"The Eakins Press Foundation is proud to announce the publication of Magicians & Charlatans, by the art critic Jed Perl. In this collection of 26 essays, Mr. Perl writes with great urgency about the art scene of the past decade. The poet John Ashbery has said that "For years Jed Perl has been covering the art world with tremendous empathy and unsparing accuracy. His ability to recognize the traditional forms of art behind their continual transmutation has made his an almost solitary, essential voice." The essays range from highly controversial critiques of the painter Gerhard Richter, the art dealer Leo Castelli, and the Museum of Modern Art, to appreciations of the art of Bernini and Chardin, and the writings of Edmund Wilson and Meyer Schapiro." -- Publisher's description.

Jim Munroe tells his story of how he lived his passion for amazing audiences as a magician. MAZE, more than just a magic show, has entertained crowds and raised thought-provoking discussions. Life-threatening leukemia, doubts, heartache, loss and other lows in his life, matched by faith, restoration, and success speak to our own struggles and dreams.

When low-rent stage magician Chuck Amok and his rabbit-in-a-hat named Caesar are sucked into another dimension where magic is real, he must keep one step ahead of the maniacal Demon Empty and his flunkies.

When an evil spellcaster interrupts Kit’s unexciting job as a waitress, she is thrust into a world of magic and war. To her rescue arrives Aron Dunn, a regular customer of the diner with a secret, and Rhys Beckett, Aron’s comrade. Kit is introduced to the world of the Realm where magic is a lifestyle and a practiced art. An ancient prophecy suggests Kit may be in danger and a target for the enemy. With desires to return home, Kit is forced to stay in the city of Breyer until the evil targeting her can be stopped. However, in a world where the impossible becomes reality, Kit must learn to survive and protect herself before an ancient war reaches the city walls.

A worthy pupil . . . A dangerous quest To the forest on the shore of the Kingdom of the Isles, the orphan Pug came to study with the master magician Kulgan. But though his courage won him a place at court and the heart of a lovely Princess, he was ill at ease with the normal ways of wizardry. Yet Pug's strange sort of magic would one day change forever the fates of two worlds. For dark beings from another world had opened a rift in the fabric of spacetime to being again the age-old battle between the forces of Order and Chaos. Praise for Magician: Apprentice “Totally gripping . . . A fantasy of epic scope, fast-moving action and vivid imagination.”—The Washington Post Book World “Most exciting . . . A very worthy and absorbing addition to the fantasy field.”—Andre Norton “The best new fantasty in years . . . has a chance of putting its aughor firmly on the trone next to Tolkien—and keeping him there.”—The Dragon Magazine

Dealing with the subject of apologetics and polemics against the pagans in Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260-340), this volume discusses his response to the vigorous political, cultural and religious campaign launched against Christianity in his time. The first part of the book examines the background for Eusebius' apologetic enterprise and his early apologetic writings. The second and main part of the study analyzes major topics in Eusebius' great two-part apologetic work, the Praeparatio Evangelica and the Demonstratio Evangelica, such as the concept of Christian prehistory, prophecy and miracles. The last part deals with Eusebius' tactics and rhetoric and the place of Porphyry - the outstanding pagan polemicist against Christianity - in Eusebius' work. This part closes with a discussion of Eusebius' final apologetic statement in his work The Theophany, reflecting already the recent triumph of Christianity. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

What does it mean to describe cinematic effects as “movie magic,” to compare filmmakers to magicians, or to say that the cinema is all a “trick”? The heyday of stage illusionism was over a century ago, so why do such performances still serve as a key reference point for understanding filmmaking, especially now that so much of the cinema rests on the use of computers? To answer these questions, Colin Williamson situates film within a long tradition of magical practices that combine art and science, involve deception and discovery, and evoke two forms of wonder—both awe at the illusion displayed and curiosity about how it was performed. He thus considers how, even as they mystify audiences, cinematic illusions also inspire them to learn more about the technologies and techniques behind moving images. Tracing the overlaps between the worlds of magic and filmmaking, Hidden in Plain Sight examines how professional illusionists and their tricks have been represented onscreen, while also considering stage magicians who have stepped behind the camera, from Georges Méliès to Ricky Jay. Williamson offers an insightful, wide-ranging investigation of how the cinema has functioned as a “device of wonder” for more than a century, while also exploring how several key filmmakers, from Orson Welles to Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese, employ the rhetoric of magic. Examining pre-cinematic visual culture, animation, nonfiction film, and the digital trickery of today’s CGI spectacles, Hidden in Plain Sight provides an eye-opening look at the powerful ways that magic has shaped our modes of perception and our experiences of the cinema.