{"title":"Peter Conrad","description":"\u003cp\u003ePeter Conrad offers a compelling blend of literary insight and historical analysis, weaving narrative depth with keen intellectual observation. His works, such as \u003cem\u003eDickens the Enchanter\u003c\/em\u003e, explore the lives and legacies of notable figures with a richly detailed, thoughtful approach that appeals to readers of biography and cultural history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEngaging with themes of myth and memory, Conrad’s writing moves beyond mere recounting, inviting readers to reflect on the broader significance of history and storytelling. Whether examining personal lives or larger historical currents, his books enrich the reader’s understanding of past and present.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dickens-the-enchanter-by-peter-conrad-9781399409193","title":"Dickens the Enchanter","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA kaleidoscopic investigation of Dickens’s imagination and the world he created.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSee Dickens as never before in this creative biography, which delves into his novels, journalistic essays and letters to reveal his strange, hilarious but obsessive personal character and the audacity of a mind that set out, as he said, to rearrange the universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePeter Conrad’s bold rediscovery of Dickens suggests that he alone rivals Shakespeare and in some ways betters him. As well as re-examining the great novels, Conrad’s book probes the journalism in which Dickens reports on his risky ventures into the urban underworld. It also describes the celebrated but dangerously over-intense public readings in which, as at a séance, he allowed his most terrifying characters to take possession of him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUltimately, it reveals how the forces of creation and destruction come together in Dickens, who despite his reputation for jollity and effusive sentiment, found it increasingly hard to control the madness and violence of his own self-destructive genius.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDickens the Enchanter\u003c\/em\u003e takes us deep into an imagination whose power and originality struck some contemporaries as godlike while others thought it demonic. If you already love Dickens, it will renew your understanding of him; if you have yet to read him, it will lure you into his astonishing, alarming, enchanted world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46825611559148,"sku":"9781399409193","price":48.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6459993482686.jpg?v=1758106524"},{"product_id":"mythomania-by-peter-conrad-9780500293546","title":"Mythomania","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite our culture's proclaimed respect for scientific reason, we live in a society that is no less bedazzled—and bedevilled—by myth than those of our remote ancestors. Roland Barthes first examined the mythical resonances of consumer products in the 1950s. Far from being demystified, consumerism has since morphed into a universal religion, its compulsory ritual of shopping essential to our economic survival. Myth has also invaded the political realm, as terrorists brandish black flags and recite theological mantras as they martyr themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePeter Conrad's exhilarating book, \u003cem\u003eMythomania\u003c\/em\u003e, exposes the absurdity and occasional insanity of our godforsaken, demon-haunted contemporary culture. Conrad casts his brilliant beam upon subjects from The Queen to the Kardashians, via Banksy, Nando's, vaping, the vogue of the cronut, the mushroom-like rise of Dubai, the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, and the growth of the Pacific garbage patch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn Judge Judy, he shows us a matronly Roman goddess dispensing justice with a fly swatter. In the metamorphosis of Caitlyn Jenner from Olympic athlete and paterfamilias into an idealized female form, he sees parallels to the deeds of the residents of Mount Olympus themselves. Finally, after surveying advances in biomedical engineering and artificial intelligence, he asks whether we might be on the brink of a post-human world. This edition also includes an entry on Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the USA.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46849582465260,"sku":"9780500293546","price":31.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2756323482366.jpg?v=1759053480"},{"product_id":"dickens-the-enchanter-by-peter-conrad-9781399409209","title":"Dickens the Enchanter","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDickensian is a language, not an adjective. Conrad speaks it fluently.\u003c\/em\u003e -- \u003cem\u003eSpectator World\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMarvellous... the best book on Dickens since G.K. Chesterton’s. -- A. N. Wilson, \u003cem\u003eThe Oldie\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA kaleidoscopic investigation of Dickens’s imagination and the world he created.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSee Dickens as never before in this creative biography, which delves into his novels, journalistic essays and letters to reveal his strange, hilarious but obsessive personal character and the audacity of a mind that set out, as he said, to rearrange the universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs well as re-examining the great novels, Conrad’s book probes the journalism in which Dickens reports on his risky ventures into the urban underworld. It also describes the celebrated but dangerously over-intense public readings in which, as at a séance, he allowed his most terrifying characters to take possession of him. Ultimately it reveals how the forces of creation and destruction come together in Dickens, who despite his reputation for jollity and effusive sentiment found it increasingly hard to control the madness and violence of his own self-destructive genius.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDickens the Enchanter\u003c\/em\u003e takes us deep into an imagination whose power and originality struck some contemporaries as godlike while others thought it demonic. If you already love Dickens, it will renew your understanding of him; if you have yet to read him, it will lure you into his astonishing, alarming, enchanted world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47602903285996,"sku":"9781399409209","price":19.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781399409209-dickens-the-enchanter.jpg?v=1778049447"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/peter-conrad.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}