Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Generation.

Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Generation.

By Susan Christiansen | May 16, 2017 | Comments Off on Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Generation.

The Post-War American literary movement, the Beat Generation, was born in the “Harlem of the West”, or, the Fillmore District of San Francisco, a rich and diverse arts district where rent was inexpensive and there was no lack of culture; the young, hip and artistic communed at gritty jazz clubs, informal poetry readings, and bohemian…

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Women Authors of Young Adult Speculative and Science Fiction – Part I

Women Authors of Young Adult Speculative and Science Fiction – Part I

By Susan Christiansen | February 18, 2017 | Comments Off on Women Authors of Young Adult Speculative and Science Fiction – Part I

Women authors have historically played a significant role in the literary sub-genre of young adult speculative and science fiction. Truly emerging as a genre in the mid 1960’s with the publication of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, the genre has evolved to include such contemporary authors as Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling, whose novels…

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For Rare Book Lovers, This May Be Coolest New Shop on Worth Avenue

For Rare Book Lovers, This May Be Coolest New Shop on Worth Avenue

By Adrienne Raptis | December 9, 2016 | Comments Off on For Rare Book Lovers, This May Be Coolest New Shop on Worth Avenue

By Barbara Marshall – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Posted: 7:00 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 (View the article on mypalmbeachpost.com here) Every day, Matt Raptis holds Western civilization in his hands. He can page through Captain James Cook’s illustrated account of his 18th century journeys to the South Pacific, follow Charles Darwin’s evolutionary reasoning…

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The Lives of the Sisters Brontë

The Lives of the Sisters Brontë

By Susan Christiansen | November 30, 2016 | Comments Off on The Lives of the Sisters Brontë

Raised in the mid 19th-century in the parsonage of Haworth in a small village in the countryside of Northern England, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë created what have come to be considered some of the greatest works of literature, despite the isolation and often devastating conditions that defined their short lives. The sisters experienced grief…

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Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

By Susan Christiansen | October 25, 2016 | Comments Off on Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

19th century French novelist Jules Verne has often been referred to as the “Father of Science Fiction” as well as a ‘prophet of scientific progress’ for his uncannily predictive depictions of scientific innovations and inventions long before their time. Born the son of a prominent lawyer in the seaport of Nantes, Verne was raised with…

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The Life and Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Life and Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson

By Susan Christiansen | October 3, 2016 | Comments Off on The Life and Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson

Described by T.S. Eliot as “the saddest of all English poets”, Alfred Lord Tennyson is considered, to this day, to be one of Britain’s greatest poets. Heavily influenced by the strictly metered and often melancholic style of the English Romantic poets, Tennyson’s verse illustrated a mastery of rhythm and descriptive imagery drawing on both the…

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