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The World in Our Stacks
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By J. Harold
This feature links items in the news to various books, authors, and subjects that our NOVA libraries own. Take a look at the ways the world shows up in our stacks!
Chuck Close (July 5, 1940-August 19, 2021) was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits using a very large format camera. He adapted his painting style and working methods in 1988 after being paralyzed by an occlusion of the anterior spinal artery [Wikipedia]. "Chuck Close’s reputation as an artist is hard to separate from the impediments he faced--and overcame" – Sebastian Smee, The Washington Post, August 20, 2021. The libraries have five titles about him.
Frederick Crews (February 20, 1933 -June 21, 2024) was an American essayist and literary critic. He brought a combination of research, wit and "scholarly vinegar" to his literary criticism and essays, skewering trends in academic writing. He also persistently challenged the legacy of Sigmund Freud. "With wit and steel, professor skewered highbrow literary critics and Freud" – Harrison Smith, The Washington Post, July 5, 2024. The libraries have five titles by him.
Moses ben Maimon (1138-1204), commonly known as Maimonides, was a Sephardic rabbi and philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin. He was born and lived in Córdoba in al-Andalus (now in Spain) within the Almoravid Empire until his family was expelled for refusing to convert to Islam. Later, he lived in Morocco and Egypt and worked as a rabbi, physician and philosopher [Wikipedia]. The libraries have five titles, one by him and four about him.
Edna O'Brien (December 15, 1930 -July 27, 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Her groundbreaking work portrayed young women struggling for happiness and freedom in a male-dominated world. "Influential Irish novelist of 'The Country Girls.'" – Adrian Higgins, The Washington Post, July 29, 2024. The libraries have six titles by her.
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde "Wole" Soyinka (born July 13, 1934) is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and . . . poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence." He was the first sub-Saharan African to win the prize in literature [Wikipedia]. The libraries have thirteen titles, twelve with him as author and one as the writer of a foreword.
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