16.4.15
7.8.12
The Artist as Mystic: Conversations with Yahia Lababidi
Alex Stein talks to the Egyptian-American aphorist, poet and essayist
 |
| Yahia Lababidi |
The tortured poets are masterfully evoked in this very fine work of biography and criticism. But these writings are more than the sum of notes on a page, they are song. The Artist as Mystic passes the test of all great writing, not only to delight, but to leave us knowing something of the subject, and ourselves, that we hadn’t considered before.
Praise for The Artist as Mystic
Few writers pay such passionate due to their literary forebears as Yahia Lababidi, and in these conversations he summons up the great seers—among them Kafka, Nietzsche, Baudelaire—with an immediacy and a vividness that make them seem his, and our, contemporaries.
John BanvilleWinner of the Man Booker Prize 2005 and the Franz Kafka Prize 2011
I have never encountered a book like The Artist as Mystic and I'm still not convinced that any modern person could be as reflective and erudite as Yahia Lababidi. But whether Lababidi is real or fictitious, the pleasures of this book are undeniable. It provides intimate insights into writers such as Nietzsche, Kafka, Kierkegaard and Rilke and offers the deepest intellectual rewards of its own.
David BezmozgisAuthor of The Free World
Yahia Lababidi has no patience for easy bows and judicious curtseys. He gives intimate brotherly address to the writers who have made him and, doing so, recovers the sense of mattering--the passion--that has always fired the deepest reading, and the writing that lasts. Much heart here, but also a shrewd experienced acuity and an irresistible grace of expression.
Sven BirkertsAuthor of The Other Walk: Essays and The Gutenberg Elegies
About Alex Stein
Alex Stein is an essayist, aphorist, and illustrator whose recent books include Made-Up Interviews With Imaginary Artists (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2009) and Weird Emptiness (Wings Press, 2007). He lives in Boulder, Colorado, and works at the University of Colorado’s Norlin Library.About Yahia Lababidi
Egyptian-American Yahia Lababidi is an aphorist, poet, and essayist. He is the author of a new poetry collection, Fever Dreams (Crisis Chronicles Press), an essay collection, Trial by Ink: From Nietzsche to Belly Dancing, and a collection of aphorisms, Signposts to Elsewhere (Jane Street Press). Lababidi’s work has appeared in several anthologies, and been translated into Arabic, Hebrew, Slovak, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Turkish, and Italian.Website
Onesuch Press: The Artist as Mystic: Conversations with Yahia LababidiAlso at A Piece of Monologue:
26.2.10
The Big Think Interviews Simon Critchley
A selection of clips on a variety of topics
The Big Think has interviewed British philosopher Simon Critchley on a number of topics, from teaching, politics, and history to death, longevity and optimism. Each clip weighs in at approximate 3-5 minutes, although one or two offer extended discussion. Well worth a look for fans of Critchley's views, or perhaps if you're curious about philosophy's place in everyday life:
- Simon Critchley on the Best Philosopher Deaths
- Simon Critchley on Teaching
- Simon Critchley Philosophizes The Obama Moment
- Simon Critchley on Optimism
- Simon Critchley Examines Friedrich Nietzsche
- Simon Critchley on Living Like a Philosopher
- Simon Critchley on the Psychology of Murder
- Simon Critchley on the Desire of Longevity
- Simon Critchley on Religion and Death
- Simon Critchley on the History of Death
Also at A Piece of Monologue:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
