This book portrays the introduction of the mathematical sign zero as a major signifying event, both within the writing of numbers and as an emblem of parallel events in other sign systems.

The novel is set in Washington, D.C., in 1979 and focuses on the Hobbs family. Lester Hobbs, nineteen years old, is mentally retarded and mute ― until the day he suddenly begins to rap at the top of his lungs about life with his parents and older siblings. That development has a profound effect on the rest of the family, whose members struggle to figure out what it means, for Lester and themselves. Lester's wise-cracking brother, Greg, the middle child, who has long alternated between being protective of Lester and being jealous of the attention Lester receives, tries with a spectacular lack of success to profit from his brother's new ability. Lester and Greg's sister, Sherrie ― bright, pretty, responsible, and aloof ― tries to learn the medical explanation for Lester's condition, which leads her to an affair with George Greer, a brilliant, married, womanizing neurologist. Meanwhile, Lester's mother, Maddie, tries to adjust emotionally to the change in her son, and Pat, the father, works to figure out the right course of action once the cause of Lester's rapping is revealed.

Perfect for personal use, or for your whole office. Get yours today! Specifications: Cover Finish: Matte Dimensions: 6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm) Interior: Blank, White Paper, Unlined Pages: 110

Written with characteristic verve, Quotation Marks considers, among other subjects, how we depend upon the most quotable men and women in history, using great writers to bolster what we ourselves have to say. The entertaining turns and reversals of Marjorie Garber's arguments offer the rare pleasure of a true essayist.

Before media, before the Internet...there was talk itself. Talk Talk Talk is an incisive, exhilarating collection of essays by some of the best thinkers -- and talkers -- of our time. These stellar contributors locate everyday chatter as the basis of a stunning range of artistic and cultural forms: from Antigone's speech-acts to Freud's "talking cure"; from seventeenth-century demon possession to the Marx Brothers' "immigrant talk"; literature, theatre, standup comedy, "ethnic" talk, technologized talk and much, much more. Contributors include: Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Stanley Cavell, Marjorie Garber, Sherry Turkle.