In this remarkably stimulating and erudite series of essays, Eugene Chen Eoyang explores many of the underlying paradigms and presumptions in world literature, highlighting issues of cultural interchange and cultural hegemony. Translation is seen in this perspective as a central rather than a peripheral factor in understanding the meanings of literary works. Taking concrete examples from Chinese literature, Eoyang illuminates not only the semantic collisions that underlie the complexities of translation, but also the cultural identities reflected in language and values. The title alludes to a passage from Emerson, reminding us that the object on view is not only the vision we see but is also the organ through which that vision is apprehended. The confrontation with a radical "other" - which is, for many Westerners, what Chinese literature represents - is thus both a discovery and a self-discovery. Part of the book's originality is that it identifies a new audience - one that is incipiently bicultural, or knowledgeable about what has been called "East" as well as what has been called "West." Readers with an interest in the theory and practice of translation will find this an inspiring and indispensable work, one that prepares the way for a comparative poetics that recognizes the intense subjectivities in every culture and at the same time establishes a basis for a comparison that tries to transcend, even as it acknowledges, provincialities.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography Louisa May Alcott is known universally. Yet during Louisa's youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson—an eminent teacher and a friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, for the world and from his family. Louisa challenged him with her mercurial moods and yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted—her father's understanding—seemed hardest to win. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.

Nominee for National Book Critics Circle Award, this volume contains many delights and some long poems. There is a European feel about Hecht's verse that is striking, partly due to the richness of the classical allusions, and partly due to the way Hecht handles autobiography. Poetry in the 20th century is very much shaped by the individualism of our times, but poetry that is in essence confessional, eccentric, and overly particularized quickly becomes tiresome. Hecht often avoids this pitfall by realizing his own insight through cultural rather than personal metaphor, and this allows his words and imagery to remain fresh and resonant. ISBN 0-394-58506-2: $18.95.

Eric Hoffman has translated Emerson's "Journals" into a new language, distilling the originative matrix-the master's discursive prose-into two suites of lyric poems. This is translation as critique and renewal, a classic modernist project. Hoffman's poems are like a palimpsest or lithography stone on which traces of a previous drawing have survived. We are witnesses to the presence of a negotiation, the negotiation of a presence. "The Transparent Eye" is the latest manifestation of Hoffman's restless and manifold creativity, a creativity Emerson himself would have saluted. He would not have been counting the spoons. Anthony Rudolf, author of "Zigzag" and "Silent Conversations"

A fascinating discussion of the cultural context and social impact of medical imaging practices.

Assumptions are the most potent of ideas, but also the least understood. Transparent reveals what assumptions we make, how they control us, and how they are all inherently religious. Even atheists are religious at the level of their assumptions. Some assumptions are true and most are not. How can you tell without being an intellectual? Transparent introduces the Transparent App, an innovative and creative tool that helps people quickly see through the messages they encounter daily in the things they read, watch, and hear using the power of assumptions. The Transparent App is simple enough for a student to use, but powerful enough for adults to find God and engage with Him in their areas of interest, expertise, and leadership. How can someone bring God with them to work or school? How does God give us knowledge and guidance in the things that matter in real life? At the level of assumptions God is everywhere. Transparent is not just a theoretical theological exercise for intellectuals. It “translates” the complex ideologies of the intellectuals into everyday language for everyday people. Written more like an adventure than a textbook, Transparent is a refreshing departure from the usual books about apologetics, theology, and culture. Students, parents, pastors, and professionals will all love Transparent.