{"product_id":"the-ten-heavens-of-my-sally-a-kitt-chappell-9781500481841","title":"The Ten Heavens of My Literary Paradise: A Bibliomemoir","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Ten Heavens of My Literary Paradise\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e A deep-time illustration of Franz Kafka's remark that \"a book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us,\" Sally Chappell's brief book on the connection between her personal growth and the books she has read focuses on ten great novels. Suggesting that fiction has magical powers to carve out new capacities in the psyche, Chappell tells how Miguel Cervantes's \u003ci\u003eDon Quixote\u003c\/i\u003e helped her dust herself off after defeat; how Herman Melville's \u003ci\u003eMoby Dick\u003c\/i\u003e prodded her to embark on a large theme; how James Joyce's \u003ci\u003eUlysses\u003c\/i\u003e gave her a new security based on the secret strength of the subconscious. Robert Musil's \u003ci\u003eThe Man Without Qualities\u003c\/i\u003e and Gregor von Rezzori's \u003ci\u003eAn Ermine in Czernopol \u003c\/i\u003e showed how laughter can make tragedy bearable; Hermann Broch's \u003ci\u003eThe Death of Virgil\u003c\/i\u003e and Marguerite Yourcenar's \u003ci\u003eMemoirs of Hadrian\u003c\/i\u003e how death and dying can be borne; and Marcel Proust's \u003ci\u003eRemembrance of Things Past\u003c\/i\u003e how the act of writing itself can open doors into memory. Finally she absorbed the transforming power of Vladimir Nabokov's merger of satire and poetry in \u003ci\u003ePale Fire\u003c\/i\u003e and sustained the subversive shock of Jose Saramago's \u003ci\u003eThe Gospel According to Jesus Christ\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e The passages Chappell has chosen from each novel to illuminate this memoir of bibliomania will cause readers to cry, cringe, change their minds, and throw away comforting falsehoods they did not realize they believed in. She takes you by the hand, like Virgil, to give you an earthy view of the outer limits of the human imagination. A primer for re-reading, this short book will provide life-long enrichment.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Sally A. Kitt Chappell is Professor Emerita of architectural history at DePaul University in Chicago. Her \u003ci\u003eArchitecture and Planning of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White\u003c\/i\u003e (University of Chicago Press) won the Association of American Publishers' award for the best book in architecture and urban planning of 1992. During sabbaticals she wrote two ground-breaking books on the interplay of landscape and culture, \u003ci\u003eCahokia: Mirror of the Cosmos\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eChicago's Urban Nature: A Guide to the City's Architecture \u0026amp; Landscape.\u003c\/i\u003e She has contributed frequently to the Travel Section of \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times.\u003c\/i\u003e An anthology of her writing, \u003ci\u003eWords Work, \u003c\/i\u003e appeared in 2009. Two of her poetry collections were published recently, \u003ci\u003eShards\u003c\/i\u003e in 2011 and \u003ci\u003eSo Far\u003c\/i\u003e in 2013.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sally A. Kitt Chappell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 150048184X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781500481841\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/20\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 62\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.21lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.13d","brand":"Sally A. Kitt Chappell","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48458992058623,"sku":"9781500481841","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ade9a47f-f3a0-4a72-870e-936abc1c9786.jpg?v=1777407747","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-ten-heavens-of-my-sally-a-kitt-chappell-9781500481841","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}