Between late antiquity and the fifteenth century, theologians, philosophers, and poets struggled to articulate the correct relationship between sound and sense, creating taxonomies of sounds based on their capacity to carry meaning. In World of Echo, Adin E. Lears traces how medieval thinkers adopted the concept of noise as a mode of lay understanding grounded in the body and the senses. With a broadly interdisciplinary approach, Lears examines a range of literary genres to highlight the poetic and social effects of this vibrant discourse, offering close readings of works by Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland, as well as the mystics Richard Rolle and Margery Kempe. Each of these writers embraced an embodied experience of language resistant to clear articulation, even as their work reflects inherited anxieties about the appeal of such sensations. A preoccupation with the sound of language emerged in the form of poetic soundplay at the same time that mysticism and other forms of lay piety began to flower in England. As Lears shows, the presence of such emphatic aural texture amplified the cognitive importance of feeling in conjunction with reason and was a means for the laity—including lay women—to cultivate embodied forms of knowledge on their own terms, in precarious relation to existing clerical models of instruction. World of Echo offers a deep history of the cultural and social hierarchies that coalesce around aesthetic experience and gives voice to alternate ways of knowing.

Between late antiquity and the fifteenth century, theologians, philosophers, and poets struggled to articulate the correct relationship between sound and sense, creating taxonomies of sounds based on their capacity to carry meaning. In World of Echo, Adin E. Lears traces how medieval thinkers adopted the concept of noise as a mode of lay understanding grounded in the body and the senses. With a broadly interdisciplinary approach, Lears examines a range of literary genres to highlight the poetic and social effects of this vibrant discourse, offering close readings of works by Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland, as well as the mystics Richard Rolle and Margery Kempe. Each of these writers embraced an embodied experience of language resistant to clear articulation, even as their work reflects inherited anxieties about the appeal of such sensations. A preoccupation with the sound of language emerged in the form of poetic soundplay at the same time that mysticism and other forms of lay piety began to flower in England. As Lears shows, the presence of such emphatic aural texture amplified the cognitive importance of feeling in conjunction with reason and was a means for the laity—including lay women—to cultivate embodied forms of knowledge on their own terms, in precarious relation to existing clerical models of instruction. World of Echo offers a deep history of the cultural and social hierarchies that coalesce around aesthetic experience and gives voice to alternate ways of knowing.

The international-bestselling Russian fantasy author continues the adventures of Sir Max, the lazy gumshoe of the enchanted city of Echo. The tales of Sir Max, who was a daydreaming loser before he discovered the parallel world of Echo, have become an international literary sensation. In the second novel of the Labyrinths of Echoes series, Max is still a hardened smoker, glutton, and all-around loafer. But once again, he finds himself travelling to an alternate universe where he must root out illegal magic as an agent of the Secret Investigative Force. This time, Sir Max is called upon to handle a peculiar political dispute, investigate strange happenings in the cemetery, and when Echo’s police captain is poisoned, he must lead a team of magicians in pursuit of magical outlaws. “Echo is a world of all sorts of plots, a sort of Krypton with tobacco and the counter-universe’s equivalent of vodka.” —Kirkus Reviews

The Russian author’s international-bestselling series begins with this “well-written, well-paced grown-up fantasy with a strong dose of reality” (Kirkus Reviews). Fandomania.com’s #1 Book of 2009 To put it bluntly, Max Frei is a loser. He spends his day sleeping and at night he smokes, eats, and loafs around because he can’t catch a wink. But then he gets lucky. Through his dreams, he begins to contact a parallel world where magic is a daily practice—and, strangely, Max seems to fit right in. Once a social outcast, he’s now known in this new world of Echo as the “unequalled Sir Max.” He’s a member of the Department of Absolute Order, formed by a species of enchanted secret agents; his job is to solve cases involving illegal magic. And he’s about to embark on a journey down the winding paths of this strange and unhinged universe. “Fans of Jasper Fforde and Susanna Clark will happily jump into Frei’s world.” —USA Today “If Harry Potter smoked cigarettes and took a certain matter-of-fact pleasure in administering tough justice, he might like Max Frei, the protagonist of this fantasy novel.” —Kirkus Reviews

We slipped into this country like thieves, onto the land that once was ours. With these words, spoken by an illegal Mexican day laborer, The Madonnas of Echo Park takes us into the unseen world of Los Angeles, following the men and women who cook the meals, clean the homes, and struggle to lose their ethnic identity in the pursuit of the American dream. When a dozen or so girls and mothers gather on an Echo Park street corner to act out a scene from a Madonna music video, they find themselves caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. In the aftermath, Aurora Esperanza grows distant from her mother, Felicia, who as a housekeeper in the Hollywood Hills establishes a unique relationship with a detached housewife. The Esperanzas’ shifting lives connect with those of various members of their neighborhood. A day laborer trolls the streets for work with men half his age and witnesses a murder that pits his morality against his illegal status; a religious hypocrite gets her comeuppance when she meets the Virgin Mary at a bus stop on Sunset Boulevard; a typical bus route turns violent when cultures and egos collide in the night, with devastating results; and Aurora goes on a journey through her gentrified childhood neighborhood in a quest to discover her own history and her place in the land that all Mexican Americans dream of, "the land that belongs to us again." Like the Academy Award–winning film Crash, The Madonnas of Echo Park follows the intersections of its characters and cultures in Los Angeles. In the footsteps of Junot Díaz and Sherman Alexie, Brando Skyhorse in his debut novel gives voice to one neighborhood in Los Angeles with an astonishing— and unforgettable—lyrical power.

The acclaimed Russian author’s international-bestselling fantasy series continues in this “unpredictable, mysterious” novel that’s “full of surprises” (Publishers Weekly). In The Stranger’s Magic, Sir Max once again travels to the enchanted parallel world of Echo, where magic is commonplace and he fits right in. As an investigator of illegal magic with the Secret Investigative Force, Max has made more than a few enemies. Now one “pretty boy” Nennurex Kiexla has set out for revenge against Max in the most insidious of ways—by infiltrating his dreams. Plunging back into the highly original realm first portrayed in The Stranger (Fandomania.com’s #1 Book of 2009) and continued in The Stranger’s Woes, Frei’s new novel blends fantasy, horror, philosophy, and comedy in this tale that will have readers “entranced” (Publishers Weekly). “Fans of Jasper Fforde and Susanna Clark will happily jump into Frei’s world.” —USA Today “If Harry Potter smoked cigarettes and took a certain matter-of-fact pleasure in administering tough justice, he might like Max Frei.” —Kirkus Reviews on The Stranger

The complete story of iconic English post-punk band Echo and the Bunnymen from its founding in 1978, lavishly illustrated with numerous never-before-published photographs Echo and the Bunnymen combine the rawness and venom of New York punk with the moody textures of groups like the Doors and the Velvet Underground. A major force in English post-punk, the band remains an enduring presence on the music scene thanks to Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant’s exceptional songwriting skills and irresistible hooks. Turquoise Days covers the band’s entire career, from its inception in 1978 to the present. It documents in heady detail the forces that gave rise to the group, their early stumbles and successes, and the qualities that have kept them in the musical limelight. This exhaustive critical history and biography is lavishly illustrated with 200 color and black-and-white photos, and includes the complete lyrics of Ian McCulloch and hundreds of quotes from the Bunnymen, their fans, and their critics.