A New Yorker becomes ensnared by the eerie drama unfolding at a derelict New England family home in this charming mystery from the author of the Mrs. Pollifax novels. “Delightful . . . a suspenseful romp . . . highly recommended.”—Booklist At the request of his father, New York City novelist Andrew Thale tackles an odd assignment—to check out an old family property in Massachusetts, neglected since Aunt Harriet Thale’s death years ago. But far from being deserted, Thale’s Folly, as Andrew discovers, is fully inhabited—by a quartet of charming squatters, former “guests” of kindhearted Harriet. There is elegant Miss L’Hommedieu, Gussie the witch, Leo the bibliophile, and beautiful Tarragon, who is unlike any girl Andrew has ever met in Manhattan. Andrew is entranced by these unworldly creatures and their simple life. Yet all is not well in Thale’s Folly. A thief breaks into the farmhouse, an old friend of the “family” disappears, and Andrew and Tarragon are drawn into mysteries they cannot fathom. . . .

The Schooled Heart addresses a basic question about the nature of the university: should moral education figure among the university's purposes? This volume offers an affirmative response to that question. A central purpose of the university is the moral formation of students--what Beaty and Henry call the schooling of the heart.

The Folly of the Cross is the fourth book in Richard Viladesau's series examining the aesthetics and theology of the cross through Christian history. Previous volumes have brought the story up through the Baroque era. This new book examines the reception of the message of the cross from the European Enlightenment to the turn of the twentieth century. The opening chapters set the stage in the transition from the Baroque to the Classical eras, describing the changing intellectual and cultural paradigms of the time. Viladesau examines the theology of the cross in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the aesthetic mediation of the cross in music and the visual arts. He shows how in the post-Enlightenment era the aesthetic treatment of the cross widely replaced the dogmatic treatment, and how this thought was translated into popular spirituality, piety, and devotion. The Folly of the Cross shows how classical theology responded to the critiques of modern science, history, Biblical scholarship, and philosophy, and how both classical and modern theology served as the occasions for new forms of representation of Christ's passion in the arts and music.

New York novelist Andrew Thale journeys to rural Massachusetts to look over a dilapidated family property and discovers a beautiful girl and an odd puzzle

Amid the variety of human experiences, the comic occupies a distinctive place. It is simultaneously ubiquitous, relative, and fragile. In this book, Peter L. Berger reflects on the nature of the comic and its relationship to other human experiences. Berger contends that the comic is an integral aspect of human life, yet one that must be approached and analyzed circumspectly and circuitously. Beginning with an exploration of the anatomy of the comic, Berger addresses humor in philosophy, physiology, psychology, and the social sciences before turning to a discussion of different types of comedy and finally suggesting a theology of the comic in terms of its relationship to folly, redemption, and transcendence. Along the way, the reader is treated to a variety of jokes on a variety of topics, with particular emphasis on humor and its relationship to religion. Originally published in 1997, the second edition includes a new preface reflecting on Berger’s work in the intervening years, particularly on the relationship between humor and modernity.

In Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus is a classic work of Renaissance literature that humorously critiques the religious and scholarly practices of the time. Written as a speech by Folly herself, the book paints a colorful and satirical picture of human shortcomings. Erasmus's witty prose and insightful observations make In Praise of Folly a literary masterpiece that continues to resonate with modern readers. The book's humorous take on human nature, ignorance, and pretension is as relevant today as it was during the Renaissance. Whether you're a scholar, a student of history, or simply a lover of insightful humor, In Praise of Folly is a must-read. Dive into this timeless classic and discover the folly in us all. Order your copy now!

A Refreshing and Rethinking Retrieval of Greek Thinking presents a rereading and rethinking of Greek philosophy in an attempt to retrieve an essential thread in Greek thinking that has been covered over for many centuries – beginning with the late Greeks, then Christianity, and then rationalism – and misrepresented by mistranslations from the seventeenth century onward . Using Heidegger’s work with Greek thinking as a springboard, the book shows how the covering over of this essential thread happened. Kenneth Maly provides a frame by which those not trained in philosophy and phenomenology of experience can grasp the wider import of this rethinking of Greek philosophy. The book delves deep into key questions, preparing readers for extensive and more technical work with the key Greek words and their meanings, hidden for centuries. It includes a significant investigation of how this task requires a different way of language, how early Western thinking mirrors non-Western Daoism and Buddhism, and how quantum physics gets to the same place in its "philosophy," with an emphasis on the work of David Bohm. In doing so, the book reveals how Daoism, Buddhism, the quantum potential of quantum physics, and Heidegger’s being-beyng are all mirrored in Greek philosophy, above all in early Greek thinking.