The Great American Novels of Cormac McCarthy.

The Great American Novels of Cormac McCarthy.

By Susan Christiansen | June 14, 2023 | Comments Off on The Great American Novels of Cormac McCarthy.

Named by Harold Bloom as one of the four great American novelists of his time (alongside Thomas Pynchon, Philip Roth, and Don DeLillo), Cormac McCarthy published twelve novels over the course of his lifetime, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western and post-apocalyptic genres. Economic in style, his fiction was dark and often violent, featuring characters who,…

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Virginia Woolf: Avant-Garde Literary Pioneer.

Virginia Woolf: Avant-Garde Literary Pioneer.

By Victoria Maseda | July 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Virginia Woolf: Avant-Garde Literary Pioneer.

The author of such notable books as Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, English writer Virginia Woolf is an established name in the realm of fiction. A pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device, her unique style and method of storytelling has distinguished her as one of the more important…

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The Portraits of George Washington: Icon of American Patriotism.

The Portraits of George Washington: Icon of American Patriotism.

By Susan Christiansen | June 16, 2022 | Comments Off on The Portraits of George Washington: Icon of American Patriotism.

The first President of the United States, George Washington served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and later presided over the 1787 convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He is popularly considered the driving force behind the nation’s establishment and came to be known as the “father of the…

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The Political Life and Legacy of Ronald Reagan.

The Political Life and Legacy of Ronald Reagan.

By Susan Christiansen | May 18, 2022 | Comments Off on The Political Life and Legacy of Ronald Reagan.

Widely considered one of the most influential American Presidents to date, Ronald Wilson Reagan remains one of the most iconic figures within the American Republican Party. As the leader of the modern conservative movement, Reagan altered the the political dynamic of the United States and his policies and beliefs have been frequently invoked by several…

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Collecting Americana: the Founding Texts of American History.

Collecting Americana: the Founding Texts of American History.

By Susan Christiansen | May 22, 2021 | Comments Off on Collecting Americana: the Founding Texts of American History.

One of the most fascinating genres to collect, Americana encompasses a broad range of titles, the most rare and desirable being the earliest texts printed in America. Containing resounding messages that played a significant role in the foundation and political history of the United States, among the most important books in American history are Thomas…

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Current Exhibition: Jurassic Park at 30 and the Dust Jacket Designs of Chip Kidd.

Current Exhibition: Jurassic Park at 30 and the Dust Jacket Designs of Chip Kidd.

By Susan Christiansen | November 25, 2020 | Comments Off on Current Exhibition: Jurassic Park at 30 and the Dust Jacket Designs of Chip Kidd.

Published by Alfred A. Knopf on November 20, 1990, Michael Crichton’s best-selling science fiction novel Jurassic Park definitively established its author as “the most commercially successful science fiction writer of all time” (Robinson, 208).     Designed by American artist and graphic designer Chip Kidd, the novel’s striking dust jacket design remains one of the…

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Collecting Agatha Christie.

Collecting Agatha Christie.

By Susan Christiansen | October 3, 2020 | Comments Off on Collecting Agatha Christie.

Listed by Guinness World Records as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, the “Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie published sixty-six detective novels and fourteen short story collections throughout the course of her lifetime which sold more than two billion copies. A master of suspense, plotting, and characterization, in her prime, Christie was rarely out…

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Collecting Graham Greene.

Collecting Graham Greene.

By Susan Christiansen | September 17, 2020 | Comments Off on Collecting Graham Greene.

  Regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century, Graham Greene published over 25 novels throughout the course of his writing career which spanned nearly 67 years. Although he objected to being described as a Catholic writer, Catholic religious themes are at the root of much of Greene’s writing,…

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Collecting Mark Twain.

Collecting Mark Twain.

By Susan Christiansen | September 15, 2020 | Comments Off on Collecting Mark Twain.

    Often referred to as “the father of American literature”, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or Mark Twain as the world now knows him, published a large body of work including several works of both fiction and non-fiction in addition to a vast number of short stories and essays. Raised in the port town of Hannibal,…

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The 145th Anniversary of Churchill’s Birth.

The 145th Anniversary of Churchill’s Birth.

By Adrienne Raptis | November 26, 2019 | Comments Off on The 145th Anniversary of Churchill’s Birth.

This upcoming Saturday, November 30th marks the 145th anniversary of the birth of one of the most significant figures of the 20th century, Sir Winston S. Churchill. Born in  Oxfordshire to a wealthy, aristocratic family, Churchill joined the British Army in 1895 at the age of twenty-one and saw action in British India, the Anglo–Sudan War, and the Second Boer…

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