Phenomenological analysis of beauty and art across various aspects of lived experience and culture. Through a careful analysis of concrete examples taken from everyday experience and culture, Beautiful, Bright, and Blinding develops a straightforward and powerful aesthetic methodology founded on a phenomenological approach to experience—one that investigates how consciousness engages with the world and thus what it means to take such things as tastes, images, sounds, and even a life itself as art. H. Peter Steeves begins by exploring what it means to see, and considers how disruptions of sight can help us rethink how perception works. Engaging the work of Derrida, Heidegger, and Husserl, he uses these insights about “seeing” to undertake a systematic phenomenological investigation of how we perceive and process a range of aesthetic objects, including the paintings of Arshile Gorky, the films of Michael Haneke, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, zombie films, The Simpsons, the performance art of Rachel Rosenthal and Andy Kaufman, and even vegan hot dogs. Refusing hierarchical distinctions between high and low art, Steeves argues that we must conceptualize the whole of human experience as aesthetic: art is lived, and living is an art. “This is a brilliant new contribution by our preeminent phenomenologist of culture. It’s extremely accessible, illuminating, original, and sophisticated while being philosophically probing.” — David Wood, author of The Step Back: Ethics and Politics after Deconstruction

From a New York Times bestselling author comes the incredible true story of an underage soldier's first love and loss on the battlefields of Bataan and Corregidor—perfect for fans of The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz and Unbroken. Joe Johnson Jr. ran away from home at the age of 12, hopping a freight train at the height of the Great Depression. He managed to talk his way into the U.S. Army two years later. Seeking freedom and adventure, he was sent to the Philippines. Adrift in spirit, Joe visited a teenage prostitute, and they became unlikely, smitten allies. Yet when the Japanese attacked on December 8, 1941, their hopes of being together had to wait. Joe and his fellow soldiers fought for four brutal months in Bataan and Corregidor, until they were forced to surrender. The boy endured years of horror as a prisoner of war, only dreaming about seeing again the girl he’d come to love. This lyrically written and deeply encouraging saga will remind you that every life can be lifted, forgiveness is the patron of restoration, and redemption is available to all.

Set during the Civil War, a troubled young woman struggles with her conscience after the death of her abusive husband.

A heartbreaking story about survival, second chances, and the mysteries of death. Set during the Civil War, a troubled young woman ventures across the western plains with her sickly daughter in tow. Virginia Mae Mercy dreams of a new life with an unscrupulous businessman who promises her a pot of gold. But her uncertain journey soon reveals a mystery, and what she encounters along the fringes of the Oregon Trail, in the dark corners of the prairies, will change her life forever.

It's a tale as old as time. But what happens when Beauty is a real beast? Or when the prince is an android? Navigate your way through three twisted tales of the classic fairy tale. Will YOU CHOOSE the path to your happily ever after?