Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind
Language: English
Published by Penguin Press September 2020, 2020
- Hardcover
- New
Seller: Fallen Leaf Books, Nashville, IN, U.S.A.Fallen Leaf Books
AbeBooks seller since November 5, 2012
Condition: New
£ 19.49
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketSeller Inventory # 77917
- Title
- Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind
- Author
- Alan Jacobs
- Publisher
- Penguin Press September 2020
- Publication year
- 2020
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1984878409
- ISBN 13
- 9781984878403
- Seller catalogs
- New Hardcover
From the author of How to Think and The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, a literary guide to engaging with the voices of the past to stay sane in the present
W. H. Auden once wrote that "art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead." In his brilliant and compulsively readable new treatise, Breaking Bread with the Dead, Alan Jacobs shows us that engaging with the strange and wonderful writings of the past might help us live less anxiously in the present—and increase what Thomas Pynchon once called our "personal density."
Today we are battling too much information in a society changing at lightning speed, with algorithms aimed at shaping our every thought—plus a sense that history offers no resources, only impediments to overcome or ignore. The modern solution to our problems is to surround ourselves only with what we know and what brings us instant comfort. Jacobs's answer is the opposite: to be in conversation with, and challenged by, those from the past who can tell us what we never thought we needed to know.
What can Homer teach us about force? How does Frederick Douglass deal with the massive blind spots of America's Founding Fathers? And what can we learn from modern authors who engage passionately and profoundly with the past? How can Ursula K. Le Guin show us truths about Virgil's female characters that Virgil himself could never have seen? In Breaking Bread with the Dead, a gifted scholar draws us into close and sympathetic engagement with texts from across the ages, including the work of Anita Desai, Henrik Ibsen, Jean Rhys, Simone Weil, Edith Wharton, Amitav Ghosh, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Italo Calvino, and many more.
By hearing the voices of the past, we can expand our consciousness, our sympathies, and our wisdom far beyond what our present moment can offer.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Fallen Leaf Books
Nashville, IN, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since November 5, 2012
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 4.92 | £ 13.63 |
Payment methods
Store description
We have been in the book business for nearly 20 years, opening our first store in the late 1970s. We went strictly online in 2013 and now we are venturing back to a retail location in Nashville, Indiana at 45 S. Jefferson St.
Specialty
Native American, Signed, Children'sSeller's business information
Fallen Leaf Books
IN, U.S.A.
Terms of sale
Fallen Leaf Books is a Sole Proprietership, located at 45 S Jefferson St., Nashville, IN 47448 U.S.A.
You may contact us at the address listed above or via email at
fallenleafbooks@verizon.net, or by
phone at 812-988-0202. The authorized representative of Fallen Leaf Books is the
owner, Carey G Spain.
We guarantee the condition of every book as it's described on the Abebooks web
sites. If you're
dissatisfied with your purchase (Incorrect Book/Not as Described/Damaged) or if
the order hasn't
arrived, you're eligible for a refund within 30 days of the estimated delivery
date. If you've changed
your mind about a book that you've ordered, please use the Ask bookseller a
question link to contact
us and we'll respond within 2 business days.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Fallen Leaf Books, NASHVILLE, Indiana, U.S.A., +1 812-988-0202, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Orders usually ship within 2 business days. Shipping costs are based on books
weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact
you to let you know extra shipping is required.