Popular Reading Author Series: Book Discussion with Dr. A.J. Hartley

An in-depth look at the role of the dramaturg in producing Shakespearean plays.

Science fiction was being written throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it underwent a rapid expansion of cultural dissemination and popularity at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. This Element explores the ways this explosion in interest in 'scientific romance', that informs today's global science fiction culture, manifests the specific historical exigences of the revolutions in publishing and distribution technology. H. G. Wells, Jules Verne and other science fiction writers embody in their art the advances in material culture that mobilize, reproduce and distribute with new rapidity, determining the cultural logic of twentieth-century science fiction in the process.

The modern marketplace of science fiction, and the relationship between art, culture, and commerce as reflected in works of science fiction, are the concerns of these original essays. The contributors, all of whom are science fiction writers, editors, or critics, offer a wealth of new perspectives and insights on the forces that both drive and hinder creativity and its commodification. Many of the essays look at how the market constrains a writer's aesthetic and financial development, how changing perceptions of the science fiction audience are "distorting the product," how writers can and must persevere against the problems facing them, and how the market, as a literature-generating machine out of control, has both its down- and upsides. Through case studies, other contributors relate science fiction to other forms of "underground" literature, consider the continual cycle of illegitimate art replacing legitimate art, look at young readers of science fiction, chart the rising and falling "stock" of science fiction writers' reputations, and consider the influence of editors on a writer's work. Finally, in looking at science fiction and market realities in other countries and other media, the contributors examine American and British science fiction in the context of the two countries' different histories and market conditions, Russian science fiction and the collapse of the Soviet Union, independent and mass-market science fiction film and video, the opening up of the comic book market, and interactive computer games.

Introduction to Contemporary Print Cultureexamines the role of the book in the modern world. It considers the book's deeply intertwined relationships with other media through ownership, copyright and adaptation, the constantly shifting roles of authors, publishers and readers in the digital ecosystem, and the merging of print and digital technologies in contemporary understandings of the book object. Divided into three parts, the book first introduces students to various theories and methods for understanding print culture, demonstrating how the study of the book has grown out of longstanding academic disciplines. The second part surveys key sectors of the contemporary book world -- from independent and alternative publishers, to editors, booksellers, and libraries - focusing on topical debates. In the final part, digital technologies take centre stage as eBook regimes and mass-digitisation projects are examined for what they reveal about information power and access in the twenty-first century. This book provides a fascinating and informative introduction for students of all levels in publishing studies, book history, literature and English, media, communication and cultural studies, cultural sociology, librarianship and archival studies, and digital humanities.

As words and stories are increasingly disseminated through digital means, the significance of the book as object--whether pristine collectible or battered relic--is growing as well. "Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books" spotlights the personal libraries of thirteen favorite novelists who share their collections with readers. Stunning photographs provide full views of the libraries and close-ups of individual volumes: first editions, worn textbooks, pristine hardcovers, and childhood companions. In her introduction, Leah Price muses on the history and future of the bookshelf, asking what books can tell us about their owners and what readers can tell us about their collections. Supplementing the photographs are Price's interviews with each author, which probe the relation of writing to reading, collecting, and arranging books. Each writer provides a list of top ten favorite titles, offering unique personal histories along with suggestions for every bibliophile. "Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books" features the personal libraries of Alison Bechdel, Stephen Carter, Junot Diaz, Rebecca Goldstein and Steven Pinker, Lev Grossman and Sophie Gee, Jonathan Lethem, Claire Messud and James Wood, Philip Pullman, Gary Shteyngart, and Edmund White.

For courses in Young Adult and Adolescent Literature. This practical methods text provides future middle and high school English teachers with the direction they'll need to choose reading selections and to develop ideas for teaching them. Using a highly effective conversational tone, it provides the latest information about young adult literature in a short, concisely written, classroom-oriented format. The authors show the busy English teacher how to accomplish four important goals that address life-long reading, reader response, teaching the classics, and reaching a diverse student population.