Shattuck, Roger

Forbidden knowledge : from Prometheus to pornography by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
18 editions published between 1986 and 2003 in 7 languages and held by 1,918 libraries worldwide
Forbidden Knowledge boldly traces the tragic arc of Western literature and culture as it explores the notion of "forbidden knowledge," from the sexual innocence of Adam and Eve to the awe-inspiring discoveries of modern scientists who have created the atomic bomb and recombinant DNA. The result is a dire portrait of human presumption and of a culture that has abandoned all limits in the quest for knowledge and experience. The harrowing imagery that Shattuck presents is matched only by his faith that we can understand our grievous loss of innocence by reexamining our greatest myths and stories of the last two thousand years. In lively, lucid prose Shattuck explores our uncertain fate through such myths as that of Prometheus and a wide range of literary works, including Milton's Paradise Lost, the writings of the Marquis de Sade, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Melville's Billy Budd, and the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Parents and teachers should be aware that Chapter VII does not make appropriate reading for children and minors. In this seminal work, Shattuck breaks new ground in opening up a crucial subject never before accorded this full-scale treatment. Forbidden Knowledge impels us to a renewed effort to think judiciously about morality and the sacred during a decade of radical skepticism. Forbidden Knowledge represents the capstone of Roger Shattuck's career as one of America's most original and gifted thinkers.

The forbidden experiment : the story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
15 editions published between 1980 and 1994 in English and held by 1,406 libraries worldwide
Just before dawn on January 9, 1800, a mysterious creature emerged from a forest in southern France. Although he was human in form and walked upright, his habits were those of a young male animal. He was wearing only a tattered shirt, but did not seem troubled by the cold. Showing no modesty about his nakedness, he ate greedily, seizing roasted potatoes from a hot fire. He seemed to have no language skills, only grunting occasionally. A cause celebre developed over the question of what should be done with this puzzling wild boy. People wondered: Could he learn to speak? Or be taught to eat with a knife and fork? In "The forbidden experiment", the award-winning cultural historian Roger Shattuck offers a captivating account of this fascinating episode in intellectual history. He examines the relationships that developed among the boy, soon named Victor; Madame Guerin, the woman who fed and washed him; and Itard, the tutor who defiled his colleagues who believed the boy was hopelessly retarded. Shattuck helps modern readers form many of the questions that still haunt parents, special education teachers, guidance counselors, and all students of human behavior to this day: How do children acquire language? How do deaf and mute children learn? Can children who have been neglected or abused ever learn to trust the world? Like a true-life tale of adventure rolled into a detective story, Roger Shattuck's riveting account of the Wild Boy of Aveyron is an unforgettable telling of one of history's greatest mystery stories.

The story of my life by Helen Keller ( Book )
6 editions published between 2003 and 2004 in English and held by 1,181 libraries worldwide
Helen Keller relates the story of her life and how, with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan, she learned to overcome the handicaps of being both deaf and blind.

Henri Rousseau : essays by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
4 editions published between 1985 and 1989 in Chinese and English and held by 1,111 libraries worldwide

Proust's way : a field guide to In search of lost time by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
11 editions published between 2000 and 2001 in English and held by 1,070 libraries worldwide

The banquet years; the origins of the avant garde in France, 1885 to World War I by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
18 editions published between 1959 and 1984 in English and held by 1,011 libraries worldwide

Marcel Proust by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
8 editions published between 1974 and 1982 in 3 languages and held by 949 libraries worldwide

Proust's binoculars; a study of memory, time, and recognition in A la recherche du temps perdu by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
12 editions published between 1963 and 1983 in English and held by 904 libraries worldwide

The innocent eye : on modern literature & the arts by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
13 editions published between 1984 and 2003 in English and held by 809 libraries worldwide

Candor and perversion : literature, education, and the arts by Roger Shattuck ( Book )
6 editions published between 1999 and 2000 in English and held by 789 libraries worldwide
This volume offers an array of provocative ideas to reaffirm literature as a central field of study and personal reward. With analysis, the author elucidates the nature of intellectual craftsmanship, defends art's moral component, and laments our culture's drift toward both anti-intellectualism and philistine pretension. Whether commenting on Flaubert, Foucault, or Pulp Fiction, this work presents a stirring, humane synthesis of the principles and values by which we can live together as a nation finally at peace with its diversity. The author also considers subjects as diverse as the writings of Michel Foucault, the "Beulah Quintet" novels of Mary Lee Settle, the accomplishments of Sarah Bernhardt, and the collaborative efforts of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Much of the book is devoted to the intellectual life of 19th- and 20th-century France, with Shattuck focusing on impressionism, symbolism, surrealism, and other avant-garde movements in art and literature. He also includes several essays on the current state of higher education.