Vina West, a spirited beauty from the town of Penguin, Tasmania, grew up cherishing the love of her adoptive parents. When adulthood beckons, she finds herself in the bustling streets of Melbourne, building a life filled with friendships. But it's Tasmania's pull that brings her back, and an unexpected discovery that sends her on a journey across oceans to Glasgow in search of her roots. In the heart of Scotland, Vina not only traces her family's secrets and connections, but also stumbles upon Philip Dawson, a charming Glasgow lawyer. In art galleries and age-old streets, a budding romance unfolds as Vina unravels the past. With a newfound half-sister, a nephew, and a love story she hadn't dared to dream of, Vina finds herself intertwined between two worlds. A heartfelt journey that will take you from the serene shores of Tasmania to the historic heart of Scotland, VINA'S QUEST is a tale of discovery, love, and family ties that cross continents.

Conflicting Identities and Multiple Masculinities takes as its focus the construction of masculinity in Western Europe from the early Middle Ages until the fifteenth century, crossing from pre-Christian Scandinavia across western Christendom. The essays consult a broad and representative cross section of sources including the work of theological, scholastic, and monastic writers, sagas, hagiography and memoirs, material culture, chronicles, exampla and vernacular literature, sumptuary legislation, and the records of ecclesiastical courts. The studies address questions of what constituted male identity, and male sexuality. How was masculinity constructed in different social groups? How did the secular and ecclesiastical ideals of masculinity reinforce each other or diverge? These essays address the topic of medieval men and, through a variety of theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary approaches, significantly extend our understanding of how, in the Middle Ages, masculinity and identity were conflicted and multifarious.

Foregrounding a strategy of experimental techniques which Neustadt call (con)fusing signs, the book explores critical and political dimensions of contemporary Spanish American artistic practices that are often explained away in the vague name of postmodern fragmentation. ( Con)Fusing Signs explores the techniques, consequences and purposes for this type of fragmentation. This study reassesses the much discussed crisis of representation through an analysis of the complexity of political critique in areas as diverse (and related) as postmodernity, military dictatorship and postcolonialism. This book explores the manner in which multimedia artists Diamela Eltit, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Guillermo G-mez-Pe-a articulate political critiques through textual (con)fusion while paradoxically underscoring their inability to get outside of discourse.

Joe Polacco has written a wonderful tribute to his mother, Vina, and in the process has learned about himself. This memoir is told with humor, and is a tale of extended family in Brooklyn headed by the author's mother, the kind and big-hearted Vina. It's all about the family, the neighborhood, and most of all about Vina. She is beautiful, selfless, a creative designer and knows how to laugh and make others laugh. She is a master of Italian cuisine, admired for her original recipes, which are willingly shared. What more could anyone want in a Mom? More to the point which of us would not want to claim Vina as Mom? And all the characters in the memoir willingly testify that they love Vina and claim her as their own. The author has a love of--and knack for—foreign language and dialects. In New York City, specifically Brooklyn, the whole world can be found in this one place. And you'll find Joe Polacco and Vina in this melting pot. But be careful not to melt down as you laugh through the pages while commemorating those who have passed before, and after, Vina.

In essays that engage the current theoretical parlances of 'ambivalence', 'hybridity' and the 'subaltern', Larsen concludes with a critical reassessment of Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities.

Jewish writing has only recently begun to be recognized as a major cultural phenomenon in Latin American literature. Nevertheless, the majority of students and even Latin American literary specialists, remain uninformed about this significant body of writing. This Dictionary is the first comprehensive bibliographical and critical source book on Latin American Jewish literature. It represents the research efforts of 50 scholars from the United States, Latin America, and Israel who are dedicated to the advancement of Latin American Jewish studies. An introduction by the editor is followed by entries on 118 authors that provide both biographical information and a critical summary of works. Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico-home to the largest Jewish communities in Latin America-are the countries with the greatest representation, but there are essays on writers from Venezuela, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Cuba.