{"product_id":"the-open-work-9780674639768","title":"The Open Work","description":"\u003cp\u003eMore than twenty years after its original appearance in Italian, \u003ci\u003eThe Open Work\u003c\/i\u003e remains significant for its powerful concept of \"openness\"--the artist's decision to leave arrangements of some constituents of a work to the public or to chance--and for its striking anticipation of two major themes of contemporary literary theory: the element of multiplicity and plurality in art, and the insistence on literary response as an interactive process between reader and text. The questions Umberto Eco raises, and the answers he suggests, are intertwined in the continuing debate on literature, art, and culture in general. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis entirely new edition, edited for the English-language audience with the approval of Eco himself, includes an authoritative introduction by David Robey that explores Eco's thought at the period of \u003ci\u003eThe Open Work\u003c\/i\u003e, prior to his absorption in semiotics. The book now contains key essays on Eco's mentor Luigi Pareyson, on television and mass culture, and on the politics of art. Harvard University Press will publish separately and simultaneously the extended study of James Joyce that was originally part of \u003ci\u003eThe Open Work\u003c\/i\u003e, entitled \u003ci\u003eThe Aesthetics of Chaosmos: The Middle Ages of James Joyce\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eThe Open Work\u003c\/i\u003e explores a set of issues in aesthetics that remain central to critical theory, and does so in a characteristically vivid style. Eco's convincing manner of presenting ideas and his instinct for the lively example are threaded compellingly throughout. This book is at once a major treatise in modern aesthetics and an excellent introduction to Eco's thought.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEco, Umberto:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Umberto Eco (1932-2016) was an internationally acclaimed writer, philosopher, medievalist, and professor, and the author of the best-selling novels \u003ci\u003eFoucault's Pendulum\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Name of the Rose\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Prague Cemetery\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as children's books. His numerous nonfiction books include \u003ci\u003eConfessions of a Young Novelist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSix Walks in the Fictional Woods\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Open Work\u003c\/i\u003e (all from Harvard). He was a recipient of the Premio Strega, Italy's highest literary prize; the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities; and a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the government of France.","brand":"Harvard University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50543889285394,"sku":"9780674639768","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a9e64460-ea38-4153-98b2-0ece95ebe34d.jpg?v=1731515887","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-open-work-9780674639768","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}