Inventing The Enemy: Essays

ISBN: 0544104684

Author: Eco, Umberto

Condition: New

The final collection from the bestselling author of The Name of the Rose and one of the mostinfluential, and entertaining, intellectuals of the last century-essays full of passion, curiosity, and obsession.Underscores the writers profound erudition, lively wit, and passion for ideas of all shapes and sizes . . . Ecos pleasure in such explorations is obvious and contagious. -BooklistThe essays in Inventing the Enemy cover a wide range of topics on which Eco wrote and lectured, including a disquisition on the theme that runs through his novel The Prague Cemetery-every country needs an enemy, and if it doesnt have one, must invent it; a discussion of ideas that inspired his earlier novels (and in the process he takes us on an exploration of lost islands, mythical realms, and the medieval world); an examination of Saint Thomas Aquinass notions about the soul of an unborn child; and censorship, violence, and WikiLeaks.True wit and wisdom coexist with fierce scholarship inside Umberto Eco, a writer who actually knows a thing or two about being truly human. -Buffalo News"Thought provoking . . . nuanced . . . the collection amply shows off Eco's sophisticated, agile mind." -Publishers Weekly