The sources for La Légende de Saint Julien l’Hospitalier, one of Flaubert’s finest literary works, have long been the subject of numerous conflicting theories. The implications of the controversy are broad and important, not only for Flaubert’s work but also for our understanding of how writers generally use traditional material. Superficial resemblances have led critics to conclude that Flaubert relied heavily on a medieval tale of Saint Julian and that he borrowed details and sp...

This is a collection of papers from the Bart Collection on the history of farting. The collection was started by Benjamin Bart on discovering several papers in his grandmother Emily's cedar chest, and are available with the help of the Australian Literature Council. The book encompasses all aspects of the history of farting, from the place of farts in culture through the ages to an A-Z of classic farts. Also included are sections on Le Petomane, France's greatest farter whose performances ...

Now Odin knew that if a great wall could be built around it the Gods would not have to spend all their time defending their City, Asgard, from the Giants, and he knew that if Asgard were protected, he himself could go amongst men and teach them and help them.. . . The Gods went to the Stranger and they told him that if the last stone was not laid on the wall on the first day of the Summer not Sol or Mani, the Sun and the Moon, nor Freya would be given him.. . . But none wou...

The New York Times BestsellerAudiobook Nominated 2014 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album“Still Foolin' ‘Em … moves from one funny, strange and heartfelt moment to the next as smoothly as the best of the nine Academy Awards shows Crystal hosted.” —Los Angeles TimesHilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America's favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkabl...

In the summer of 1348, as the Black Death ravages their city, ten young Florentines take refuge in the countryside...Taken from the Greek, meaning 'ten-day event', Boccaccio's Decameron sees his characters amuse themselves by each telling a story a day, for the ten days of their confinement - a hundred stories of love and adventure, life and death, and surprising twists of fate. Less preoccupied with abstract concepts of morality or religion than earthly v...

Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric, and an exceptional Greek scholar. When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. THE CONSOLATION was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free w...

Welcome to QI: The Book of the Dead, a biographical dictionary with a twist - one where only the most interesting people made it in!QI have got together six dozen of the happiest, saddest, maddest and most successful men and women from history. Celebrate their wisdom, learn from their mistakes and marvel at their bad taste in clothes.Hans Christian Anderson was terrified of naked women, Florence Nightingale spent her last fifty years in bed, Sigmund Freud smoked twenty cig...

'In ancient tales many marvels are told us ... now you may hear such marvels told!' The greatest of the heroic epics to emerge from medieval Germany, the Nibelungenlied is a revenge saga of sweeping dimensions. It tells of the dragon-slayer Sivrit, and the mysterious kingdom of the Nibelungs with its priceless treasure-hoard guarded by dwarves and giants, of Pr�nhilt the Amazonian queen, fortune-telling water-sprites and a cloak of invisibility. Driven by the conflict between Kriemhilt, th...

This enchanting collection brings together hundreds of his wittiest and wickedest quips as a record of all that was best about this lovable, infuriatingly conceited, wildly funny, and brilliantly talented Englishman.

A cornerstone of ancient Greek religious poetry, The Homeric Hymn to Demeter offers a profound exploration of divine power, maternal devotion, and the mysteries of life and death.Composed in the 7th century BC, this foundational text centers on the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, whose abduction by Hades catalyzes the seasonal cycle and the origin of the Eleusinian Mysteries-one of the most revered rites in the ancient world. Rich in symbolism and ritual significance, ...

A collection of surprising, disarming and 'extremely funny' essays from the internationally bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day (Sunday Times)Santaland Diaries collects six of David Sedaris's most profound Christmas stories into one slender volume perfect for use as a last-minute coaster or ice-scraper. This drinking man's companion can be enjoyed by the warmth of a raging fire, the glow of a brilliantly decorated tree, or even i...

In The Purgatorio, Dante describes his journey to the renunciation of sin, accepting his suffering in preparation for his coming into the presence of God. This brilliant translation of Dante?s canticle crystallizes the great poet?s immortal conception of the aspiring soul.