{"product_id":"the-pig-oskar-panizza-9781939663153","title":"The Pig: In Poetic, Mythological, and Moral-Historical Perspective","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"For dry humor from a decadent nihilist, it can't be beat.\" -M. Kasper, \u003ci\u003e Rain Taxi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The Pig is the Sun....\"\u003c\/i\u003e So begins Oskar Panizza's outrageously heretical and massively erudite essay on the pig, originally published in 1900 in his journal \u003ci\u003eZurich Discussions\u003c\/i\u003e. Moving from the Rig Veda to the Edda to Ovid, from the story of Tristan and Isolde to Nordic celebrations of Christmas, from Grimms' fairytales to Swedish folklore to Judeo-Egyptian dietary restrictions, the author contends, through painstakingly philological argumentation, that the miraculous swine occupies a central, celestial position as the life-giving force animating the entire universe, usurping the place of God as the beginning and end of all things. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOskar Panizza\u003c\/b\u003e (1853-1921) was a German psychiatrist turned avant-garde author. In 1894 he published his notorious play \u003ci\u003eThe Love Council\u003c\/i\u003e: \"A Heavenly Tragedy in Five Acts\" that depicted the spread of syphilis among humanity in 1492 through a senile god, an idiot Christ, a promiscuous Mary and a depraved Pope Alexander VI. Charged with 93 counts of blasphemy, Panizza found his instantaneous literary fame accompanied by a 12-month prison sentence. Moving to Zurich, he published a journal, \u003ci\u003eZurich Discussions\u003c\/i\u003e, the majority of which he wrote himself under a series of pen names. After being expelled from Switzerland, he relocated to Paris until his 1899 publication of anti-Germanic verse led to his finances being seized. He spent the last 16 years of his life in a Bavarian mental institution.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Oskar Panizza\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1939663156\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781939663153\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wakefield Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/26\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 120\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.00h x 4.50w x 0.50d","brand":"Oskar Panizza","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43983884943615,"sku":"9781939663153","price":13.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_84898555-4e09-4b3e-8228-9f210ef2ad9a.jpg?v=1683269282","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-pig-oskar-panizza-9781939663153","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}