In the Skin of a Beast

In the Skin of a Beast
Author: Peggy McCracken
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2017-05-17
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 022645892X

In medieval literature, when humans and animals meet—whether as friends or foes—issues of mastery and submission are often at stake. In the Skin of a Beast shows how the concept of sovereignty comes to the fore in such narratives, reflecting larger concerns about relations of authority and dominion at play in both human-animal and human-human interactions. Peggy McCracken discusses a range of literary texts and images from medieval France, including romances in which animal skins appear in symbolic displays of power, fictional explorations of the wolf’s desire for human domestication, and tales of women and snakes converging in a representation of territorial claims and noble status. These works reveal that the qualities traditionally used to define sovereignty—lineage and gender among them—are in fact mobile and contingent. In medieval literary texts, as McCracken demonstrates, human dominion over animals is a disputed model for sovereign relations among people: it justifies exploitation even as it mandates protection and care, and it depends on reiterations of human-animal difference that paradoxically expose the tenuous nature of human exceptionalism.

Animal Skins and the Reading Self in Medieval Latin and French Bestiaries

Animal Skins and the Reading Self in Medieval Latin and French Bestiaries
Author: Sarah Kay
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2017-02-24
Genre: Art
ISBN: 022643673X

Sarah Kay s interests in this book are, first, to examine how medieval bestiaries depict and challenge the boundary between humans and other animals; and second, to register the effects on readers of bestiaries by the simple fact that parchment, the writing support of virtually all medieval texts, is a refined form of animal skin. Surveying the most important works created from the ninth through the thirteenth centuries, Kay connects nature to behavior to Christian doctrine or moral teaching across a range of texts. As Kay shows, medieval thought (like today) was fraught with competing theories about human exceptionalism within creation. Given that medieval bestiaries involve the inscription of texts about and images of animals onto animal hides, these texts, she argues, invite readers to reflect on the inherent fragility of bodies, both human and animal, and the difficulty of distinguishing between skin as a site of mere inscription and skin as a containing envelope for sentient life. It has been more than fifty years since the last major consideration of medieval Latin and French bestiaries was published. Kay brings us up to date in the archive, and contributes to current discussions among animal studies theorists, manuscript studies scholars, historians of the book, and medievalists of many stripes."

The Beast Is an Animal

The Beast Is an Animal
Author: Peternelle van Arsdale
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2017-02-28
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1481488414

Raised by strict, devout people after soul eaters attacked her village and spared only the children, Alys grows up longing for the freedom of the forest while hiding a gift that would mark her as a witch.

Being a Beast

Being a Beast
Author: Charles Foster
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2016-06-21
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1627796347

A passionate naturalist explores what it’s really like to be an animal—by living like them How can we ever be sure that we really know the other? To test the limits of our ability to inhabit lives that are not our own, Charles Foster set out to know the ultimate other: the non-humans, the beasts. And to do that, he tried to be like them, choosing a badger, an otter, a fox, a deer, and a swift. He lived alongside badgers for weeks, sleeping in a sett in a Welsh hillside and eating earthworms, learning to sense the landscape through his nose rather than his eyes. He caught fish in his teeth while swimming like an otter; rooted through London garbage cans as an urban fox; was hunted by bloodhounds as a red deer, nearly dying in the snow. And he followed the swifts on their migration route over the Strait of Gibraltar, discovering himself to be strangely connected to the birds. A lyrical, intimate, and completely radical look at the life of animals—human and other—Being a Beast mingles neuroscience and psychology, nature writing and memoir to cross the boundaries separating the species. It is an extraordinary journey full of thrills and surprises, humor and joy. And, ultimately, it is an inquiry into the human experience in our world, carried out by exploring the full range of the life around us.

What a Beast!

What a Beast!
Author: Sophia Kelly
Publisher: Franklin Watts
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Animals, Imaginary
ISBN: 9781606310601

Describes some of the creatures and monsters in Greek mythology.

Beasts Made of Night

Beasts Made of Night
Author: Tochi Onyebuchi
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2017-10-31
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0448493926

"...The beginning of a great saga..." —NPR.org "This compelling Nigerian-influenced fantasy has a wonderfully unique premise and lush, brilliant worldbuilding that will consume you until the last page."—Buzzfeed "...Unforgettable in its darkness, inequality, and magic." —VOYA, Starred Review "...A paean to an emerging black legend."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Black Panther meets Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch in Beasts Made of Night, the first book in an epic fantasy duology. In the walled city of Kos, corrupt mages can magically call forth sin from a sinner in the form of sin-beasts—lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt. Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj’s livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family. When Taj is called to eat a sin of a member of the royal family, he’s suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos. Now Taj must fight to save the princess that he loves—and his own life. Debut author Tochi Onyebuchi delivers an unforgettable series opener that powerfully explores the true meaning of justice and guilt. Packed with dark magic and thrilling action, Beasts Made of Night is a gritty Nigerian-influenced fantasy perfect for fans of Paolo Bacigalupi and Nnedi Okorafor. iBooks Most Anticipated YA Books of the Fall io9’s All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Keep On Your Radar This Fall BuzzFeed’s 22 YA Novels You’ll Want To Read From Cover To Cover This Fall A 2017 BookExpo Buzz Book A Junior Library Guild Selection

Beast

Beast
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2000
Genre: Beauty and the beast (Tale)
ISBN: 0689835892

In this retelling of "Beauty and the Beast", a young, privileged Persian prince falters and makes a single wrong decision, setting an ancient curse into motion. He is transformed into a lion on the very day his father, the king, embarks on a lion hunt. Fleeing Persia, he makes his way across Europe in search of forgiveness and redemption, and finds it in a French beauty named Belle.

Winter's Beast

Winter's Beast
Author: Twyla Turner
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2017-06-22
Genre:
ISBN: 9781548179137

"I have never resented Ivan's good looks. But there are times, once I became of age to date girls and women, that I wish I could look more like him than myself. Women are not often quick to date a monster. I was okay with that. Until now. Until Winter. She changed everything..."Ivan Petrov is a ruthless Russian businessman who is only six degrees off mob boss. He doesn't give a rat's ass about anything other than getting what he wants. And he wants Winter Rose, the prodigy opera singer, and is willing to torment her sexually until she begs for it. He could care less that Yury, his disfigured and most trusted guard has fallen for her.Winter's Beast is one part sugar and sweet, two parts sex and sweat. It is not your typical Romance and although it has an HEA, it's a dark, twisty road to get there.***WARNING***This novel is filled with angsty consensual non-consent. Yeah, you read that right. I'll say it again...consensual non-consent. It might be triggering for some. As for everyone else... Shake off those strict Puritan morals and enjoy... Because Ivan Petrov, The Sexual Sadist certainly has.With Love, Twyla

Billy and the Beast

Billy and the Beast
Author: Nadia Shireen
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2018-05-31
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1448193877

One of The Observer's Best Children's Books of 2018! 'It's a great story for everyone, especially those not used to seeing themselves centre-stage'- The Guardian From the author of Bumblebear, comes a new heroine for our times. Introducing: Billy! Whilst on a lovely walk in the woods, Billy and her trusty sidekick Fatcat hear a terrible rumble... a terrible rumble coming from a Terrible Beast... He’s making a Terrible Soup out of all of Billy and Fatcat’s friends! Luckily, our brave heroine Billy has a trick or two up her sleeve (or in her hair)... Join Billy on her mission to defeat the Terrible Beast (and save those adorable little bunny rabbits too). 'A refreshing picture book star' - The Observer

The Beast Within

The Beast Within
Author: Joyce E. Salisbury
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2012-11-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 113576431X

Praise for the first edition: "...a brave and fascinating exploration of an area that has so far been rather neglected by both historical and literary critics. The Beast Within provides extremely valuable information on the legal and cultural background of the human-animal relationship..." -- Studies in the Age of Chaucer This important book offers a unique exploration of the use of and attitude towards animals from the 4th to the 14th centuries. The Beast Within explores the varying roles of animals as property, food and sexual objects, and the complex relationship that this created with the people and world around them. Joyce E. Salisbury takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, weaving a historical narrative that includes economic, legal, theological, literary and artistic sources. The book shows how by the end of the Middle Ages the lines between humans and animals had blurred completely, making us recognise the beast that lay within us all. This new edition has been brought right up to date with current scholarship, and includes a brand new chapter on animals on trial and animals as human companions, as well as expanded and updated discussions on fables and saints, and a new section on ‘bestial humans’. This important and provocative book remains a key work on the historical study of animals, as well as in the field of environmental history more generally, and also provides crucial context to ongoing debates on animal rights and the environment.