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Familia Romana (Lingua Latina #Book One)
Par Hans H. Ørberg. 2011
Hans Ørberg's Lingua Latina per se Illustrata is the world's premiere series for learning Latin via the Natural Method. The…
Natural Method encourages students to learn Latin without resorting to translation, but instead by teaching them to think in the language: students first learn grammar and vocabulary inductively through extended contextual reading and an ingenious system of marginal notes. Lingua Latina per se Illustrata is also the most popular series for those teachers at both the secondary and collegiate levels who wish to develop Latin conversational skills in the classroom. Familia Romana (the main book of Pars I of the Lingua Latina per se illustrata series) contains thirty-five chapters and describes the life of a Roman family in the 2nd century A.D. It culminates in readings from classical poets and Donatus's Ars Grammatica, the standard Latin school text for a millennium. Each chapter is divided into two or three lessons (lectiones) of a few pages each followed by a grammar section (Grammatica Latina) and three exercises (Pensa). Hans Ørberg's impeccable Latin, humorous stories, and the Peer Lauritzen illustrations, reproduced in full color, make this work a classic. The book also includes a table of declensions, a Roman calendar, and a word index (index vocabulorum). The Lingua Latina series incorporates the following features: The most comprehensive treatment of Latin grammar available in an elementary textbook. A vocabulary of almost 1,800 words, reinforced by constant and creatively phrased repetition, vastly expands the potential for later sight reading. A complete line of ancillary volumes, exercises, and readers both in print and online.Inciting Joy: Essays
Par Ross Gay. 2022
From Ross Gay, the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Delights, comes an intimate and electrifying collection…
of essays about the joy that comes from connection. &“BRILLIANT.&” —Ada Limón, U.S. poet laureate In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prizewinning poet and author Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life&’s inevitable hardships. Throughout Inciting Joy, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection, and also, crucially, how we can expand it. In &“We Kin,&” Gay thinks about the garden (especially around August, when the zucchini and tomatoes come in) as a laboratory of mutual aid; in &“Share Your Bucket,&” he explores skateboarding&’s reclamation of public spaces; he considers the costs of masculinity in &“Grief Suite&”; and in &“Through My Tears I Saw,&” he recognizes what was healed in caring for his father as he was dying. In an era when divisive voices take up so much airspace, Inciting Joy offers a vital alternative: What might be possible if we turn our attention to what brings us together, to what we love? Taking a clear-eyed look at injustice, political polarization, and the destruction of the natural world, Gay shows us how we might resist, how the study of joy might lead us to a wild, unpredictable, transgressive, and unboundaried solidarity. In fact, it just might help us survive. &“A gift that&’s meant to be shared . . . [This book] inspires us to look beyond the miseries of our era to envision a more welcoming future.&”―The Washington PostThe Ukraine
Par Artem Chapeye. 2024
A stunning debut collection of fiction and creative nonfiction— irreverent and unglorified; loving and tender; uncomfortable and inconvenient—by a Ukrainian…
writer currently fighting for his country in Kyiv. Includes the celebrated title story "The Ukraine," which was published in the New Yorker in 2022.The Ukraine is a collection of 26 pieces that deliberately blur the line between nonfiction and fiction, conjuring the essence of a beloved country through its tastes, smells, and sounds, its small towns and big cities, its people and their compassion and indifference, simplicities and complications.In the title story, Chapeye facetiously plays with the English misuse of the article &“the&” in reference to Ukraine, capturing a country as perceived from the outside, by foreigners. That pseudo-kitsch, often historically shallow, and not-quite-real Ukraine resonates because of its highly engaging and brutally candid snapshots of ordinary lives and typical places.In &“One Soul per Home&” an elderly woman laments that the men are dying and the young are leaving for the cities, changing the face of her small town;In &“The Unscrupulous Spirit of the Provinces,&” a couple of unspecified gender get stoned and go to church; and in &“False Premises,&” a man romanticizes his younger years working for a Soviet fishing fleet only to reconstruct his nostalgia in the face of Putin&’s Russia.The Ukraine conveys to readers a place that Chapeye and his countrymen are currently fighting for with their lives. The book features a preface by the author, which he composed on his phone from the front lines.Kintsugi
Par Marie O'Rourke. 2024
All her life, Marie O'Rourke has been a Good Girl, a perfectionist, using words to apply golden seams to an…
imperfect life in an attempt to make something beautiful out of things that are flawed or broken. A volatile father, the death of a sister far too young, a faltering marriage, the ghosts of lovers past: these are just some of the fragments that Marie puts together again in these essays that explore her closest relationships as a daughter, sister, mother, wife and lover. With exquisite prose, Marie reflects on the beauty of brokenness and the ways in which time can transform our understanding of truth, forgiveness, and healing. These essays are a poignant reminder that some things cannot be fixed but can still hold immense beauty and meaning. Whether you've experienced similar struggles, or are seeking a deeper understanding of the human experience, Marie's collection will leave you moved and inspired.How many of us feel our family life is not picture perfect? This book will resonate with those who are interested in exploring the human condition through universal themes of love and loss, forgiveness and redemption.Giza: Acoustical Science and the Harvesting of Clean Energy
Par Christopher Dunn. 2024
Reveals how the pyramids of Egypt were sophisticated generators of clean energy• Explains how the pyramids harmonized seismic energy, which…
enabled the harvesting of electricity and the mitigation of earthquakes• Shares recent cutting-edge research on earthquake lights, acoustic frequency measurements and energy concentration within the Great Pyramid, the shafts of the Queen&’s Chamber, the scorch marks that support the King&’s Chamber explosion hypothesis, and the significance of the large void above the Grand Gallery• Includes technical appendices written by experts and top researchersSharing extensive new evidence and cutting-edge research that the Great Pyramid at Giza was built as an energy-harvesting machine, Christopher Dunn details how the ancient Egyptians generated clean power for their civilization and reveals how the pyramid builders and the great inventor Nikola Tesla drew from the same universal knowledge. Looking at each part of the Great Pyramid, from the internal chambers to its massive stone blocks to the pyramidion on top, Dunn reveals how the pyramids in Egypt served to stimulate the release and collection of electrons in the Earth&’s crust by harmonizing seismic energy while also attenuating the accumulating stresses. Drawing on exhaustive ongoing research by NASA scientists into the phenomenon known as &“earthquake lights,&” Dunn shows how the pyramid builders were inspired by this phenomenon and learned to stress igneous rocks in order to harvest the resulting electron flow. He looks in depth at recent research that supports the pyramid energy theory, including new explorations of the shafts of the Queen&’s Chamber and analysis of the scorch marks on the ceiling of the Grand Gallery, which supports the King&’s Chamber explosion hypothesis. He examines the stunning significance of the large void above the Grand Gallery discovered in 2017. Dunn also analyses the results of extensive acoustic testing and measurements at ancient sacred sites and shows how the pyramids were tuned to the Earth&’s frequency. While the pyramids&’ sophisticated energy-harvesting abilities are now in disarray and disuse, some remnants of their technologies are still there, waiting to be rediscovered and provide our civilization with an abundance of nonpolluting power.Dendera, Temple of Time: The Celestial Wisdom of Ancient Egypt
Par José María Barrera. 2024
A full-color exploration of the encoded ceiling at the Temple of Dendera• Draws on more than 5,000 high-resolution photographs taken…
by the author to reconstruct the complete ceiling of the portico of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera • Reveals in detail how each panel represents celestial cycles of time from the Precession of the Equinoxes to the annual cycles of life found along the Nile • Explains each panel&’s astronomical significance from the ancient Egyptian perspective as well as examining the myths, gods, and goddesses depicted Egypt is famous for its pyramids, the Sphinx, the temples at Luxor, and the Valley of the Kings, but 40 miles north of Luxor lies the best-preserved temple complex in all of Egypt: The Temple of Dendera, known for the famous &“Zodiac of Dendera&” now housed in the Louvre Museum. Within the portico leading into the Hathor temple at Dendera is a little-known outstanding achievement of humanity: an extensive colored bas-relief—larger than the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel—meticulously encoded with the sophisticated astronomical knowledge of ancient Egypt. Drawing on more than 5,000 high-resolution photographs he has taken at the Temple of Dendera, photographer and computer scientist José María Barrera presents a complete full-color photographic reconstruction of the ceiling of the pronaos at Dendera and reveals in detail how each panel represents celestial cycles of time from the Precession of the Equinoxes to the annual cycles of life found along the Nile. He explains the meaning of the layout of the ceiling as it relates to the present, the past, eternity, the hours of the day, the phases of the moon, the constellations used in ancient Egyptian astronomy, and the Great Solar Year. The author provides detailed analysis of each panel, including close-up photos, and explains each panel&’s astronomical and spiritual significance from the ancient Egyptian perspective as well as examining the myths, gods, and goddesses depicted. He also includes an appendix exploring the meaning and symbology of ancient Egyptian iconography. Allowing you to experience the vivid details of this ancient work of art and science, this photographic exploration also recreates the sense of spiritual awe and power the Temple of Dendera radiates to its visitors, whether today or millennia ago.Bring Out Your Dead: Elegies from the Plague Year
Par Chad Davidson. 2024
Could the shlock-rock ’70s band Kiss in any way affect the outcome of a death-dealing twenty-first-century virus? Is Bob Ross—that…
permed, inimitable painter of Edenic nostalgia on PBS—actually an emissary from the land of personal loss? Might the work of Edward Hopper reflect facets of a global plague? What is the grammar, finally, of grief, of isolation? The essays in Chad Davidson’s Bring Out Your Dead: Elegies from the Plague Year mainly concern the loss of the author’s father directly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ways in which the pandemic itself provided a strangely ideal backdrop to grieving. Refracted through the kaleidoscopic, yet strangely stagnant, isolation period in the first year of COVID, his father’s death—another plague visited on the author—found its way into all his waking hours, coloring whatever he tried to write, particularly when he tried not to let it. Friends both lost and nearly so, the burning of Notre Dame in Paris, even the seemingly inconsequential discovery of a rash of chew toys in the yard: these events assumed an unmistakable gravity, considered in the midst of a pandemic and the ruins of personal grief. Bring Out Your Dead adds Davidson’s father to the growing list of loved ones lost in—and, in this case, right before—the pandemic. It’s a personal memorial, given over to a father’s memory and the grief endured while living through dueling plagues (one viral, the other psychological). In the end, the book becomes more about the ways we eulogize, how we remember those who are gone, why their memories persist, and what summons them back into our thoughts, our language, and our lives.The Elephant of Silence: Essays on Poetics and Cinema
Par John Wall Barger. 2024
“A poem is an act of faith because the poet believes in it,” contends John Wall Barger in The Elephant…
of Silence, a collection of essays exploring forms of knowing (and not knowing) that awaken a poetic mind. By considering poetry, film, and the intersections among aesthetic moments and our lives, Barger illuminates the foundations of poetic craft but also probes how to be alive, creative, and open in the world. Each piece investigates unanswerable questions and indefinable words: Lorca’s duende, Nabokov’s poshlost, Bashō’s underglimmer, Huizinga’s ludic, Tarkovsky’s Zona. Influenced by poets such as Glück and Ruefle, and filmmakers such as Kubrick and Lynch, Barger writes—first always sharing his own personal life stories—on the nature of perception, experience, and the human mind. With lyric eloquence and disarming candor, The Elephant of Silence tackles how to live an imaginative life, how to gravitate toward the silence from which art comes, and how the mystical is also the everyday.X in the Tickseed: Poems
Par Ed Falco. 2024
From discursive essay-poems to tightly constructed lyrics, Ed Falco’s X in the Tickseed examines a world that reveals itself through…
its mysteries, reflecting upon the ephemeral nature of all things. In the series of poems that bookend the collection, a speaker identified only as X reviews personal history and relationships, speculating, pondering, and questioning in the face of a baffling universe. Peppered between the X poems, artists as varied as Artemisia Gentileschi, Frank O’Connor, and Nick Cave surface, usually in poems posing as essays about their art. Other poems range from explorations of cultural perspective, as in “A Few Words to a Young American Killed in the Tet Offensive,” where a war resister addresses a young man of his generation who died in Vietnam, to the often playful “An Alphabet of Things.” Throughout, Falco’s poems speculate on matters of life and faith, intensified by an awareness of death.Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir
Par Lamya H. 2023
A queer hijabi Muslim immigrant survives her coming-of-age by drawing strength and hope from stories in the Quran in this &“raw…
and relatable memoir that challenges societal norms and expectations&” (Linah Mohammad, NPR).&“A masterful, must-read contribution to conversations on power, justice, healing, and devotion from a singular voice I now trust with my whole heart.&”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of UntamedAN AUDACIOUS BOOK CLUB PICK • WINNER: The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize, the Stonewall Book Award, the Israel Fishman Nonfiction AwardA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, Autostraddle, Book Riot, BookPage, Harper&’s Bazaar, Electric Lit, She ReadsWhen fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her teacher—her female teacher—she covers up her attraction, an attraction she can&’t yet name, by playing up her roles as overachiever and class clown. Born in South Asia, she moved to the Middle East at a young age and has spent years feeling out of place, like her own desires and dreams don&’t matter, and it&’s easier to hide in plain sight. To disappear. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything: When Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her. Could Maryam, uninterested in men, be . . . like Lamya? From that moment on, Lamya makes sense of her struggles and triumphs by comparing her experiences with some of the most famous stories in the Quran. She juxtaposes her coming out with Musa liberating his people from the pharoah; asks if Allah, who is neither male nor female, might instead be nonbinary; and, drawing on the faith and hope Nuh needed to construct his ark, begins to build a life of her own—ultimately finding that the answer to her lifelong quest for community and belonging lies in owning her identity as a queer, devout Muslim immigrant. This searingly intimate memoir in essays, spanning Lamya&’s childhood to her arrival in the United States for college through early-adult life in New York City, tells a universal story of courage, trust, and love, celebrating what it means to be a seeker and an architect of one&’s own life.Sunrise with Seamonsters: Travels and Discoveries, 1964-84
Par Paul Theroux. 1986
This collection of wide-ranging essays from the New York Times–bestselling travel writer is &“a steamer trunk full of delights&” (Chicago…
Sun-Times). This collection of decidedly opinionated articles, essays, and ruminations, by the author of My Other Life and Kowloon Tong, transports the reader not only to exotic, unexpected places in the world but also into the interior life of the writer himself. Whether it is his time serving in the Peace Corps, his memorable interview with tennis star John McEnroe, bearing witness to the uprising in Uganda, or the debt he owes to his mentor, V. S. Naipaul, Theroux approaches each subject with characteristic intelligence, insight, and an eye for life&’s great ironies. Over the course of two decades, Paul Theroux gathers people, places, and ideas in precise, evocative writing that &“serves as both the camera and the eye, and both the details and the illusions are developed with brilliance&” (Time). &“What makes Mr. Theroux most persuasive as a writer is simply his willingness to put himself on the line. . . . Gusty, personal, and astonishing.&” —The New York Times &“These pieces prove anew Theroux&’s unflagging, infectious enthusiams [sic] for exploring.&” —Kirkus ReviewsThe Essential Ginsberg
Par Allen Ginsberg. 2015
Featuring the legendary and groundbreaking poem "Howl," this remarkable volume showcases a selection of Allen Ginsberg's poems, songs, essays, letters,…
journals, and interviews, and contains sixteen pages of his personal photographs.One of the Beat Generation's most renowned poets and writers, Allen Ginsberg became internationally famous not only for his published works but also for his actions as a human rights activist who championed the sexual revolution, gay liberation, Buddhism and Eastern religion, and the confrontation of societal norms—all before it became fashionable to do so. He was also the dynamic leader of war protesters, artists, Flower Power hippies, musicians, punks, and political radicals.The Essential Ginsberg collects a mosaic of material that displays the full range of Ginsberg's mental landscape. His most important poems, songs, essays, letters, journals, and interviews are displayed in chronological order. His poetic masterpieces, "Howl" and "Kaddish," are presented here along with lesser-known and difficult-to-find songs and prose. Personal correspondence with William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac is included, as well as photographs—shot and captioned by Ginsberg himself—of his friends and fellow rogues William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and others.Through his essays, journals, interviews, and letters, this definitive volume will inspire readers to delve deeper into a body of work that remains one of the most impressive literary canons in American history.How Did I Get Here?: Making Peace with the Road Not Taken
Par Jesse Browner. 2015
A literary exploration that seeks to answer the question: Have I lived the life I intended?Based on an essay he…
wrote for Poets & Writers magazine, Jesse Browner, a novelist who finds himself torn between his creative calling and a full-time job in the civil service, asks hard questions about the choices life imposes on us, and our tendency to believe in a parallel, alternative existence where we might have felt more fulfilled, more free, more true to ourselves. He wonders: Is the genuine artist made by single-minded devotion to his craft? Do we compromise our dreams in service to family and work? In the face of life's inevitable disappointments, how do we learn to reassess our own achievements and live without regret?These questions prompted Browner to take a hard look at the lifelong journey that brought him to this moment of existential doubt. He divides his adult life into five distinct phases: ambition, love, work, fulfillment, and wisdom. Sketching portraits of himself at each stage, he looks for the idiosyncrasies, blind spots, and commonalities that led him to question every assumption he has ever made about who he is and the nature of his ambitions, his successes, and his failures. He also draws on the lives of others, from Franz Kafka to indie rocker Elliott Smith to his own sister, in search of understanding and guidance. What he finds in his courageous quest is inspiring and honest—sometimes brutally so—touching on what it means to live a life with intention and meaning.Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery
Par Richard Selzer. 1996
A surgeon shares true stories of life, death, and the human body in an essay collection that &“will nail you…
to your chair&” (Saturday Review). With settings ranging from the operating theater to a Korean ambulance, and topics as varied as the disposition of a corpse and the author&’s own childhood, these nineteen captivating, wry, and intimate vignettes offer a poignant examination of health, humanity, and, of course, mortality. Sometimes tragic, sometimes humorous, the essays offer a physician&’s viewpoint that goes beyond the medical to also consider the most meaningful issues and questions we face, whether as doctors or patients, cared for or caregiver. Praised by Kirkus Reviews as &“an impressive display of knowledge and art, magic and mystery,&” Mortal Lessons is a classic reflection on the human body and the human experience, and will resonate with readers for generations to come.My Book of Fossils: A fact-filled guide to prehistoric life (My Book of)
Par Dk, Dean R. Lomax. 2022
Unearth hidden fossils and unleash a new love for all things prehistoric!Learn about the world&’s primeval past through its fascinating…
and wonderful world of fossils. From glistening seashells and mammoth dinosaur teeth to delicate colorful flora, uncover a magnitude of treasures left behind to better understand our primitive past.This intriguing fact-filled guide into ancient times will have you learning about where fossils come from and where they have been found. This primal book about earliest life includes: • A definitive guide to fossils, featuring 50 profiles of the most incredible discoveries in paleontology • A science-focused and fact-packed route into learning about prehistoric life • Top-quality photography to show fossils in fine detail and highlight key features • Age-appropriate with large pictures and clear text • Pronunciation guide for each fossil animal or plant name • Fact files for each featured fossil give the key information, such as size, time period and location This engrossing children's book about fossils and dinosaurs is filled with all you need to know about ancient fossils as well as how to contain recently discovered species. It will help even the biggest fossils fans learn something brand new! This prehistoric book contains remarkably phenomenal photographs that can be studied in detail, as well as pronunciation guides to help with those tricky names.Displayed into plants and animals, there are 50 key fossil profiles, including the beloved favorite dinosaur Triceratops and a magnitude of other remains, like fossil fish teeth. An easy-to-follow visual index provides a quick overview of all the key species in the book, so you can be well on your way to becoming a fossil expert.This is the perfect book for children ages 5 to 7 with a love of fossils and dinosaurs, as well as parents, caregivers and teachers who want a reliable introductory book to fossils and prehistoric life!Discover the story of &“us&” — from the dawn of human history up to the world we live in today.This…
visually stunning history encyclopedia for children takes you on an epic fact-packed journey through the past. Explore historical events through vivid illustrations and engaging explanations.Inside the pages of this fascinating history book for kids ages 10-14, you&’ll find: • Gorgeous images of objects, paintings and landscapes that bring history to life. • In-depth information using targeted captions and annotation. • Supporting artwork panels allow for a deeper understanding. • Comprehensive historical reference. Welcome to the SI Explanatorium. Take a look inside to reveal how history works! From the evolution and migrations of early humans to the rise and fall of great empires like Ancient Rome and the Aztecs, this history reference book shows you the major turning points in history.Get the inside track on wars and conflict, including European knights, Japanese samurai, Inca warriors and the major clashes of World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the War on Terror and so much more. It&’s the perfect children&’s visual encyclopedia for young history buffs.There are more SI Explanatoriums to explore! Get closer to nature than you&’ve ever been before with SI Explanatorium of Nature and see the world of science come to life with SI Explanatorium of Science.DK Adventures: Secrets of the Cave (DK Adventures)
Par Dk. 2015
If your child is interested in early humans, hunters and gatherers, or ancient methods of hunting, DK Adventures: Secrets of…
the Cave will be a fascinating adventure that teaches history and science, too. We combine facts and pictures with a compelling story that appeals to both avid readers and visual learners. With the fun story and complementary facts of DK Adventures: Secrets of the Cave, kids may not realize they're learning at all! In this story, we step back in time to the days of early hunters and gatherers of nearly 20,000 years ago. Jason wants to be a great hunter like his father — but will he be ready to seek out and hunt the stag alone? Inspired by the cave paintings of Lascaux, France, this story helps children sense the danger of the hunt and experience the drama of the shaman-trance rituals of an ancient world where surviving every day is an adventure. Through story, children learn about ancient hunting tools, animals, and cave paintings. DK Adventures is a book series that reluctant readers can enjoy as much as bookworms do! This series combines captivating, fictional stories with nonfiction facts to encourage learning and engagement in your child. The stories keep children interested, and the facts teach critical skills and knowledge — the fiction and nonfiction elements work together to keep each child's interest high, to build knowledge, and to enrich the narrative reading experience with fascinating background information. These books are filled with information, but the stories make them incredibly readable. DK Adventures are available in a range of kid-friendly topics, including dinosaurs, cars, and the human body, and each book supports Common Core State Standards and literacy skills.iOpener: Encyclopedia of Early Peoples (iOpeners)
Par Richard C. Lawrence. 2005
This mini-encyclopedia covers key terms and topics about early peoples and their cultures, artifacts, locations, and practices. Timelines, maps, and…
photographs bring the subject to life, while a glossary, an index, and discussion questions aid in reading comprehension. Grade: 6Subject: World CulturesGenre: Reference Comprehension Skill/Strategy: Identify Text Organization and StructureDiagnostic Reading Assessment (DRA): 60Guided Reading Level: VLexile Level: 980L DK's iOpeners equip K-6 students with the skills and strategies they need to access and comprehend nonfiction so that they are not only learning to read but reading to learn. The combination of high-interest content and eye-popping photography of iOpeners brings science, math and social studies topics to life, raises student achievement in reading, and boosts standardized test scores.Take a journey through Ancient Egypt and see how the pharaohs once lived!An enticing and insightful guide that covers 3,000…
years of life under the pharaohs (c. 3200-30 BCE) from the early kings of Egypt to the reign of Cleopatra and the Roman conquest, this book explains it all! Written by a team of respected Egyptologists, this book includes the following exciting things: • Themed spreads explore developments in areas like religion, writing, painting, ceramics and medicine. • Biography spreads feature the lives of the most influential pharaohs and queens. • Detailed maps set the main sites in context, and show the growth of the civilization and its trade network. • An optional 80-page reference section provides a directory of the pharaohs and gods and goddesses. Unlock every aspect of Ancient Egypt, from pharaohs and pyramids to ordinary people&’s everyday lives and beliefs. With 31 Egyptian dynasties and 3,000 years of history, from the time of Narmer to that of Cleopatra and so much more, this is the perfect comprehensive guide to Egypt&’s ancient civilization.There's so much to learn and experience with this up-to-date biography on Ancient Egypt. With more than 850 photos, illustrations and maps, this is the perfect book for thinkers, borrowers, life-long learners or anyone with an interest in ancient civilizations and Egyptology.Marguerite Yourcenar is best known as the author of the 1951 novel Mémoires d’Hadrien, her recreation of the life of…
the Roman emperor Hadrian. The work can be examined from the perspective of the issues raised by writing Roman imperial biography at large and the many ways in which Mémoires has a claim to historical authenticity. In Marguerite Yourcenar’s Hadrian, Keith Bradley explains how Mémoires d’Hadrien came to be written, gives details of Yourcenar’s own biography, and describes some of the intricate historical problems that her novel’s portrait of Hadrian presents. He draws on Yourcenar’s correspondence, her interviews with journalists, and her literary corpus as a whole, emphasizing Yourcenar’s profound knowledge of the ancient evidence on which her life of Hadrian is based and exploiting a wide range of contemporary Yourcenarian criticism. The book pays special attention to the methods by which Yourcenar believed Hadrian’s life history to be recoverable, compares examples of modern life-writing, and contrasts the procedures of conventional Roman biographers. Revealing how and why Mémoires d’Hadrien is as it is, Marguerite Yourcenar’s Hadrian illustrates how imaginative literary recreation is often little different from historical speculation.