Fabulous Monsters
Dracula, Alice, Superman, and Other Literary Friends
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- $28.99
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- $28.99
Publisher Description
An original look at how literary characters can transcend their books to guide our lives, by one of the world's most eminent bibliophiles
Alberto Manguel, in a style both charming and erudite, examines how literary characters live with us from childhood on. Throughout the years, they change their identities and emerge from behind their stories to teach us about the complexities of love, loss, and the world itself. Manguel’s favorite characters include Jim from Huckleberry Finn, Phoebe from The Catcher in the Rye, Job and Jonah from the Bible, Little Red Riding Hood and Captain Nemo, Hamlet’s mother, and Dr. Frankenstein’s maligned Monster. Sharing his unique powers as a reader, Manguel encourages us to establish our own literary relationships. An intimate preface and Manguel’s own “doodles” complete this delightful and magical book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Translator and critic Manguel (Packing My Library) expounds with thoughtfulness and humor on the lessons learned from some of his favorite literary characters in this insight-rich collection. "Fictional characters at their best often seem more alive than our friends of solid flesh," he reflects. Each short profile searches for the essence of a particular character, the bigger questions that they embody, and what they offer readers. Faust raises the question of what souls are worth in a time when the desired trade is for money or fame. Robinson Crusoe provides a sharp lesson in inequality and domination. Alice, of Wonderland fame, prompts a discussion of confronting madness with reason, and yet also finding reason in the madness. (The title of the volume itself comes from Through the Looking-Glass, namely the scene in which Alice and a unicorn agree to believe in each other.) Reflecting Manguel's far-flung interests, his subjects come from a wide variety of sources novels, fairy tales, biblical stories, mythology and also include Job, Lilith, Little Red Riding Hood, Quasimodo, and Sinbad. Though the profiles vary in success, the idea behind them is meaningful and powerful, and Manguel's whimsical illustrations add a charming note to an already winning assemblage.
