Hailed as our era's most profound theorist of literary influence, Harold Bloom's own influence on the landscape of literary criticism has been decisive. His wide-ranging critical writings have plumbed the depths of Romanticism, explored the anxiety caused by the influence of one generation of poets on another, wrestled with the idea of a literary canon, and examined the relationship between religion and literature. --

This book explores the distinction between selflessness and self-interestedness, between acting for one's own advantage and acting, even when disadvantageous, for reasons of duty or conscience. This apparently straightforward contrast (exemplified in the difference between rational-choice models in economics and holistic models in social anthropology) is a source of confusion. This is so, F. G. Bailey argues, because people polarize and essentialize both actors and actions and uphold one or the other side of the contrast as concrete reality, as the truth about how the social world works. The task of The Saving Lie is to show that both versions are convenient fictions, with instrumental rather than ontological significance: they are not about truth but about power. At best they are tools that enable us to make sense of our experience; at the same time they are weapons we deploy to define situations and thus exercise control. Bailey says that both models fail the test of empiricism: they can be at once immensely elegant and quite remote from anyone's experience in the real world. And since both models are "saving lies," we should accept them as necessities, but only to the extent they are useful, and we should constantly remind ourselves of their limitations. The wrong course, according to Bailey, is to promote one model to the total exclusion of the other. Instead, we should take care to examine systematically the rhetoric used to promote these models not only in intellectual discourse but also in defining situations in everyday life. The book strongly and directly advocates a point of view that combines skepticism with a determination to anchor abstract argument in evidence. It is argumentative; it invites confrontation; yet it leaves many doors open for further thought.

The Sparrow and the Crow is and will be an epic journey, deep within your wildest imagination. It takes you in places that light cannot exist, but love does. It makes you fear what you don't believe and except what you can't conceive. Christ was a flower, a perfect flower, taken into the eye of the sparrow. Hatred, rage, anger became justice, caught within the heart of the crow. The power of Christ has traveled through the ages, searching for two people, a man and a woman, who are not perfect before God; but their hearts are pure and one with creation. They are the chosen ones. Two people willing to die for each other, for no other reason than to preserve a single burning light within a darkened night. A candlelight, burning within the Eye of the Sparrow. His promise to Adam and Eve becomes the Omen of the Crow. That he who seeks the rose shall inherit the Heavens and Earth forever more.

Little fixes for life's BIG faux pas Figuring out which salad fork to use is a relative no-brainer, but what's the protocol for using a lockless bathroom or getting caught regifting? Saving Face daringly examines dozens of our worst-case social scenarios. Using helpful illustrations and a "toolbox" of general techniques and technologies, you'll learn what to do if caught: Arriving without a gift Forgetting a name Being served horrible food Starting or ending a workplace romance Sitting next to your boss on a plane Mistakenly thinking someone's coming on to you Clogging someone else's toilet Getting rid of guests Leaving a bad phone message From the office to the dining room to the appearance of freeloading cousins at your doorstep, you'll confidently turn snafus into saves and finesse those social situations once destined for disaster.

Technology is breaking politics – what can be done about it? Artificially intelligent “bot” accounts attack politicians and public figures on social media. Conspiracy theorists publish junk news sites to promote their outlandish beliefs. Campaigners create fake dating profiles to attract young voters. We live in a world of technologies that misdirect our attention, poison our political conversations, and jeopardize our democracies. With massive amounts of social media and public polling data, and in depth interviews with political consultants, bot writers, and journalists, Philip N. Howard offers ways to take these “lie machines” apart. Lie Machines is full of riveting behind the scenes stories from the world’s biggest and most damagingly successful misinformation initiatives—including those used in Brexit and U.S. elections. Howard not only shows how these campaigns evolved from older propaganda operations but also exposes their new powers, gives us insight into their effectiveness, and shows us how to shut them down.

Expose the Lies. Understand the Truths. And Make Your Marriage Better than Ever! Lies about marriage are rampant in our culture--and in our churches. But the corresponding truths can strengthen your marriage and even save it from collapse. 9 Lies That Will Destroy Your Marriage identifies the lies, explains how they can disintegrate your marriage, and reveals truths that can rescue it and help it to become the marriage of your dreams. Greg Smalley, a general marriage expert, and Robert Paul, the therapeutic director of Hope Restored, a renowned crisis marriage program created for Focus on the Family, combine to offer an unusual and powerful combination of perspectives that can restore hope and healing in any marriage, including yours. What Are the 9 Lies about Marriage?Love Lie #1: And They Lived Happily Ever AfterLove Lie #2: 1 + 1 = 1Love Lie #3: All You Need Is LoveLove Lie #4: I Must Sacrifice Who I Am for the Sake of My MarriageLove Lie #5: You Must Meet Each Other's NeedsLove Lie #6: Our Differences Are IrreconcilableLove Lie #7: I'm Gonna Make You Love MeLove Lie #8: "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy!"Love Lie #9: You Win Some, You Lose SomeDo any of these lies resonate with you? Read 9 Lies That Will Destroy Your Marriage and start exposing the lies and living the truth. Includes several self-tests to help you and your spouse assess the extent to which your marriage has been affected by each of the nine lies.

“Courageous and inspiring.”—Karen Armstrong, author of The Case for God “James Carroll takes us to the heart of one of the great crises of our times.”—Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve An eloquent memoir by a former priest and National Book Award–winning writer who traces the roots of the Catholic sexual abuse scandal back to the power structure of the Church itself, as he explores his own crisis of faith and journey to renewal NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY James Carroll weaves together the story of his quest to understand his personal beliefs and his relationship to the Catholic Church with the history of the Church itself. From his first awakening of faith as a boy to his gradual disillusionment as a Catholic, Carroll offers a razor-sharp examination both of himself and of how the Church became an institution that places power and dominance over people through an all-male clergy. Carroll argues that a male-supremacist clericalism is both the root cause and the ongoing enabler of the sexual abuse crisis. The power structure of clericalism poses an existential threat to the Church and compromises the ability of even a progressive pope like Pope Francis to advance change in an institution accountable only to itself. Carroll traces this dilemma back to the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, when Scripture, Jesus Christ, and His teachings were reinterpreted as the Church became an empire. In a deeply personal re-examination of self, Carroll grapples with his own feelings of being chosen, his experiences as a priest, and the moments of doubt that made him leave the priesthood and embark on a long personal journey toward renewal—including his tenure as an op-ed columnist at The Boston Globe writing about sexual abuse in the Church. Ultimately, Carroll calls on the Church and all reform-minded Catholics to revive the culture from within by embracing anti-clerical, anti-misogynist resistance and staying grounded in the spirit of love that is the essential truth at the heart of Christian belief and Christian life.