Shipping Estimate
USA
- USA
- CAN
- USA
- CAN
Ships within 48 hours · Estimated delivery Jul 12 - Jul 17
Promo Codes Available:
For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15
Description
A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Past"One of our true superstars of nonfiction" (David Foster Wallace), Lewis Hyde offers a playful and inspiring defense of forgetfulness by exploring the healing effect it can have on the human psyche. We live in a culture that prizes memory how much we can store, the quality of what's preserved, how we might better document and retain the moments of our life while fighting off the nightmare of losing all that we have experienced. But what if
"One of our true superstars of nonfiction" (David Foster Wallace), Lewis Hyde offers a playful and inspiring defense of forgetfulness by exploring the healing effect it can have on the human psyche.
We live in a culture that prizes memory--how much we can store, the quality of what's preserved, how we might better document and retain the moments of our life while fighting off the nightmare of losing all that we have experienced. But what if forgetfulness were seen not as something to fear--be it in the form of illness or simple absentmindedness--but rather as a blessing, a balm, a path to peace and rebirth? A Primer for Forgetting is a remarkable experiment in scholarship, autobiography, and social criticism by the author of the classics The Gift and Trickster Makes This World. It forges a new vision of forgetfulness by assembling fragments of art and writing from the ancient world to the modern, weighing the potential boons forgetfulness might offer the present moment as a creative and political force. It also turns inward, using the author's own life and memory as a canvas upon which to extol the virtues of a concept too long taken as an evil. Drawing material from Hesiod to Jorge Luis Borges to Elizabeth Bishop to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from myths and legends to very real and recent traumas both personal and historical, A Primer for Forgetting is a unique and remarkable synthesis that only Lewis Hyde could have produced.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Picador USA
Published: 09/22/2020
ISBN: 9781250619532
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.30w x 1.00d
Shipping Notes
- Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
- Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
- Delivery to the USA:
- Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
- If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
- We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
- Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
- To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
- Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
4.2 ★★★★★
Based on 1903 reviews
Sort
Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
This was a favorite fourth grade class book club book during a study of Native Americans.
Format: Paperback
This year my fourth grade class read the book Children of the Longhouse as a book club book. They were divided into groups of 4 and 5, and each day they would prepare a section of the book to read, and discuss it. Then the leader that day of each group shared what they thought. I don't want to spoil the story, but we were examining the relationships that the characters and the community in the book had to nature, and my students loved that. They found it interesting to learn about the beliefs, and that the challenges people had to face and overcome. They loved the climax and the ending too. Characters that they had felt were "bad guys" led to discussions of what options people in another culture might have which would necessitate them doing things that seem bad to us, like disobeying adult advice. I love the way this book fleshes out a pre European existence in the Northeast that helps us picture what life might have been like in an Iroquois village. We love the role that LaCross plays. My students use the Iroquois word for it. I pointed out the glossary at the back with pronunciations for Mohawk words, and my students loved using them and would even discuss how to correctly pronounce them. The book introduced my students to many ideas that they had never been exposed to, and they cared about the characters a lot. They also loved discussing the book more in an in depth way, and then hearing what other groups had had to say. I was interesting how similar the things that each group shared were. We can see that we need to shift our attitudes and be more connected to the natural world all around us.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2019
★★★★★ 5
museum quality
Format: Paperback
This is a kid's book, which is well illustrated, and useful. I have worked as a storyteller in schools. Kids of all backgrounds love native stories! All of Joseph Bruchac's books are high quality, museum pieces, just really good, the apotheosis [ideal] of what a storybook could be like.
gives a very good description of the native lifeways around stories, and
gives another view of native storytelling.
is another book that gives you native context, by an author who also has native storybooks in print, including
. Entering into native lifeways is not necessarily judgeable by white man culture, as
shows. One thing one notices in native cultures is that they ask new questions, something like one sees in
. I find native metaphysics to be similar to Quantum Mechanics. While not a native book,
gives some ideas on how life would work, from that perspective.
has stories about tricksters, which are not dissimilar to native stories. teachingdrum.org used to have a list of books of native stories, which is the most comprehensive I've seen. That is a nonprofit, and I have no connection with them, this cites the info resource only. All storytelling is fascinating.
is one example of European stories about animals, which are not totally dissimilar. Stories are fascinating. If you want to entrance, train, entertain, educate, and improve children, nothing is faster or easier than storytelling.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2012
★★★★★ 4
Great gift for a new teacher
Format: Paperback
Bought this book for a new teacher building up her book collection for her new classroom. It was a hit!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2021
★★★★★ 5
Wonderful book for many reasons
Format: Paperback
I recommend this book for its story, cultural accuracy, and high interest action. First it is an exciting story of how conflicts arise and can be resolved with an exciting lacrosse game at the end. How cool is that? But the cultural and historical details make this a fascinating read for all ages. If you want to know about the lives of Native Americans in the New York area, written by a Native American, and put into an historically accurate story, this is a great read. I would recommend this as a high interest type of reader for middle school readers, one that would challenge them as well. The story could be about conflicts today, but the action is naturally more intense. If you are looking for an accurate portrait of Native American life, Bruchac is a wonderful author for you to choose. It is hard to find good books about northeastern Native Americans.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2013
★★★★★ 5
Engaging and educational
Format: Paperback
We really enjoyed this book as a family. My children were enthralled with characters and depiction of life in a Longhouse village. We supplemented this book with others about the Iroquois Nation and East Coast Native Americans for our homeschooling unit. It was a hit.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2023