This month’s feature titles include an ancient guide to romance and “the first book authored by a geological formation,” both by A&S faculty.
The Rock of Arles
Richard Klein ’62
Klein made a splash with his 1993 book Cigarettes Are Sublime, in which he contemplated the attractions and cultural cachet of smoking while trying to kick the habit.
Now, the professor emeritus of French literature has again teamed up with Duke University Press on an iconoclastic volume.
“This is likely the first book authored by a geological formation, in this case by the plateau of limestone on which the French city of Arles stands,” notes Kirkus.
“That, at least, is the explanation put forward by Klein … who jokingly claims that the Rock narrated the story of the town’s history to him—in French, which the author then transcribed and translated.”
As the publisher explains, that limestone slab “infallibly remembers every moment of its existence, from the Roman conquest of Gaul to the fall of feudal aristocracy, from the domination of the Catholic Church to the present French representative democracy.”
Klein’s other works include Eat Fat, a “postmodern diet book” in which he contemplates the beauty and value of corpulent bodies.
How to Get Over a Breakup
Michael Fontaine
A classics professor on the Hill, Fontaine is a regular contributor to a Princeton University Press series offering ancient wisdom for modern readers. In his latest, he translates (from the Latin) 2,000-year-old romance tips from the Roman poet Ovid, whose suggestions range from heartfelt to humorous and downright raunchy.
Some of the wisdom echoes the common-sense advice you’d get from your besties after a romantic reversal: staying busy, taking up a new hobby, going on vacation, and “minimizing and belittling your ex’s best features.”
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