Books About Art

This assortment of study guides focuses on the arts, from cinema to cuisine. Read on to explore Aristotle’s Poetics, which analyzes the nature and uses of poetry; An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski, a manual for actors based on the author’s work and teachings at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia; and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which chronicles the art of fine dining.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

by Stephen King

Publication year 2000

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Art, Childhood & Youth, Language

Tags Arts & Culture, Self-Improvement, Biography

Stephen King’s 2000 memoir, On Writing, details King’s formation as an author and provides writing advice. The memoir is divided into five sections: “C.V.,” “What Writing Is,” “Toolbox,” “On Writing,” and “On Living.”In “C.V.,” King provides a curriculum vitae describing how he was formed as a writer. He begins in his early childhood and describes his life with his mother, Nellie, and older brother, David. King’s father is not in the picture, and the family... Read On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Summary

Orwell's Roses

by Rebecca Solnit

Publication year 2021

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Literature, Politics & Government, Environment, Beauty, Truth & Lies

Tags Arts & Culture, World History, Politics & Government, Philosophy, Social Justice, Science & Nature, Biography

... Read Orwell's Roses Summary

Other Words for Home

by Jasmine Warga

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Fear, Race, Family

Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Immigration & Refugeeism, Diversity, Race & Racism, American Literature, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Arts & Culture

... Read Other Words for Home Summary

Out Of Nowhere

by Maria Padian

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Language, Perseverance, Teamwork, Immigration

Tags Sports, Immigration & Refugeeism, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Arts & Culture

... Read Out Of Nowhere Summary

Out of the Silent Planet

by C. S. Lewis

Publication year 1938

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Order & Chaos, Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Science Fiction, Arts & Culture, Christian, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

Published in 1938, Out of the Silent Planet is a science fiction novel by author C. S. Lewis, best known for his bestselling fantasy children’s series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the first book in Lewis’s Space Trilogy, followed by Perelandra (1943) and That Hideous Strength (1945). With Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis sought to write a narrative that differed from contemporary popular science fiction, which he believed promoted harmful ideas like human... Read Out of the Silent Planet Summary

Patterns of Culture

by Ruth Benedict

Publication year 1934

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Anthropology, Education, Education, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Social Science, Arts & Culture, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

Patterns of Culture, originally published in 1934, is an anthropological text by Ruth Benedict. Translated into 14 languages and with three updated English editions, the book is considered a classic in American anthropology. This study guide uses the most recent, 2005 edition published by Mariner Books, which includes a foreword by Louise Lamphere, a preface by Margaret Mead, and an introduction by Franz Boas, the founding father of cultural anthropology.Benedict popularized the idea of cultural... Read Patterns of Culture Summary

Persimmons

by Li-Young Lee

Publication year 1986

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Language, Immigration, Objects & Materials, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Love, Food

Tags Lyric Poem, Ekphrastic, Free Verse, Relationships, Immigration & Refugeeism, Arts & Culture, Confessional, Asian Literature

... Read Persimmons Summary

Picture Us in the Light

by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Self Discovery, Community, Art, Truth & Lies, Friendship

Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ+, Coming of Age, Arts & Culture, Depression & Suicide, Grief & Death, Mental Illness, Modern Classic Fiction

Picture Us in the Light is a young adult novel written by Kelly Loy Gilbert and published in 2018 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Gilbert is the author of three young adult novels, all of which focus on the young Asian American experience. Picture Us in the Light is written in the first-person perspective of protagonist Danny Cheng, but Gilbert includes flashbacks to China to connect Danny to a past his parents have... Read Picture Us in the Light Summary

Plum Bun

by Jessie Redmon Fauset

Publication year 1928

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Gender Identity, Coming of Age

Tags Harlem Renaissance, Classic Fiction, Coming of Age, Race & Racism, Gender & Feminism, Arts & Culture, African American Literature, Women`s Studies, American Literature, Historical Fiction

Jessie Redmon Fauset’s Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral recounts the story of a young Black woman in the 1920s who decides to pass as white. Ostensibly a coming-of-age story, the novel features a complex treatment of racial barriers and gender inequalities. While the trajectory of the novel is straightforward and relatively typical for the bildungsroman—young woman leaves home, discovers herself through a series of obstacles she must overcome, and finally learns how to... Read Plum Bun Summary

Poetics

by Aristotle

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Art, Literature, Language

Tags Philosophy, Narrative Poem, Arts & Culture, Creative Nonfiction, Ancient Greece, Philosophy, Literary Criticism, Classical Period, Classic Fiction

Poetics, written around 335 BCE, is one of the most important works of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. This guide refers to the 2013 Oxford World’s Classics edition, translated and edited by Anthony Kenny.Poetics sets out to analyze the nature and uses of poetry. To Aristotle, poetry doesn’t just mean verse but theater; the works he examines are mostly plays. While Poetics is one of the most influential works of world philosophy, it’s also incomplete:... Read Poetics Summary

Powers of Horror

by Julia Kristeva

Publication year 1980

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Literature, Fear, Hate & Anger, Art, Good & Evil

Tags Horror & Suspense, Literary Criticism, Psychology, Philosophy, Arts & Culture, Philosophy, Psychology, Gender & Feminism, French Literature

... Read Powers of Horror Summary

Prairie Lotus

by Linda Sue Park

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Friendship, Coming of Age, Community, Race, Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Perseverance, Mothers

Tags Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Race & Racism, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, World History, Arts & Culture

... Read Prairie Lotus Summary

Prayer to the Masks

by Léopold Sédar Senghor

Publication year 1945

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Race, Colonialism, Politics & Government

Tags Lyric Poem, Race & Racism, Arts & Culture, African Literature, Politics & Government

“Prayer to the Masks” is a poem by influential Senegalese poet and politician Léopold Sédar Senghor, published in 1945 in his collection Chants d’ombre (Songs of Shadow). Senghor often used his work to illuminate African history and contemplate the consequences of colonialism. Educated in Paris, Senghor was a founding member of the artistic and political movement Négritude, which emphasized pride in African and Black identity and history, which he practiced through his poetry. With “Prayer... Read Prayer to the Masks Summary

Preface to Lyrical Ballads

by William Wordsworth

Publication year 1800

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Art, Literature

Tags Arts & Culture, Romanticism, Education, Education, British Literature, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

“Preface to Lyrical Ballads” is an essay by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In 1798 Wordsworth wrote, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads. Believing that the poems were so novel in theme and style that they required some explanation, Wordsworth wrote a prefatory essay to accompany the second edition of the poems in 1800; he then expanded the essay for the third edition of 1802.The “Preface” is often considered a manifesto... Read Preface to Lyrical Ballads Summary

Properties of Thirst

by Marianne Wiggins

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Grief, Memory, Perseverance, Nation, Justice, Politics & Government

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Arts & Culture, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Food, Grief & Death, US History, World History, Immigration & Refugeeism, Incarceration, Military & War, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Love & Sexuality, Relationships, Social Justice

... Read Properties of Thirst Summary

Rain of Gold

by Victor Villaseñor

Publication year 1991

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Latin American Literature, Arts & Culture, World History, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Classic Fiction

Rain of Gold recounts author Victor Villaseñor’s family history through the early 20th century, when his parents immigrated to America to escape the violence of the Mexican Revolution. The book was inspired by stories from his grandmother and father, which Villaseñor came to view with skepticism as an adult. He devoted 12 years to researching his family’s history, which included conducting hundreds of hours of interviews with his parents, Lupe and Juan Salvador, and embarking... Read Rain of Gold Summary