In an age marked by enforced orthodoxy, religious wars and threats of burning hellfire, Bruegel the Elder reflected on the powers as well as limitations of religion, deriding the sanctimonious and ridiculing the righteous. At the heart of this book stands Bruegels ironic yet highly tender picture of The Land of Cockaigne, where we encounter a vision not of heaven above, but on earth. A parody of paradise, Bruegels heaven is consumptive, empty, idle and irresponsible; made of wholl...

From T.J. Clark comes this provocative study of the origins of modern art in the painting of Parisian life by Edouard Manet and his followers.The Paris of the 1860s and 1870s was a brand-new city, recently adorned with boulevards, cafés, parks, Great Exhibitions, and suburban pleasure grounds—the birthplace of the habits of commerce and leisure that we ourselves know as "modern life." A new kind of culture quickly developed in this remade metropolis, sights and spe...

T. J. Clark offers profound insights into Bruegel's art, where we encounter a reality formed from wholly worldly materials, yet suspended between belief and disbelief.Renowned art historian T. J. Clark unveils the hidden depths of Bruegel the Elder’s work in this captivating analysis of some of the artist's most famous masterpieces. Taking the medieval concept of Schlaraffenland, a whimsical dreamland of milk and honey, as his starting point, Clark reveals the sati...

A groundbreaking reassessment of Picasso by one of today's preeminent art historiansPicasso and Truth offers a breathtaking and original new look at the most significant artist of the modern era. From Pablo Picasso's early The Blue Room to the later Guernica, eminent art historian T. J. Clark offers a striking reassessment of the artist's paintings from the 1920s and 1930s. Why was the space of a room so basic to Picasso's worldview? And ...

One of Europe's most mythologized Marxist intellectuals of the 20th century, Pier Paolo Pasolini was not only a poet, filmmaker, novelist, and political martyr. He was also a keen critic of painting. An intermittently practicing artist in his own right, Pasolini studied under the distinguished art historian Roberto Longhi, whose lessons marked a life-long affinity for figurative painting and its centrality to a particular cinematic sensibility.Pasolini set out wilfully to "contamin...

Leo Wells is the last person I want to be skating with.He's aloof, abrasive . . . and stupidly attractive. Never mind the fact that I had a lapse in judgment one night with him in the past. We may not like each other, but I like winning more and if I want to do that, I need him. We need each other.Leo doesn't like the idea anymore than I do, but we make a deal. We can put our differences aside and forget about our history so we can compete together.It shoul...

Humanity needed a hero. It got a karaoke DJ.Leo MacGavin is not the brightest specimen of humanity, but when he inadvertently rescues a flirty alien heiress, he's promoted from second-rate lounge entertainer to captain of the galaxy's most sophisticated cruise ship.Before he can flee in terror, a human-hating executive gives Leo an ultimatum: complete the vessel's maiden voyage or mankind's last colony will be turned into a sewage dump. To make matters wors...

RaffaeleShe has no idea who I am. But when her fingers grazed my scar, she didn't flinch at the beast beneath.She's the girl I was born to destroy—the only one who ever looked at me like I was worth saving. The woman who died for me… ten years later.Our surnames split this city for a century. Romeo and Juliet? Only we're not dying for love—we're killing for it. And our story didn't end in death. It started there.I should've stayed away. Inst...

I crashed a wedding. Got caught by the best man. Now, I'm pregnant with his baby . . .It's Katya's fault. (As per usual.) My BFF despises her ex and wants to hate-watch him marry the woman he left her for. Problem is, she didn't fill me in on that plan . . . until we arrive at the ceremony.As soon as I find out, I run. Hop on the elevator and smash the Doors Close button like the Energizer Bunny on a sugar rush. But right before they shut . . . a h...

Keats is my enemy. Which makes the fact that we end up in bed together even more complicated—especially considering he's also my grumpy next-door neighbor.It started with him being the bane of my existence. The uptight, infuriatingly handsome lawyer with a permanent scowl and a glare sharp enough to slice glass. He storms over every time my mail ends up in his box—or whenever he feels like reminding me that photography isn't a "real" job. Keats knows exactly how to...

Isla Belthare lives an ordinary life in her small village of Lockhurt.Since losing both her mother and the man she loved two years ago, all she wants is stability and peace. But her world is forever changed when her family is attacked on a journey away from home, and she must travel to the Aataran mountain range to find them.Across the realm, four ancient beings who control the elements of nature are awakening.After a civil war that tore the humans ...

When is the worst time to tell someone he's going to be a father? Probably the day of the wedding . . . When he is getting married to someone else.Well, that is exactly what I did. But my hands were tied. Literally.Matvey Groza is a dangerous man. And nine months ago, he strolled into my shop looking for a custom suit. But when I accidentally walked in on him in the changing room, I was the one that ended up needing a new set of clothes. It was a o...