Cigarettes Are Sublime
Cigarettes are bad for you; that is why they are so good. With its origins in the author's urgent desire to stop smoking, Cigarettes Are Sublime offers a provocative look at the literary, philosophical, and cultural history of smoking. Richard Klein focuses on the dark beauty, negative pleasures, and exacting benefits attached to tobacco use and to cigarettes in particular. His appreciation of paradox and playful use of hyperbole lead the way on this aptly ambivalent romp through the cigarette in war, movies (the "Humphrey Bogart cigarette"), literature, poetry, and the reflections of Sartre to show that cigarettes are a mixed blessing, precisely sublime.
1001978481
Cigarettes Are Sublime
Cigarettes are bad for you; that is why they are so good. With its origins in the author's urgent desire to stop smoking, Cigarettes Are Sublime offers a provocative look at the literary, philosophical, and cultural history of smoking. Richard Klein focuses on the dark beauty, negative pleasures, and exacting benefits attached to tobacco use and to cigarettes in particular. His appreciation of paradox and playful use of hyperbole lead the way on this aptly ambivalent romp through the cigarette in war, movies (the "Humphrey Bogart cigarette"), literature, poetry, and the reflections of Sartre to show that cigarettes are a mixed blessing, precisely sublime.
26.95 In Stock
Cigarettes Are Sublime

Cigarettes Are Sublime

by Richard Klein
Cigarettes Are Sublime

Cigarettes Are Sublime

by Richard Klein

Paperback(Reprint)

$26.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Cigarettes are bad for you; that is why they are so good. With its origins in the author's urgent desire to stop smoking, Cigarettes Are Sublime offers a provocative look at the literary, philosophical, and cultural history of smoking. Richard Klein focuses on the dark beauty, negative pleasures, and exacting benefits attached to tobacco use and to cigarettes in particular. His appreciation of paradox and playful use of hyperbole lead the way on this aptly ambivalent romp through the cigarette in war, movies (the "Humphrey Bogart cigarette"), literature, poetry, and the reflections of Sartre to show that cigarettes are a mixed blessing, precisely sublime.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780822316411
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication date: 01/20/1995
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 232
Sales rank: 926,993
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.49(d)
Lexile: 1390L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard Klein is Professor of French at Cornell University and editor of Diacritics. He quit smoking while writing Cigarettes Are Sublime and has been nicotine-free ever since.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 1

1. What Is a Cigarette? 23

2. Cigarettes Are Sublime 51

3. Zeno's Paradox 77

4. The Devil in Carmen 105

5. The Soldier's Friend 135

6. "L'air du temps" 157

A Polemical Conclusion 181

Notes 195

Works Cited 203

Index 207
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews