The Life Fantastic: Myth, History, Pop and Folklore in the Making of Western Culture

by Noa Menhaim

Overview

Explore the sprawling network of culture to discover the incredible ways in which ideas connect to shape the world we see today.

These mind-blowing essays dig down to the roots of stories, myths and literary genres, travelling from art to politics to history to folklore, and from high to popular culture and back again. Through an intricate web of sidenotes, embark on a voyage of discovery from the unluckiest book ever made to Viking horned helmets to the sex life of vampires …. or from mermaids frolicking in the margins to the ancient Amazons to the power of Amazon and on to Utopia and Atlantis …

This is western culture as you’ve never seen it before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786786470
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,081,266
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.46(h) x 1.06(d)

About the Author

Noa Manheim is an essayist, editor, lecturer, literary critic and head of the Hebrew literature department at Israel's largest publishing house. Manheim has made many appearances on radio and television. She is also known for her screenwriting, script editing and TV series development.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

1 A Faustian Bargain 1

2 Ex Libris 9

3 Flame and Moth 17

4 Weird Sisterhood 25

5 Wonder Women 37

6 The Territory and the Map 47

7 No Man's Island 57

8 Twilight of the Gods 65

9 Moving Heaven and Hell 71

10 Number of the Beast 79

11 Here Be Dragons 87

12 Blood Lust 93

13 Lupus Est 105

14 Man in the Moon 115

15 We Come in Peace 123

16 Force Majeure 135

17 Remember to Forget 139

18 A Rat in a Maze 147

19 King of Cups 153

20 Paper Fairies 161

21 Paradise Lost 171

22 The Lady and the Unicorn 179

23 Heads or Tails 183

24 The Human Animal 189

25 The Pleasure Principle 195

26 Valley of the Dolls 205

27 Ex Machina 213

28 The Body Electric 221

29 Head Hunters 231

30 Fear Itself 237

31 Best of All Possible Worlds 247

Notes 259

Index 271