Excerpt from A Bibliography of Unfinished Books in the English Language Of the compilation of Bibliographies there seems no end, yet a century ago the word was an unfamiliar one in the English language. Up to fifty years ago we had examples which are entirely different from those of quite modem workmanship. These early Bibliographies dealt especially with periods of time rather than with subjects, as, for instance, Arber's "Term Catalogues," and Lowndes' " Manual," and Allibone's "Dictionary of Authors." which are scarcely considered Bibliographies at all, as we understand the subject now. To-day we have Bibliographies dealing entirely with a subject, giving in extensive detail a description of all the books relative to that subject - for example, Bigmore and Wyman's "Bibliography of Printing," and Agassiz's "Bibliographia Zoologiae et Geologiae." No book of importance is considered complete now-a-days unless valuable aid is given to the student by the addition of a list of books closely connected with the subject he is studying. He is thus able to pursue his course of reading by reference to these authorities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

This original, field-changing collection explores the plasticity and unfinishedness of human subjects and lifeworlds, advancing the conceptual terrain of an anthropology of becoming. People's becomings trouble and exceed ways of knowing and acting, producing new possibilities for research, methodology, and writing. The contributors creatively bridge ethnography and critical theory in a range of worlds on the edge, from war and its aftermath, economic transformation, racial inequality, and gun violence to religiosity, therapeutic markets, animal rights activism, and abrupt environmental change. Defying totalizing analytical schemes, these visionary essays articulate a human science of the uncertain and unknown and restore a sense of movement and possibility to ethics and political practice. Unfinished invites readers to consider the array of affects, ideas, forces, and objects that shape contemporary modes of existence and future horizons, opening new channels for critical thought and creative expression. Contributors. Lucas Bessire, João Biehl, Naisargi N. Dave, Elizabeth A. Davis, Michael M. J. Fischer, Angela Garcia, Peter Locke, Adriana Petryna, Bridget Purcell, Laurence Ralph, Lilia M. Schwarcz

Assessing a wide variety of particular books, book-like objects, and book collections, and working with millennia of variable and conflicting definitions of the book and its purposes, The Unfinished Book surveys the many things that books have been, and uncovers why the book's grip on the cultural imagination remains so tenacious.