MARC Record from Harvard University

LEADER: 03666pam a2200349 a 4500
005 20020606163548.3
008 960419s1996 nyua b 001 0 eng
001 990068550680203941
010 $a^^^96008455^
020 $a0312146027 (cloth)$0(uri) http://www.isbnsearch.org/isbn/0312146027
035 $a(OCoLC)34663195$0(uri) http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34663195
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dDLC
050 00 $aPN56.K64$bS43 1996
082 00 $a809/.9338$220
100 1 $aShattuck, Roger$0(uri) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80007740$0(uri) http://viaf.org/viaf/sourceID/LC|n80007740
245 10 $aForbidden knowledge :$bfrom Prometheus to pornography /$cRoger Shattuck.
250 $a1st ed.
260 $aNew York :$bSt. Martin's Press,$c1996.
300 $axiii, 369 p. :$bill. ;$c24 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [349]-358) and index.
505 0 $aThe far side of curiosity -- Milton in the Garden of Eden -- Faust and Frankenstein -- The pleasures of abstinence : Mme de Lafayette and Emily Dickinson -- Guilt, justice, and empathy in Melville and Camus -- Taking stock -- Knowledge exploding : science and technology -- The divine Marquis -- The sphinx and the unicorn -- Appendix I : Six categories of forbidden knowledge -- Appendix II : The occult -- Appendix III : "The sphinx" / by Francis Bacon.
520 $aForbidden Knowledge boldly traces the tragic arc of Western literature and culture as it explores the notion of "forbidden knowledge," from the sexual innocence of Adam and Eve to the awe-inspiring discoveries of modern scientists who have created the atomic bomb and recombinant DNA. The result is a dire portrait of human presumption and of a culture that has abandoned all limits in the quest for knowledge and experience. The harrowing imagery that Shattuck presents is matched only by his faith that we can understand our grievous loss of innocence by reexamining our greatest myths and stories of the last two thousand years. In lively, lucid prose Shattuck explores our uncertain fate through such myths as that of Prometheus and a wide range of literary works, including Milton's Paradise Lost, the writings of the Marquis de Sade, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Melville's Billy Budd, and the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Parents and teachers should be aware that Chapter VII does not make appropriate reading for children and minors. In this seminal work, Shattuck breaks new ground in opening up a crucial subject never before accorded this full-scale treatment. Forbidden Knowledge impels us to a renewed effort to think judiciously about morality and the sacred during a decade of radical skepticism. Forbidden Knowledge represents the capstone of Roger Shattuck's career as one of America's most original and gifted thinkers.
650 0 $aKnowledge, Theory of, in literature.$0(uri) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh94005621
650 0 $aSex in literature$0(uri) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85120618
650 0 $aLiterature and morals.$0(uri) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85077568
650 2 $aLiterature$0(uri) http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D008091
650 2 $aMorals$0(uri) http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D009014
650 2 $aKnowledge$0(uri) http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D019359
852 0 $bWID$cWIDLC$hPN56.K64$iS43 1996$8222007588040003941
852 0 $bLAM$cGEN$hPN56.K64$iS43 1996$8222007587970003941
876 $8222007587970003941$q1$70$mGEN$yBOOK$p32044037843075$cGEN$t1$0232007587950003941$h01$nPN56.K64 S43 1996$bLAM$lLAM
876 $8222007588040003941$q1$70$mWIDLC$yBOOK$p32044018212076$cWIDLC$0232007588000003941$h01$nPN56.K64 S43 1996$bWID$lWID