Fantastic Blurbs

So, one of our academic books in humanities, Dead Lovers, will soon go to print, and we have some great blurbs we have for it. To give you an idea of what the book is about, here is a short description:

Dead Lovers explores the complex attachments to the figure of the dead lover in Western literature, art, and other forms of cultural expression from classical antiquity through the Middle Ages and into the early modern period. By reflecting on the study of dead lovers, the collection traces the development of themes and claims about our own investment in a "dead" but eroticized past that we seek to recover.

The first blurb (longer, and more academic):

"Varied in their methodologies and far-ranging in the materials examined, these essays argue well for the strange richness of the figure of the dead lover in premodern European literature. Dead Lovers is a fascinating volume, engagingly written and interesting throughout. The book will interest classicists, early modernists, literary theorists, and anyone who has ever wondered why in great literature the best lovers are always deceased lovers."

But if you prefer your blurbs short and sweet, with lots of punch, check this out:

“Lively, learned, and profoundly disturbing: irresistible reading for anyone who has ever been a lover and will someday be dead.”

Hope these made you smile! Pass them along to your sweethearts!

Ignorance Strikes Again

Yes, ignorance strikes again, in the form of *shocker* our President. It's amazing that the "greatest nation on this earth" can't make it back to the moon, even though we've had 30 years of technology advancement, and is flagging behind so many other countries in the scientific community, not to mention how tied down the scientific community is due to copyright ties. And even though stem-cell research has the potential to advance the field of medicine by and far, Bush plans to keep blocking researchers from this opportunity, because our wise President thinks he knows the correct ethics and morals for our country. It turns out about 70% of the population would like the current stem-cell legislation to pass, but its purported that Bush will veto the bill if Congress passes it. As discussed in this Wired article, there are many options for using stem-cells for research.

Read more on the continuing debate.

Thought for the Day

How come I get to deal with crazy people?