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Bloom, Harold (Author) & Shakespeare, William (Subject) : Shakespeare: The Invention Of The Human

Riverhead Books, New York City, NY, 1998

ISBN 1573221201

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 745 pages. Massive collection of essays on subject. One of the greatest books of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. "Autographed Copy" round white sticker pasted in front. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Harold Bloom's "Shakespeare: The Invention of The Human". The crowning achievement of Bloom's genius: A 745-page celebration - "commentary" does not quite do justice in this context - of the one writer that he, very controversially, regards as the greatest literary artist of all time, the beginning, the middle, and the end of everything, in effect AND affect. The central narrative of Harold Bloom's life-work is the existential struggle between "authority" and "personality". Whether it's specifically between orthodoxy versus heresy, The Holy Bible versus The Book of J, normative Judaism and Christianity versus mystical Kabbalah/Gnosticism, "personality" is triumphant because it is more expressive, more subtle, and more multitudinous whereas "authority" inevitably becomes predictable, rigid, and ossified. The idea of "personality" is not just articulated, but sublimely dramatized by Bloom. He credits Shakespeare with inventing it, and devotes a definitive essay to each of the plays, emphasizing their "personality" and influence on all subsequent literature, feeling, and thought. "Before Bloom is done with us, he has made us wonder whether his vision of Shakespeare's influence on the whole of our lives might not simply be the sobering truth. A feast of arguments and insights, written with engaging frankness and affecting immediacy. Filled with literally thousands of insights" (Daniel Hintzsche). "The ultimate use of Shakespeare is to let him teach you to think too well and towards whatever truth you can sustain without perishing" (Harold Bloom). An absolute "must-have" title for Harold Bloom collectors. This Autographed Copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the publisher's tipped-in page by Harold Bloom. This title is a great book. This is one of few such pre-signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: The publisher issued a limited number of signed copies, which vanished from bookstores (within a day of their release in 1998). Few such signed copies have resurfaced since, more than twenty years later (as of 2019), which means that collectors have held on to them. Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. The greatest literary critic of our time on the greatest writer of all time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER HAROLD BLOOM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1573221201.

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