Books published by For Beginners

Carl Gustav Jung merged Eastern mysticism with Western psychology, brought scientific respectability to religion, laid the foundation for 'the New Age, ' and is second only to Freud in influence and importance in the world of psychoanalysis. Many consider him a genius, but many others disagree.Scholar and clinical psychologist Jon Platania, PhD, presents Jung as a somewhat opportunistic and dissociated character whose most famous historical events were his break with Freud and his questionable sojourn with the psychological elite of the German Third Reich. On the other side of Jung's complex genius, there is a deeply spiritual man who laid the groundwork for a more optimistic approach to our modern understanding of the human psyche in both theology and psychology. He is remembered by many as the Swiss Doctor of the Soul.Dr. Platania then takes us on a tour of the work that made Jung one of the pillars of modern psychology. And what a body of work it is. Jung's open-mindedness was astonishing. Wherever he went--Calcutta, Egypt, Palestine, Kenya--Jung learned something that expanded his views. His open-ended psychology incorporated Yoga, meditation, prayer, alchemy, mythology, astrology, numerology, the I Ching--even flying saucers! He taught us that psychology and religion can not only coexist peacefully together, but that they can enhance us, inspire us, and help us complete ourselves.Freud, for all of his brilliance, reduced us to little more than vessels of hormones with high IQs. Jung, for all of his flaws, gave us back our souls.

Tolkien For Beginners will introduce the reader to the multilayered depth and breadth of Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth, what critics, following Tolkien's lead, refer to collectively as his legendarium. J.R.R. Tolkien sweeps us away to a distant time and place that is at the same time, our own time and place. He takes us to a world where difficult choices must be made and are made, where character is defined by those choices, and where redemption is possible though not always embraced. The Lord of the Rings taps a deep root in the human psyche. There is much death, destruction, and defeat in Tolkien's world, but there is even more friendship, courage, and hope. What one remembers when one finishes reading The Lord of the Rings is not the vice of the villains, as strong and as well drawn as it is, but the virtue that empowers the heroes to resist it, even at the cost of their own lives. It will be the goal of Tolkien For Beginners to introduce the reader to the multilayered depth and breadth of Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth. To do justice to the full dimensions of that legendarium, author Louis Markos will speak in two voices: that of the storyteller who loves the stories he tells and that of the critic who seeks to identify and explicate key themes from those stories. In his telling and analysis, he will treat the legendarium both as a collection of secondary-world myths with their own integrity and as a reflection of Tolkien's Catholic worldview.

C.S. Lewis For Beginners is a thorough examination of C. S. Lewis, the greatest Christian apologist of the twentieth century, throughout his career as an author and as a professor at Oxford University. A Christian apologist defends Christianity as a consistent and coherent worldview that squares with human reason, history, and desire. It offers answers to every facet of our lives on earth as well as answers to our questions about what happens after we die. What makes C.S. Lewis unique as an apologist is the way he balanced so perfectly reason and imagination, logic and intuition, and head and heart. In addition to writing such non-fiction apologetics books as Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and Miracles, he wrote eleven novels: the seven Chronicles of Narnia, a trilogy of science-fiction adventures, and a haunting retelling of an old myth set in the ancient world.

Would there be a Western civilization without the Greek myths? Would we be able to define our civilization and ourselves without some reference to the grand, violent, and venal doings of those denizens of Mount Olympus?Greek Mythology For Beginners presents the pantheon - that immortal collection of rogues and heroes, misfits and tyrants - and the stories about these deities and their dealings with the mortals. It delves into their undying influence on our thought and culture, and how each age from Rome to Shakespeare to Freud down to our own Marvel Comics and NASA has been enlightened, informed, and inspired by these tales.So strap on Hermes' winged sandals, saddle-up Pegasus, or even grab the nearest Harpy (remember to keep your eyes closed) and come along for the ride of your life. Let's fly to that world that's as old as Chaos--the ancient and refreshingly timely Greek myths!

There's a Black Woman on each of the seven continents and in almost every country. So no matter where you go, she's already been there. She travels with forces greater than herself. Her presence is everywhere."Black Women For Beginners "chronicles the trials and triumphs of Black Women from antiquity to the present, reflecting with wit and humor the challenges they have faced and the fortitude and strength that have sustained Black Women and patterned history with a diversity of excellence. As warriors, healers, teachers, mothers, queens, and liberators Black Women have had tremendous impact on issues from food to fashion, from politics to poetry. Replete with a glossary of reference terms, "Black Women For Beginners "whimsically details the influence of stereotypes on the portrayal of Black Women in various venues and punctuates the absurd.

Have you heard the terms ''structuralism'' and ''deconstruction'' and ''postmodernism'' but aren''t really sure what they mean? Have you taken a whole course on literary criticism but are still feeling lost? Here''s the book you need to sort it all out-and enjoy doing so!In LITERARY THEORY FOR BEGINNERS, Mary Klages takes you into her classroom, cuts through the jargon, and explains the ABCs (and the DEFs as well) in terms you can get your head around. Her breadth of knowledge, her unique skills as a teacher, and the delightful illustrations of Frank Reynoso help us understand why literature matters, how it affects us, and how it reflects history, culture, and diversity. Here are ways of thinking about literature-not just reading it-methods of study and frameworks of interpretation from classical humanism all the way up to psychoanalysis, gender and queer theory, race, post-colonialism, and, yes, postmodernism.With wit and wisdom, Klages takes on the two most frequently asked questions about literature and makes it all fun: What does the work MEAN? (What is the deeper, hidden, or symbolic meaning? Did the author intend all these meanings? Are any and all meanings present in the text? Are all meanings equally valid?); What does the work DO? (Why is literature important? What effect does it have on the reader? How can literature be a force for social change?)So sit back, relax, and take it all in!

A large swath of literature on the civil rights movement exists in the United States. Much of that literature focuses on the dramatic events of the African American resistance to Jim Crow and oppression from the mid 1950s to the early 1970s. Frequently, this material is scholarly and, at best, only marginally accessible to the general public. Moreover, many of the books on the modern civil rights movement focus exclusively on a narrow historical time frame and often on widely recognised public figures like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King. CIVIL RIGHTS FOR BEGINNERS fills a major gap by placing the modern civil rights movement into a broader historical perspective. It, also, discusses the civil rights and liberation movements from the 60s to the present that the African American freedom struggles helped to catalyse including, the Chicano Movement, the American Indian Movement, the Asian American Movement, the Women''s Movement and the Gay Liberation Movement. Unlike most civil rights books, CIVIL RIGHTS FOR BEGINNERS focuses less on major leaders and more on the ordinary African Americans who provided the backbone of the successful protests and demonstrations. Moreover, it deals with the expressive culture of the movement, surveying key developments in literature, music, visual art and film, all of which served as integral features of the movement and contributing to its enduring legacy.