{"title":"Alberto Manguel","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlberto Manguel’s work invites readers into a rich world of ideas, where \u003cem\u003ecuriosity\u003c\/em\u003e and the love of storytelling take centre stage. His books often explore the profound relationship between readers and texts, blending memoir, literary criticism, and cultural history with a poetic sensibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom illuminating ancient epics like Homer's \u003cem\u003eIliad\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/em\u003e to reflecting on the very nature of libraries and reading in titles such as \u003cem\u003ePacking My Library\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Library at Night\u003c\/em\u003e, Manguel’s writing is a celebration of imagination and knowledge. His work crosses boundaries between biography, arts, fiction, and education, offering thoughtful insights into how stories shape our lives.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"homers-iliad-and-odyssey-by-alberto-manguel-9780300272475","title":"Homer's \"Iliad\" and \"Odyssey\"","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA worldwide exploration of the history, purpose, and inescapable influence of the \u003cem\u003eIliad\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/em\u003e that will inspire readers to think anew about Homer's work.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNo one knows whether Homer was a real person, but there is no doubt that the epic poems assembled under his name are foundations of Western literature. The \u003cem\u003eIliad\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/em\u003e—with their tales of the Trojan War, Achilles, Odysseus and Penelope, the Cyclops, the beautiful Helen of Troy, and the petulant gods—have inspired us for over two and a half millennia and influenced writers from Plato to Virgil, Pope to Joyce, and Dante to Margaret Atwood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this graceful and sweeping book, Alberto Manguel traces the lineage of Homer's poems. He examines their original purpose, either as allegory or record of history; surveys the challenges the pagan poems presented to the early Christian world; and looks at their reception after the Reformation through the present day. In this revised and expanded edition, Manguel ignites new ways of thinking about these classic works.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46796321587436,"sku":"9780300272475","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24722493482294.jpg?v=1757090861"},{"product_id":"curiosity-by-alberto-manguel-9780300219807","title":"Curiosity","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn eclectic history of human curiosity, a great feast of ideas, and a memoir of a reading life from an internationally celebrated reader and thinker.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCuriosity\u003c\/em\u003e has been seen through the ages as the impulse that drives our knowledge forward and the temptation that leads us toward dangerous and forbidden waters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe question “Why?” has appeared under a multiplicity of guises and in vastly different contexts throughout the chapters of human history. Why does evil exist? What is beauty? How does language inform us? What defines our identity? What is our responsibility to the world?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn Alberto Manguel’s most personal book to date, the author tracks his own life of curiosity through the reading that has mapped his way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eManguel chooses as his guides a selection of writers who sparked his imagination. He dedicates each chapter to a single thinker, scientist, artist, or other figure who demonstrated in a fresh way how to ask “Why?”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLeading us through a full gallery of inquisitives, among them Thomas Aquinas, David Hume, Lewis Carroll, Rachel Carson, Socrates, and, most importantly, Dante, Manguel affirms how deeply connected our curiosity is to the readings that most astonish us, and how essential to the soaring of our own imaginations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855749271788,"sku":"9780300219807","price":30.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3f20e7ba49ab6f08ba432e2ed5207be9.jpg?v=1759277020"},{"product_id":"maimonides-by-alberto-manguel-9780300217896","title":"Maimonides","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn exploration of Maimonides, the medieval philosopher, physician, and religious thinker, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Guide of the Perplexed\u003c\/i\u003e, from one of the world’s foremost bibliophiles.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMoses ben Maimon, or Maimonides (1138–1204), was born in Córdoba, Spain. The gifted son of a judge and mathematician, Maimonides fled Córdoba with his family at the age of thirteen due to Almohad persecution of all non-Islamic faiths. Forced into a long exile, the family spent a decade in Spain before settling in Morocco. From there, Maimonides travelled to Palestine and Egypt, where he eventually died at Saladin’s court.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs a scholar of Jewish law, a physician, and a philosopher, Maimonides was a singular figure. His work in extracting all the commanding precepts of Jewish law from the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud, interpreting and commenting on them, and translating them into terms that would allow students to lead sound Jewish lives became the model for translating God’s word into a language comprehensible by all. His work in medicine—which brought him such fame that he became Saladin’s personal physician—was driven almost entirely by reason and observation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this biography, Alberto Manguel examines the question of Maimonides’ universal appeal—he was celebrated by Jews, Arabs, and Christians alike. In our time, when the need for rationality and recognition of the truth is more vital than ever, Maimonides can help us find strategies to survive with dignity in an uncertain world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855805796588,"sku":"9780300217896","price":40.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24176703482294.jpg?v=1759278522"},{"product_id":"packing-my-library-by-alberto-manguel-9780300244526","title":"Packing My Library","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA best-selling author and world-renowned bibliophile meditates on his vast personal library and champions the vital role of all libraries.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“The author brings a fresh hopefulness to the enterprise of books and reading. Vintage Manguel—a pleasure for his many readers and admirers.”—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn June 2015, Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France’s Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Packing up his enormous, 35,000-volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, memory and reading.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this poignant and personal reevaluation of his life as a reader, the author illuminates the highly personal art of reading and affirms the vital role of public libraries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eManguel’s musings range widely, from delightful reflections on the idiosyncrasies of book lovers to deeper analyses of historic and catastrophic book events, including the burning of ancient Alexandria’s library and contemporary library lootings at the hands of ISIS.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith insight and passion, the author underscores the universal centrality of books and their unique importance to a democratic, civilized, and engaged society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855819428076,"sku":"9780300244526","price":28.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24443003482294.jpg?v=1759279463"},{"product_id":"the-library-at-night-by-alberto-manguel-9780300151305","title":"The Library at Night","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA celebration of reading, of libraries, and of the mysterious human desire to give order to the universe\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by the process of creating a library for his fifteenth-century home near the Loire, in France, Alberto Manguel, the acclaimed writer on books and reading, has taken up the subject of libraries. “Libraries,” he says, “have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I’ve been seduced by their labyrinthine logic.” In this personal, deliberately unsystematic, and wide-ranging book, he offers a captivating meditation on the meaning of libraries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eManguel, a guide of irrepressible enthusiasm, conducts a unique library tour that extends from his childhood bookshelves to the “complete” libraries of the Internet, from Ancient Egypt and Greece to the Arab world, from China and Rome to Google. He ponders the doomed library of Alexandria as well as the personal libraries of Charles Dickens, Jorge Luis Borges, and others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe recounts stories of people who have struggled against tyranny to preserve freedom of thought—the Polish librarian who smuggled books to safety as the Nazis began their destruction of Jewish libraries; the Afghani bookseller who kept his store open through decades of unrest. Oral “memory libraries” kept alive by prisoners, libraries of banned books, the imaginary library of Count Dracula, the library of books never written—Manguel illuminates the mysteries of libraries as no other writer could.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith scores of wonderful images throughout, \u003ci\u003eThe Library at Night\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating voyage through Manguel’s mind, memory, and vast knowledge of books and civilizations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47461581717740,"sku":"9780300151305","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780300151305-the-library-at-night.jpg?v=1774972021"},{"product_id":"fabulous-monsters-by-alberto-manguel-9780300255355","title":"Fabulous Monsters","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“In art and words, a book lover honours the characters he can’t forget.”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn original look at how literary characters can transcend their books to guide our lives, by one of the world's most eminent bibliophiles.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlberto Manguel, in a style both charming and erudite, examines how literary characters live with us from childhood on. Throughout the years, they change their identities and emerge from behind their stories to teach us about the complexities of love, loss, and the world itself. Manguel’s favourite characters include Jim from \u003ci\u003eHuckleberry Finn\u003c\/i\u003e, Phoebe from \u003ci\u003eThe Catcher in the Rye\u003c\/i\u003e, Job and Jonah from the Bible, Little Red Riding Hood and Captain Nemo, Hamlet’s mother, and Dr. Frankenstein’s maligned Monster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSharing his unique powers as a reader, Manguel encourages us to establish our own literary relationships. An intimate preface and Manguel’s own “doodles” complete this delightful and magical book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47596371476716,"sku":"9780300255355","price":32.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2bf2e1eb46a2609d0fac04d74d198d43.jpg?v=1777929751"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/alberto-manguel.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}