Opera, Sex, and Other Vital Matters Hardcover - 2002 - 1st Edition

Name: Opera, Sex and Other Vital Matters
Price: 171.98 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Robinson, Paul
ISBN: 9780226721828

by Paul Robinson

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From the rear cover

Opera, Sex, and Other Vital Matters gathers both classic and never-before-published essays from one of the leading stylists in contemporary American letters, and one of our more revered public intellectuals, Paul Robinson. Diverse and elegant, the essays in this new collection showcase the sly wit and lightly worn erudition of their author. Each celebrates art and the flesh, directing us to the twin ecstasies of music and eros.

The essays on opera gathered here explore how masterpieces like Fidelio and The Magic Flute reflect the intellectual currents of their day. Be it the work of Verdi or Mozart, Wagner or Strauss, Robinson compels us to search for meaning not just in the lyrics of opera but also in the music. In melody, not libretto, we are more likely to discern key historical complexities and appreciate the way opera transcends language and time. The essays on sexuality, meanwhile, are ruminative, funny, and even moving. At one moment, Robinson measures whether homosexuality is the result of destiny or free choice. In another, he shares a touching exchange of letters with a gay student in the process of coming out. The final essays that encompass "other vital matters" find Robinson at his most incisive. Whether defending Freud as the most influential thinker of the twentieth century, attacking the dreaded use of semicolons, reflecting on his own mortality, or even meditating on the nature of cats, Sex, Opera, and Other Vital Matters is an eclectic work that will appeal to any reader interested in the continuing relevance of ideas to life.

Details

Title Opera, Sex, and Other Vital Matters
Author Paul Robinson
Binding Hardcover
Edition number 1st
Edition 1
Pages 332
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Date 2002-06
Features Index, Table of Contents
ISBN 9780226721828 / 0226721825
Weight 1.3 lbs (0.59 kg)
Dimensions 9.16 x 6.32 x 0.98 in (23.27 x 16.05 x 2.49 cm)
Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001004444
Dewey Decimal Code 081

About the author

Paul Robinson is the Richard W. Lyman Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University. He is the author of a number of books, including Opera and Ideas: From Mozart to Strauss and Gay Lives: Homosexual Autobiography from John Addington Symonds to Paul Monette, the latter published by the University of Chicago Press.