The World in a Phrase A History of Aphorisms |
|
Author:
| Geary, James |
ISBN: | 978-1-58234-616-8 |
Publication Date: | Oct 2006 |
Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing USA
|
Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | USD $16.00 |
Book Description:
|
Starting with the ancient Chinese and ending with contemporary Europeans and Americans,The World in a Phrase tells the story of the aphorism through spirited and amusing biographies of some of its greatest practitioners, including Emily Dickinson, and Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker; great French aphorists like Montaigne, La Rochefoucauld, and Chamfort; philosophers like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein; as well as prophets and sages like the Buddha, Lao Tzu, and...
More Description
Starting with the ancient Chinese and ending with contemporary Europeans and Americans,The World in a Phrase tells the story of the aphorism through spirited and amusing biographies of some of its greatest practitioners, including Emily Dickinson, and Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker; great French aphorists like Montaigne, La Rochefoucauld, and Chamfort; philosophers like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein; as well as prophets and sages like the Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Jesus. In our modern age,The World in a Phraseexplores how aphorisms still retain the power to instigate and inspire, enlighten and enrage, entertain and edify.
James Geary is the author ofThe Body Electric: An Anatomy of the New Bionic Senses. He lives in London with his wife and three children.
"James Geary's celebration of the smallest-and sometimes wisest-of literary forms. Geary defines the characteristics of aphorisms and discusses their history and their role in his life, and shares the work of renowned aphorists from Buddha to Dr. Seuss."-Associated Press