A masterpiece in the tradition of the Decameron and the Canterbury Tales, Juan Ruiz's fourteenth-century Spanish narrative poem combines the comic and the serious, the bawdy and the practical, the satiric and the tender, the devout and the blasphemous. In a first prose translation, Professors Mignani and Di Cesare succeed in conveying the vitality and sly humor of the original. The poem consists of a loosely unified series of fourteen amorous adventures of the Archpriest of Hita, interlaced with debates, fabliaux, fables, and exempla. Ruiz suggests that while man ought to seek buen amor (true love, or love of God), he is prone to loco amor, or worldly love. The Book proposes to show human folly so that men may be forewarned of the bad and choose the good. The episodes related in the stanzas and in songs in various lyrical styles parody such conventions as courtly love, epic battle, or church ritual. Ruiz was clearly fascinated by the concrete, as well as the allegorical, for his episodes have dates and actual settings, and popular speech is incorporated into his verses. In their introduction, the translators survey the major scholarly studies of the poem and offer their own critical reading of it. Their annotated bibliography and notes to the translation will be useful to students as well as scholars.

In this sweet little book with a special message, words of romance and devotion explore the emotion that is at the very center of human nature. Whimsical illustrations accompany each musing, capturing the excitement of all the forms that love can take, from long distance relationships and marriages to puppy love and being crazy in love. A wonderful example that a small gesture can be the best way to demonstrate affection, The Book of Love is the perfect gift for any loved one. En este pequeño libro dulce con un mensaje especial, palabras de romance y devoción exploran la emoción que está al centro de la naturaleza humana. Ilustraciones caprichosas acompañan cada meditación, capturando el entusiasmo de todas las formas del amor, desde las relaciones de larga distancia y los matrimonios hasta el amor adolescente y el estar loco de amor. Un ejemplo magnífico de que un pequeño gesto puede ser la mejor manera de demostrar el afecto, The Book of Love es el regalo perfecto para cualquier ser querido.

Analyzes the way in which Austen blends ironic criticism with moral affirmation through her complex and little-understood management of the narrative point of view.

First published in 2005. The first part of this book is an historical study of the Hebrew written production on women's healthcare and of Jewish women's lives and experiences regarding the care of their bodies during the late Middle Ages in the Mediterranean West. The aim is to restore value to feminine knowledge and practices that were significant then and remain so today. The second part presents an edition translated into English with commentary of the Hebrew compilation Sefer Ahavat Nashim, the Book of Women's Love. This was compiled in the late Middle Ages and is preserved in a single manuscript from Catalonia-Provence. Its contents are concerned with magic, sexuality, cosmetics, and gynecology - areas of knowledge essentially, though not exclusively, related to women. The author focuses on the relation between women and health care and examines both women's knowledge and knowledge about women. This pioneering work makes a valuable contribution to the history of Jewish culture and Jewish women during the Middle Ages, and also makes a substantial contribution to the history of medicine.

â...as I turned the pages I found myself stripping the leaves off that writerâs soul one-by-one and, comprehending each stanza with all its pain and happiness, I realized what true pleasure was. That was when I appreciated whom he was paying tribute to: his muse...They are two hearts, two humans, two lives brought together by the same story, but torn apart by distance and misunderstanding; the ending leaves us questioning our own decisions. Mathematics, logic, magic, spells, romance, passion, madness⦠it is a glance into the past that leaves us simply breathless. [â¦] it is a fascinating experience that leads the reader step-by-step through loveâs inscrutable paths. There is a moment where the reader, without any other word, begins to grope along the language of first love. Freddie Caballeros gives us a spin into lifeâs roulette wheel where the protagonists undress a passionate, revealing, and captivating tale.âJazmin Santiago