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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained Russell McNeil, PhD Editor, Malaspina Great Books In 1862 the English literary critic and poet Matthew Arnold described Marcus Aurelius as "the most beautiful figure in history." The Stoicism of Aurelius is grounded in rationality and rests solidly on an ethical approach rooted in nature. Stoicism promises real happiness and joy in this life and a serenity that can never be soured by personal misfortune. This philosophy has universal appeal with practical implications on problems ranging from climate change and terrorism to the personal management of sickness, aging, depression and addiction. I truly believe that the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius has much to offer us now...(Click on book cover for more)

Category:	Modern Literature
Name:	John Updike
Birth Year:	1932
Death Year:	na
Representative Image:
Biography, Lectures, and Research Links:	Biography Blog John Updike SEARCH NOW: by title by author John Updike (March 18, 1932 - ) is a novelist and short story author born in Shillington, Pennsylvania. Updike's most famous works are his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run,Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich, Rabbit at Rest, and Rabbit, Remembered), but this series isn't what made him famous. Updike is well known for his prolific writing, having published about 30 novels and short story collections, as well as some literary criticism. His career is often viewed as an unending series of accomplishments, rather than one great pinnacle. He favors realism in his writing; for instance the opening of Rabbit, Run, spans several pages describing a pick-up basketball game in intricate detail. Most of his novels follow this style at least loosely, and generally feature everyday people in middle America. He on occasion abandons this setting, for instance in The Witches of Eastwick (a novel about witches, later made into a movie of the same name), The Coup (about a fictional Cold War era African dictatorship), and in his most recent work, Claudius and Gertrude (a prelude to the story of Hamlet). His most common themes are probably sex and death, and how they work together. He's a well known and practicing critic, and is often in the center of critical wars of words, including being called one of three stooges by Tom Wolfe ( the other two were John Irving and Norman Mailer). Updike has also been involved in critical duels with Gore Vidal, another author notorious for his criticisms. [This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on John Updike.] The Great Books: John Updike Please browse our Amazon list of titles about John Updike. For rare and hard to find works we recommend our Alibris list of titles about John Updike. Post Comments, Questions or Suggestions! This database is maintained by Malaspina Great Books.
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Best Choice Books, Music, Art:	Rabbit Angstrom : The Four Novels The Afterlife The Witches of Eastwick
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External Links:	Research Links: John Updike Malaspina Canada Links: John Updike
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Records from Related Period and Category:	Modern Literature

About this Database:

This web page is part of a biographical database on Great Ideas. These are living ideas that have shaped, defined and directed world culture for over 2,500 years. By definition the Great Ideas are radical. As such they are sometimes misread, or distorted by popular simplifications. Understanding a Great Idea demands personal engagement. Our selection of Great Ideas is drawn from literature and philosophy, science, art, music, theatre, and cinema. We also include biographies of pivotal historical and religious figures, as well as contributions from women and other historically under-represented minorities. The result is an integrated multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary database built upon the framework of the always controversial Great Books Core List published in 1940 by the late Great Books Pioneer Mortimer Adler (1902-2001). Most of the works on that list are available in the 60 volume Great Books of the Western World.