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4030 books match the query 'Language Arts & Disciplines' and 30 start with a non-letter

cover of "Guiguzi," China's First Treatise on Rhetoric: A Critical Translation and Commentary

"Guiguzi," China's First Treatise on Rhetoric

A Critical Translation and Commentary

Translated by Hui Wu / With Commentaries by Hui Wu and C. Jan Swearingen

Southern Illinois University Press, 2016

When Gorgias, Plato, and Aristotle were discussing and defining rhetoric in ancient Greece, many students in China, including Sun Bin, a descendent of Sun Tzu, who wrote The Art of War, were learning the techniques of persuasion from Guiguzi, “the Master of the Ghost Valley.” This pre–Qin dynasty recluse provided the basis for what is considered the earliest Chinese treatise devoted entirely to the art of persuasion. Called Guiguzi after its author, this translation of the received text provides an indigenous rhetorical theory and key persuasive strategies, some of which are still used by those involved in decision making and negotiations in China today. In “Guiguzi,” China’s First Treatise on Rhetoric, Hui Wu and C. Jan Swearingen present a new critical translation of this foundational work, which has great historical significance for the study of Chinese rhetoric and communication and yet is little known to Western readers.

Wu’s translation includes footnotes that incorporate both past and present scholarly commentary, and is accompanied by a prefatory introduction that situates Guiguzi in the sociopolitical and cultural realities of ancient China, and a glossary of rhetorical terms used in the treatise. Swearingen presents a comparative study suggesting the similarities and differences between emerging Greek and Chinese rhetorics during the same period, including the cultural contexts of warring states and emergent empires that surrounded each.

“Guiguzi,” China’s First Treatise on Rhetoric combines a new translation of a historically significant text with scholarly analysis and critical apparatus that will contribute to the emerging global understanding of Chinese rhetoric and communication.
 
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cover of "K for the Way": DJ Rhetoric and Literacy for 21st Century Writing Studies

"K for the Way"

DJ Rhetoric and Literacy for 21st Century Writing Studies

Todd Craig

Utah State University Press, 2023

“K for the Way” explores writing, rhetoric, and literacy from the perspective of the Hip Hop DJ. Todd Craig, a DJ himself, establishes and investigates the function of DJ rhetoric and literacy, illuminating the DJ as a fruitful example for (re)envisioning approaches to writing, research, and analysis in contemporary educational settings. Because it is widely recognized that the DJ was the catalyst for the creation of Hip Hop culture, this book begins a new conversation in which Hip Hop DJs introduce ideas about poetics and language formation through the modes, practices, and techniques they engage in on a daily basis.
 
Using material from a larger qualitative research study that illustrates the Hip Hop DJ as a twenty-first-century new media reader, writer, and literary critic, Craig blends interviews from prominent and influential DJs in the Hip Hop community with narrative and interdisciplinary scholarship from writing studies, Hip Hop studies, African American studies, urban education, and ethnomusicology. The voices of DJs sit front and center, presenting a revolutionary conversation about writing and communication in the twenty-first century.
 
Weaving Craig’s life experiences with important discussions of racial literacies, “K for the Way” is a layered and utterly singular exploration of culture, identity, and literacy in America.
 
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cover of "K for the Way": DJ Rhetoric and Literacy for 21st Century Writing Studies

"K for the Way"

DJ Rhetoric and Literacy for 21st Century Writing Studies

Todd Craig

Utah State University Press, 2023

“K for the Way” explores writing, rhetoric, and literacy from the perspective of the Hip Hop DJ. Todd Craig, a DJ himself, establishes and investigates the function of DJ rhetoric and literacy, illuminating the DJ as a fruitful example for (re)envisioning approaches to writing, research, and analysis in contemporary educational settings. Because it is widely recognized that the DJ was the catalyst for the creation of Hip Hop culture, this book begins a new conversation in which Hip Hop DJs introduce ideas about poetics and language formation through the modes, practices, and techniques they engage in on a daily basis.
 
Using material from a larger qualitative research study that illustrates the Hip Hop DJ as a twenty-first-century new media reader, writer, and literary critic, Craig blends interviews from prominent and influential DJs in the Hip Hop community with narrative and interdisciplinary scholarship from writing studies, Hip Hop studies, African American studies, urban education, and ethnomusicology. The voices of DJs sit front and center, presenting a revolutionary conversation about writing and communication in the twenty-first century.
 
Weaving Craig’s life experiences with important discussions of racial literacies, “K for the Way” is a layered and utterly singular exploration of culture, identity, and literacy in America.
 
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cover of "Lincoln's Humor" and Other Essays

"Lincoln's Humor" and Other Essays

Benjamin P. Thomas. Edited by Michael Burlingame

University of Illinois Press, 2006

This volume gathers the best previously unpublished and uncollected writings on Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln scholarship by one of his great biographers, Benjamin P. Thomas.

A skilled historian and a masterful storyteller himself, Thomas was widely regarded as the greatest Lincoln historian of his generation. With these essays, he combines historical depth with narrative grace in delineating Lincoln's qualities as a humorist, lawyer, and politician. From colorful tall tales to clever barbs aimed at political opponents, Lincoln clothed a shrewd wit in a homespun, backwoods vernacular. He used humor to defuse tension, illuminate a point, put others at ease--and sometimes for sheer fun. From an early reliance on broad humor and ridicule in speeches and on the stump, Lincoln's style shifted in 1854 to a more serious vein in which humor came primarily to elucidate an argument. "If I did not laugh occasionally I should die," he is said to have told his cabinet, "and you need this medicine as much as I do." Thomas brings his deep knowledge of Lincoln to essays on the great man's tumultuous career in Congress, his work as a lawyer, his experiences in the Courts, and his opinions of the South. A gracious survey of Lincoln's early biographers, particularly Ida Tarbell, stands alongside an appreciation of Harry Edward Pratt, a key figure in the early days of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Thomas also assesses Lincoln's use of language and the ongoing significance of the Gettysburg Address.

This diverse collection is enhanced by an introduction by Michael Burlingame, himself a leading biographer of Lincoln. Burlingame provides a balanced portrait of Thomas and his circuitous path toward writing history.

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cover of "The Girl in the Window" and Other True Tales: An Anthology with Tips for Finding, Reporting, and Writing Nonfiction Narratives

"The Girl in the Window" and Other True Tales

An Anthology with Tips for Finding, Reporting, and Writing Nonfiction Narratives

Lane DeGregory

University of Chicago Press, 2023

Part anthology and part craft guide, this collection of pieces from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist offers something for readers and writers alike.
 
Lane DeGregory loves true stories, intimate details, and big ideas. In her three-decade career as a journalist, she has published more than 3,000 stories and won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. Her acclaimed work in the Tampa Bay Times often takes her to the edges of society, where she paints empathetic portraits of real-life characters like a 99-year-old man who still works cleaning a seafood warehouse, a young couple on a bus escaping winter, and a child in the midst of adoption. In “The Girl in the Window” and Other True Tales, DeGregory not only offers up the first collection of her most unforgettable newspaper features—she pulls back the curtain on how to write narrative nonfiction.
 
This book—part anthology, part craft guide—provides a forensic reading of twenty-four of DeGregory’s singular stories, illustrating her tips for writers alongside pieces that put those elements under the microscope. Each of the pieces gathered here—including the Pulitzer Prize–winning title story—is accompanied by notes on how she built the story, plus tips on how nonfiction writers at all levels can do the same. Featuring a foreword by Beth Macy, author of the acclaimed Dopesick, this book is sure to delight fans of DeGregory’s writing, as well as introduce her to readers and writers who have not yet discovered her inspiring body of work.
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cover of "The Wrong Side of Privilege": Advocacy, Community, and Politics: The Collected Essays of Stephen J. Parks, 2000–2020

"The Wrong Side of Privilege"

Advocacy, Community, and Politics: The Collected Essays of Stephen J. Parks, 2000–2020

Stephen J. Parks

University Press of Colorado, 2025

“The Wrong Side of Privilege” explores the historical development of community partnership frameworks in composition and rhetoric. It begins by situating partnership work within the political and cultural frameworks of the late 20th and early 21st century, including the rise of the conservative right and neoliberal economic policies. Following this introduction, Stephen J. Parks presents a series of essays which provides case studies of what “political work” implied during this period. The essays move in focus from local community contexts, such a neighborhood struggle against gentrification, to global contexts, such as the Syrian conflict and the larger Arab Spring. These essays engage with the leading scholars of community partnership work, such as Eli Goldblatt, Ellen Cushman, Linda Flower, and Paula Mathieu. The book concludes with a dialogue between the author and two global democratic advocates, Eli Goldblatt and Srdja Popović, on the necessity of public work in the face of declining global governance.
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cover of "Too Good a Town": William Allen White, Community, and the Emerging Rhetoric of Middle America

"Too Good a Town"

William Allen White, Community, and the Emerging Rhetoric of Middle America

Edward G. Agran

University of Arkansas Press, 1999

For fifty years, William Allen White, first as a reporter and later as the long-time editor of the Emporia Gazette, wrote of his small town and its Mid-American values. By tailoring his writing to the emerging urban middle class of the early twentieth century, he won his “gospel of Emporia” a nationwide audience and left a lasting impact on he way America defines itself.

Investigating White’s life and his extensive writings, Edward Gale Agran explores the dynamic thought of one of America’s best-read and most-respected social commentators. Agran shows clearly how White honed his style and transformed the myth of conquering the western frontier into what became the twentieth-century ideal of community building.

Once a confidante of and advisor to Theodore Roosevelt, White addressed, and reflected in his work, all the great social and political oscillations of his time—urbanization and industrialism, populism, and progressivism, isolationism internationalism, Prohibition, and New Deal reform. Again and again, he asked the question “What’s the matter?” about his times and townspeople, then found the middle ground. With great care and discernment, Agran gathers the man strains of White’s messages, demonstrating one writer’s pivotal contribution to our idea of what it means to be an American.

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cover of (Inter)views: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Rhetoric and Literacy

(Inter)views

Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Rhetoric and Literacy

Gary A. Olson

Southern Illinois University Press, 1991

This book contains interviews with psychologist Mary Field Belenky, linguist and philosopher of language Noam Chomsky, French deconstructionist Jacques Derrida, international literacy scholar Paulo Freire, distinguished anthropologist Clifford Geertz, philosopher Richard Rorty, and cultural critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (all of whose work has influenced the discipline of rhetoric and composition) followed by essay responses from notable scholars in rhetoric and composition.

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cover of (Re)Considering What We Know: Learning Thresholds in Writing, Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy

(Re)Considering What We Know

Learning Thresholds in Writing, Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy

Linda Adler-Kassner

Utah State University Press, 2019

Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, published in 2015, contributed to a discussion about the relevance of identifying key concepts and ideas of writing studies. (Re)Considering What We Know continues this conversation while simultaneously raising questions about the ideas around threshold concepts. New contributions introduce additional concepts, investigate threshold concepts as a framework, and explore their use within and beyond writing.
 
Part 1 raises questions about the ideologies of consensus that are associated with naming threshold concepts of a discipline. Contributions challenge the idea of consensus and seek to expand both the threshold concepts framework and the concepts themselves. Part 2 focuses on threshold concepts in action and practice, demonstrating the innovative ways threshold concepts and a threshold concepts framework have been used in writing courses and programs. Part 3 shows how a threshold concepts framework can help us engage in conversations beyond writing studies.
 
(Re)Considering What We Know raises new questions and offers new ideas that can help to advance the discussion and use of threshold concepts in the field of writing studies. It will be of great interest to scholars and graduate students in writing studies, especially those who have previously engaged with Naming What We Know.
 
Contributors:
Marianne Ahokas, Jonathan Alexander, Chris M. Anson, Ian G. Anson, Sarah Ben-Zvi, Jami Blaauw-Hara, Mark Blaauw-Hara, Maggie Black, Dominic Borowiak, Chris Castillo, Chen Chen, Sandra Descourtis, Norbert Elliot, Heidi Estrem, Alison Farrell, Matthew Fogarty, Joanne Baird Giordano, James Hammond, Holly Hassel, Lauren Heap, Jennifer Heinert, Doug Hesse, Jonathan Isaac, Katie Kalish, Páraic Kerrigan, Ann Meejung Kim, Kassia Krzus-Shaw, Saul Lopez, Jennifer Helane Maher, Aishah Mahmood, Aimee Mapes, Kerry Marsden, Susan Miller-Cochran, Deborah Mutnick, Rebecca Nowacek, Sarah O’Brien, Ọlá Ọládipọ̀, Peggy O’Neill, Cassandra Phillips, Mya Poe, Patricia Ratanapraphart, Jacqueline Rhodes, Samitha Senanayake, Susan E. Shadle, Dawn Shepherd, Katherine Stein, Patrick Sullivan, Brenna Swift, Carrie Strand Tebeau, Matt Thul, Nikhil Tiwari, Lisa Tremain, Lisa Velarde, Kate Vieira, Gordon Blaine West, Anne-Marie Womack, Kathleen Blake Yancey, Xiaopei Yang, Madylan Yarc
 
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cover of 1,000 Signs of Life: Basic ASL for Everyday Conversation

1,000 Signs of Life

Basic ASL for Everyday Conversation

Gallaudet University Press, 2004

Here’s the succinct handbook that will allow everyone to enjoy the beauty and functionality of American Sign Language. 1,000 Signs of Life: Basic ASL for Everyday Conversation illustrates a potpourri of intriguing and entertaining signs that can be grasped quickly and used to communicate with anyone familiar with ASL, deaf or hearing. Organized alphabetically in 17 categories, this handy paperback offers common signs for animals, food, clothes, people, health and body, the time, days of the week, seasons, colors, quantities, transportation and travel, and many more practical topics. Readers also can learn signs for community-related terms, holidays and religion, and for thoughts and emotions, signs that will offer them the opportunity to experience the full potential of ASL.

1,000 Signs of Life begins with a concise introduction to American Sign Language, including how it evolved and how its grammar and syntax work. Complementing this information are categories on signs for adjectives and adverbs, prepositions and locations, question words, and verbs and action words. Interspersed throughout the text are tips for signing, rules of signing etiquette, and engaging anecdotes about Deaf culture, Deaf people, and the Deaf community. 1,000 Signs of Life provides a fun, fast way to learn basic ASL signs and also offers easy-to-follow instructions and hints on how to use them in a variety of everyday situations. It's the perfect streamlined guide for signing ASL.

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cover of 100+ Ideas to Inspire Smart Spaces and Creative Places

100+ Ideas to Inspire Smart Spaces and Creative Places

Elisabeth Doucett

American Library Association, 2020

The ideas in this book are all about helping your library building become a more exciting, interesting, experiential space where people are engaged and want to spend time.  More time spent in the library increases the library’s value and relevance to its users—and the more intriguing the space is, the more it helps draw in new patrons.  Taking inspiration and examples from companies and non-profits outside the library world, this book’s engaging ideas include
  • using “biophilic design” to bring nature into your library through gardens, plants, and greenery;
  • transforming static spaces into “Instagram bait”;
  • putting art installations in bathrooms;
  • turning underutilized spaces like hallways and mezzanines into welcoming “chill” zones;
  • creating pop-ups and other flexible spaces that change regularly;
  • developing co-working spaces in libraries;
  • preserving and promoting silent spaces; and
  • creating “parklets” from parking spaces.

Complete with lists of additional resources for discovering even more ideas, this book will help all kinds of libraries create innovative spaces that will delight their communities.

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cover of 127 Years of Design 1890-2017: The Michigan Daily

127 Years of Design 1890-2017

The Michigan Daily

Francesca Kielb

Michigan Publishing Services, 2017

127 Years of Design: The Michigan Daily reveals the visual history of the University of Michigan's student-run newspaper The Michigan Daily’s front page. It analyzes a front page from every decade since 1890, breaking down the evolution of one of the oldest student newspapers in the country. This publication culminates in a focus on today's newspaper design by Francesca Kielb, the recent Managing Design Editor at The Michigan Daily, who completed a total redesign of the paper in celebration of the 125 year history of the publication and of the Bicentennial of The University of Michigan. The book argues that it is essential for contemporary design to look both forward and backwards--to inform our future with our past. A result of nights spent digging through archives and sifting through newspapers,  this publication addresses how print has evolved with digitization and technological advancement.
 
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cover of 200+ Original and Adapted Story Program Activities

200+ Original and Adapted Story Program Activities

Rob Reid

American Library Association, 2018

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cover of 2015 ACRL Academic Library Trends And Statistics For

2015 ACRL Academic Library Trends And Statistics For

Assoc of College & Research Libraries, 2015

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cover of 209 Big Programming Ideas for Small Budgets

209 Big Programming Ideas for Small Budgets

Chelsea Price

American Library Association, 2021

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cover of 21St Century Access Services: On The Frontline Of Academic

21St Century Access Services

On The Frontline Of Academic

Michael Krasulski

Assoc of College & Research Libraries, 2013

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cover of 21st Century Access Services: On the Frontline of Academic Librarianship

21st Century Access Services

On the Frontline of Academic Librarianship

Michael J. Krasulski

Assoc of College & Research Libraries, 2013

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cover of 25 Projects for Art Explorers

25 Projects for Art Explorers

Christine Kirker

American Library Association, 2018

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cover of 25 Projects for Eco Explorers

25 Projects for Eco Explorers

Christine Kirker

American Library Association, 2020

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cover of 3-D Printers for Libraries

3-D Printers for Libraries

Jason Griffey

American Library Association, 2014

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cover of 4 Point Speaking for Academic Purposes: Introduction to EAP

4 Point Speaking for Academic Purposes

Introduction to EAP

Robyn Brinks Lockwood and Keith S. Folse

University of Michigan Press, 2017

 
The 4 Point series is designed for English language learners whose primary goal is to succeed in an academic setting. Academic English learners need skills-based books that focus on reading, listening, and speaking, as well as the two primary language bases of vocabulary and grammar. The ultimate goal is to help your students improve these skills and earn a 4.0 (GPA).
 
The Introduction to English for Academic Purposes (EAP) level is designed for students in academic programs who need a more general introduction to authentic academic content. The discrete skills volumes are designed for programs and courses that want to more intensively focus on key strategies and authentic academic content in one skill area.
 
Each 4 Point volume covers academic skills while providing reinforcement and systematic recycling of key vocabulary issues and further exposure to grammar issues.  These volumes focus very heavily on vocabulary because language learners know that they are way behind their native-speaker counterparts when it comes to vocabulary. Each book highlights key vocabulary items, including individual words, compound words, phrasal verbs, short phrases, idioms, metaphors, collocations and longer set lexical phrases.
 
Speaking for Academic Purposes is an introductory textbook containing English for Academic Purposes content. Each unit includes activities to strengthen a range of speaking skills, notably: understanding classroom discourse, using academic language functions, recognizing signal words and phrases, and synthesizing information. These activities are presented within the context of one field of academic study (Architecture, Marketing, Earth Science, U.S. History, Chemistry, and Fine Arts) per unit. 

Unique to this speaking text are six videos showing common student interactions. Access to the videos is free. 

Each unit includes three academic speaking strategies (including one specific to making presentations) and tasks that involve participating in group discussions, interacting with native speakers, and making a presentation.  The goal is to provide students with a variety of strategies/tools to master academic situations in which they need to participate. 

 
 
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cover of 40+ New Revenue Sources for Libraries and Nonprofits

40+ New Revenue Sources for Libraries and Nonprofits

Edmund A. Rossman

American Library Association, 2016

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cover of 50+ Fandom Programs: Planning Festivals and Events for Tweens, Teens, and Adults

50+ Fandom Programs

Planning Festivals and Events for Tweens, Teens, and Adults

Amy Alessio

American Library Association, 2017

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cover of 50+ Library Services: Innovation in Action

50+ Library Services

Innovation in Action

Diantha Dow Schull

American Library Association, 2013

Some of the most engaged and frequent users of public libraries are over the age of 50. They may also be the most misunderstood. As Baby Boomers continue to swell their ranks, the behavior, interests, and information needs of this demographic have changed dramatically, and Schull's new book offers the keys to reshaping library services for the new generations of active older adults. A must-read for library educators, library directors, and any information professional working in a community setting, this important book
  • Analyzes key societal trends, such as longer lifespans and improved population health, and their implications for libraries' work with this demographic
  • Profiles Leading-Edge States and Beacon Libraries from across the nation at the forefront of institutional change
  • Discusses issues such as creativity, health, financial literacy, life planning, and intergenerational activities from the 50+ perspective, while showing how libraries can position themselves as essential centers for learning, encore careers, and community engagement
  • Spotlights best practices that can be adapted for any setting, including samples of hundreds of projects and proposals that illustrate new approaches to 50+ policies, staffing, programs, services, partnerships, and communications

The wisdom and insight contained in this book can help make the library a center for positive aging.

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cover of 50+ Programs for Tweens, Teens, Adults, and Families: 12 Months of Ideas

50+ Programs for Tweens, Teens, Adults, and Families

12 Months of Ideas

Amy Alessio

American Library Association, 2019

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cover of 53 Ready-to-Use Kawaii Craft Projects

53 Ready-to-Use Kawaii Craft Projects

Ellyssa Kroski

American Library Association, 2020

In her new book Kroski, bestselling enthusiast of makerspaces, cosplay, and geek culture in libraries, has gathered creative and crafty librarians to share their most popular Kawaii programs. Running the gamut in terms of cost and difficulty, this book’s 53 programs are sure to include many that will fit your budget, space, and skills. Just scan the estimated budget, age range, materials, equipment needs, and learning outcomes in each listing. Projects include

  • keychains with felt or 3D printing;
  • slime squishies;
  • 3D printed animal earrings;
  • hosting a stuffed animal fashion show;
  • monster emoji paper bookmarks;
  • origami fortune cookies;
  • buttons with anime or comic book art;
  • crocheted coffee cozy or puppy nose warmer;
  • tiny top hats with laser-cut felt cameos; and
  • how to Kawaii-ify a planner.

What’s more, the plentiful suggestions for “next projects” scattered throughout the book will help you keep the super-cute fun going!

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cover of 60 Ready-to-Use Coding Projects

60 Ready-to-Use Coding Projects

Ellyssa Kroski

American Library Association, 2020

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cover of 63 Ready-to-Use Maker Projects

63 Ready-to-Use Maker Projects

Ellyssa Kroski

American Library Association, 2017

This new compilation from editor and maker Kroski spotlights a multitude of creative projects that you can tailor for your own library. Librarians and makers from across the country present projects as fun as an upcycled fashion show, as practical as Bluetooth speakers, and as mischievous as a catapult. Included are projects for artists, sewers, videographers, coders, and engineers. The handy reference format will help you quickly identify the estimated costs, materials, and equipment; and because several projects don’t even require a dedicated makerspace, every library can join in. Inside you’ll find how-to guidance for projects like
  • a foam rocket launcher;
  • stop-motion animation with 3D print characters;
  • found-object robots;
  • glowing ghost marionettes;
  • Arduino eTextiles;
  • magnetic slime;
  • yarn painting;
  • fidget flannels;
  • an LED brooch; and
  • cardboard sculpture.

With takeaways like origami tea lights or a t-shirt tote bag, your patrons will be sure to remember how much fun your library can be.

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cover of 99 Poets/1999: An International Poetics Symposium, Volume 26

99 Poets/1999

An International Poetics Symposium, Volume 26

Charles Bernstein

Duke University Press, 0

99 Poets/1999 presents the work of ninety-nine poets in dialogue with one another across the divides of language, culture, and temperament. With contributions from the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and China, the volume features responses to questions posed by the guest editor Charles Bernstein—responses that range from historical to imaginary and from philosophical to poetic.

Each poet was asked to ponder a series of questions: Is identity an important issue for your work, and, if so, in what sense? What do you see as the most urgent, yet insufficiently addressed or considered, issue or issues for poetry and poetics at this moment? Do you see your work in the context of a national state, or in the context of international capital, or in some other context?

After years of exchange between the artists—through translations, readings, and visits—the result is a collection of unique and significant literary works, one that is richly suggestive for the future not only of poetry but of literary and cultural studies as well.

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cover of “The Sting of Death” and Other Stories

“The Sting of Death” and Other Stories

Shimao Toshio; Translated with an Introduction and Interpretive Comments by Kathryn Sparling

University of Michigan Press, 1985

Until a recent “boom,” Shimao Toshio, writer of short fiction, critic, and essayist, was not widely known, even in Japan. He has never won the Akutagawa or the Naoki Prize, and none of his works had previously appeared in English translation. He is less well known than other writers (Yasuoka Shotaro, Kojima Nobuo, and Shono Junzo) with whom he has associated and whose works have been liberally translated into English. Yet, there are those who consider him to be one of the best contemporary writers in Japan.
This volume by no means exhausts the scope of Shimao's fiction. There are no stories here, for instance, about childhood or student life, and none of his many travel stories. Some of his most famous stories-- "When we Never Left Port," for example--have not been included. But the stories presented here do offer a considerable variety of style, from the pristine storybook language of "The Farthest Edge of the Islands," to the young intellectual's jargon of "Everyday Life in a Dream," to the visionary, hysterical, occasionally ritualistic prose of the "sick wife" stories, to the sober, difficult, almost ponderous narration of "This Time That Summer." Shimao's approach to his material varies as well. "Everyday Life in a Dream" is the only representative here of a large number of stories usually called surrealistic by the critics, stories whose plots progress by the logic of dreams. The individual experience of real life are lived through a combination of conscious and unconscious perception. These stories are the least approachable and the least charming to the casual reader, but they serve, among other things, to highlight patterns in the more realistic fiction. "The Farthest Edge of the Islands" is a symbolic heightening of reality in another way, a romantic fairy tale beginning at the extremity of experience, at the farthest edge of the world. The other stories are presented as precise, close chronicles of reality by a participant in that reality whose attention never waivers and who never allows himself to avert his eyes from a world that he sees as his responsibility and in a sense his fault. All but the first story, "The Farthest Edge of the Islands," which is in third-person narration, are told in the first person by the character who plays Shimao's role in the life that inspired the fiction.
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