves, to lose control so as to be open to the demands of love. We will never be equal to this demand and so we are brought face to face with our own limitations - one form of which is what Critchley calls our 'originary inauthenticity'. By scrutinizing the very nature of humour, Critchley explores what we need to laugh at ourselves and presents the need to confront the inescapable ridiculousness of life. Reflecting on the work of over 20 years, this book provides a unique, witty and erudite introduction to the thought of Simon Critchley. It includes a revealing biographical conversation with Critchley and a fascinating debate with the critically acclaimed novelist Tom McCarthy about the nature of authenticity. Taken together the conversations give an intimate portrait of one of the most lucid, provocative and engaging philosophers writing today. (Source: Polity)

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Lucia Berlin

The Sanctified Church is a collection of Hurston's ground-breaking essays on Afro-American folklore, legend, popular mythology, and, in particular, the unique spiritual character of the Soouthern Black Christian Church. Along with preserving the customs, music, speech, and humor of rural Black America, The Sanctified Church introduces us to such extraordinary figures as Mother Catherine, matriarchal founder of a highly personal Voodoo Christian sect; Uncle Monday, healer, conjurer, and powerful herb doctor; and High John de Conquer, the trickster/shaman figure of freedom and laughter still honored in parts of rural Black America today. A pioneering ethnographer and floklore scholar, the great Zora Neale Hurston captured the exuberance, vitality and genius of Black culture with a vividness and authority unmatched by any other writer. (Back cover).