The present volume endeavors to make a contribution to contemporary Whitehead studies by clarifying his axiological process metaphysics, including his theory of values, concept of aesthetic experience, and doctrine of beauty, along with his philosophy of art, literature and poetry. Moreover, it establishes an east-west dialogue focusing on how Alfred North Whitehead’s process aesthetics can be clarified by the traditional Japanese Buddhist sense of evanescent beauty. As this east-west dialogue unfolds it is shown that there are many striking points of convergence between Whitehead’s process aesthetics and the traditional Japanese sense of beauty. However, the work especially focuses on two of Whitehead’s aesthetic categories, including the penumbral beauty of darkness and the tragic beauty of perishability, while further demonstrating parallels with the two Japanese aesthetic categories of yûgen and aware. It is clarified how both Whitehead and the Japanese tradition have articulated a poetics of evanescence that celebrates the transience of aesthetic experience and the ephemerality of beauty. Finally it is argued that both Whitehead and Japanese tradition develop an aesthetics of beauty as perishability culminating in a religio-aesthetic vision of tragic beauty and its reconciliation in the supreme ecstasy of peace or nirvana.

Aphrodite women always stand out. Go to any public venue and wait for the moment of recognition: There she is―the "it" girl. Tall and slim, or short and slim, blond or raven or red-haired, it matters not. Whether she dresses like a princess or a prostitute, she has the unmistakable spark that is the touch of Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the golden goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology. Women who embody the Aphrodite archetype have much less choice in how they behave or react than they, or others, imagine. The myths tell us that Aphrodite qualities are essential for the joy of life, but the shadow side of Aphrodite manifests when a woman is completely identified with Aphrodite's powers, when other archetypal qualities of the feminine are unimportant to her. The tragedies that result from this are the subject of numerous well-known novels and films and exemplified in the lives of certain actresses and other celebrities, all considered here. The dark side of the pursuit of beauty is especially apparent with aging, when the Aphrodite woman must become something other than a source of beauty or dwindle to a bitter and lonely end. Those whose lives have been wounded by the shadow side of Aphrodite―or those who do not have enough of Aphrodite's joy in their personal makeup―may find understanding and rebirth through the consciousness gained in this real-life exploration of an ideal that has ballooned into a distortion. In these times, when the idolization of Aphrodite―and the tragedy that ensues―are perhaps more widespread than ever, the crucial key for women is consciousness.

Tragic Beauty is a book about the beautiful journey of a broken heart. I have seen so many things that have brought me to many tears. But I have also experienced moments that have uplifted my heart into the heaven of God. Emotions run through my heart like a river,expressing myself to the world and revealing the beauty within myself.

It's 1895, and after the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's being followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls - and their foray into the spiritual world - lead to?

The 1914 memoirs of Evelyn Nesbit, the beautiful chorus girl and model whose association with architect Stanford White would later lead to his sensational murder at Madison Square Garden. In June 1906, Pittsburgh playboy Harry K. Thaw shot and murdered Stanford White, one of America's most famous architects, over a deadly dispute involving White's seduction of Thaw's wife, Evelyn Nesbit. Known as "the girl on the red velvet swing," Evelyn earned this moniker when she described swinging naked on a red velvet swing in Stanford White's New York studio apartment. Stanford White had supposedly drugged and raped the sixteen-year-old Evelyn in the autumn of 1901. The scandal rocked the nation with its lurid details of sex, power, drugs, and insanity. The newspapers and tabloids had a field day with the story and labeled the murder "The Crime of the Century."

I caught his attention. Now he demands every last piece of mine.His infatuation with me saves my life, but threatens my sanity. A self-made King in his own Kingdom, his notorious cruelty is only overshadowed by his madness.I sit on his knee while he plays with me.I keep my eyes low on the ground at all times.I watch the wicked things he does to people while he whispers in my ear how precious I am.I dance for him. I amuse him. I play his games. I worship at his feet.I'm not allowed to walk. I'm not allowed to see his face.And above all else, I'm not allowed to fall in love with him.He says he's going to give me to the whole world on a silver plate.All I have to do... is everything he wants.His lust becomes obsession, obsession becomes devotion, devotion becomes dedication and with dedication comes... power.My name is Sapphire, and I'm a good girl. This is the story of how I learned to control a psychopath. Author warning: No part of Baron is a hero. He's a cross between the mad hatter, the goblin king, and a mafia boss. He has no limits, and he lives for... triggers. If you don't like dark romance -- and I mean dark romance, cough cough, -- please don't read this book.Previously published as The Carnival's Daughter (part of The Kingdom duet) this book has been extended and now forms book 1 of a new series.Reading Order:Twisted (Baron & Sapphire)Torment (Baron & Sapphire)Toxic (Cut & Amelie)Torment (Mason & Estella)

A riveting, scandle-filled biography of the most famous nude model in America, Audrey Munson (1891-1996) whose beauty brought her extraordinary success and great tragedy. Many readers will recognize Audrey Munson, even without knowing her name. She was America's first supermodel. Munson's beauty, though, was also her curse, exactly as a fortune teller predicted in her youth. Her looks won her entry to high society, but at a devastating cost. In 1919 she became a recluse, eventually being admitted to an asylum whre she remained until her death. This is her story.