**"Lively . . . excoriating, eloquent . . . We are all Faustians now." — James Wood, The New YorkerA devilishly fascinating tour of the Faustian bargain through the ages, from brimstone to blues and beyond . . .**From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain—the exchange of one's soul in return for untold riches and power—has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations.Scholar Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of...

A compendium celebrating the art of hell and its minionsPandemonium: The Illustrated History of Demonology presents—for the first time—Satan’s family tree, providing a history and analysis of his fellow fallen angels from Asmodeus to Ziminiar. Throughout the book, there are short entries on individual demons, but Pandemonium is more than just a visual encyclopedia. It also focuses on the influence of figures like Beelzebub, Azazel, Lilith, and Mol...

"Europe stretches to the Alleghenies, America lies beyond." - Ralph Waldo Emerson "They are my people and this is my town and it does my heart good just to be here." - Art Rooney Sr. What does it mean to be from Pittsburgh? Author Ed Simon explores the nature of the Yinzer and how the Steel City shapes anyone who is fortunate to call it home.

No Western religious concept has been as socially, culturally, economically, and politically significant as that of the apocalypse. Neither heaven and hell, nor sin and salvation, nor even God and the devil have merited the attention of billions of people in the manner that belief in the end of the world has. Apocalyptic thinking is riven by a fruitful--and at times dangerous--binary between the hopes for a coming millennium when all shall be perfected or of a fiery deluge when the earth s...

"[An] epic, atomic history of the Steel City . . . a work of literature, a series of linked creative nonfiction essays, an historical story cycle." ―Phillip Maciak, Los Angeles Review of BooksThe land surrounding the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers has supported communities of humans for millennia. Over the past four centuries, however, it has been transformed countless times by the many people who call it home. In this brief, lyr...

The Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly Virtues: A Visual History is a richly illustrated, large‑format exploration of how humanity has attempted to understand morality, self‑control, and spiritual struggle through art, religion, and philosophy.Presented as a substantial hardcover volume with extensive color imagery throughout, the book brings together visual history and cultural analysis in a form designed for browsing as much as reading...

Binding the Ghost is both manifesto and example of a new variety of reading that centers a theological perspective in considering what literature actually does. Neither dogmatic nor apologetic, sectarian or denominational, this mode of reading acknowledges the inherently charged strangeness of writing and fiction, whereby authors have the ability to seemingly create entire universes from words alone.Ed Simonconsiders the theological depth, resonance, and mystery of the act...

Bloomsbury presents Writing During the Apocalypse by Ed Simon, read by Shamaan CaseyAll of American literature is a tragedy. What we’re living through now isn’t a tragedy, however – it’s a horror novel. W****hy bother writing when the world’s on fire?Rising authoritarianism. Covid. Inflation. Wealth disparity. War. Climate change. While every time period is marked by apocalyptic fears, it certainly seems like our c...

Motorcycle Messengers 2 is another collection of stories from some of the leading writers in the motorcycle travel genre ... plus a few people you've never heard of. Consider it a sample pack of authors. Rekindle memories of your own trips, find inspiration for new rides, or learn a few lessons from those who have done things the hard way. Above all, enjoy the journey.Charley Boorman expounds on the benefits of motorcycle travel in his foreword.Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent side...

Cognition Switch: An Artefact for the Transmission of New IdeasIssue #5: April 2019Featuring Ideas by: Michael Strauss, Ed Simon, Raja Halwani, Robert Noggle, Archie Brown, Michael Robertson, Nancy Weiss Malkiel, Peter Levine, Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Julian Baggini, Christopher Kavanagh, and Johanna Hanink

All of American literature is a tragedy. What we're living through now isn't a tragedy, however – it's a horror novel. W****hy bother writing when the world's on fire?Rising authoritarianism. Covid. Inflation. Wealth disparity. War. Climate change. While every time period is marked by apocalyptic fears, it certainly seems like our current anxieties aren't ill placed. And yet, art and literature persist.In captivating and cu...

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Every culture, every religion, every era has enshrined otherwise regular objects with a significance which stretches beyond their literal importance. Whether the bone of a Catholic martyr, the tooth of a Buddhist lama, or the cloak of a Sufi saint, relics are material conduits to the immaterial world. Yet relics aren't just a feature of religion. The exact same sense of the tra...