New from academic publisher Routledge, The Unnameable Monster in Literature and Film (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)

Table of contents:

Introduction.

1. Monsters as we know them: a history of named monsters.

2. Articulating the abstract: theories of the unnameable.

3. ‘Things’ not to be named nor understood: the unnameable monster in nineteenth century literature.

4. The ‘thing’ keeps coming back: modern and postmodern nondescriptors.

5. The spectacle of the lack: realising the monster on screen.

Conclusion.

Call for academic papers, edited for length and for focus on Lovecraft-friendly topics:

“Guillermo del Toro is one of the most interesting people currently involved in genre in its various expressions. He is an artist who embodies his art that comes as a result of his creative passions and deep reflection. One of the elements that make him so interesting is critical reflection on various elements that contribute to his approach at bringing genre to life. … I am seeking the submission of abstracts for chapters for this proposed volume. Possible topics may include the following in connection with Guillermo del Toro:

*Relationship between del Toro’s self-professed atheism/agnosticism and interests in monstrous transcendence

*Monsters as metaphor

*Gods and monsters as overlapping and co-existing concepts

*Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos

*Concept of the monstrous sacred

Abstracts of up to 350 words should be sent to my attention as the volume’s at johnwmorehead@msn.com. Submissions will be accepted through 30th November 2013. This book is not a scholarly one, but will include thoughtful interactions with del Toro’s work. Once contributors are identified a proposal will be submitted to potential publishers. A major genre publisher has already expressed an interest in this volume. No definite timeframe has been established, but contributors may be identified by the end of the year, and a goal may be to have chapter drafts completed by the end of April for submission to a publisher in May.

Great news for Kindle ereader owners. The massive two-volume I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft is now available for the Kindle. Also in the UK, which gives a price of a reasonable £6.37 (about $10). Worth getting even if you own the paper volumes, just so you can search all zillion words of it by keyword. Also useful for people who need a larger and easier-to-read font.

New 120-page book by Renzo Giorgetti, Lovecraft and Synchronicity (EDS, Stienta 2012. In Italian). Here’s the gist of a translated review…

Giorgetti uses ideas of synchronicity theorized by [the mystic/psychotherapist] Carl Jung. [The book has a] chapter dedicated to the figure of “Nyarlathotep” [in which Lovecraft] incarnates the state of tension that unites the crowds at that particular moment in history […] because of political and social upheavals [arising in the the post-war crisis year of 1919]. Then there are seemingly daring combinations between Lovecraft and the contemporary Italian writer Massimo Bontempelli. […] Another very striking juxtaposition is in the final chapter where the music of Erik Satie is compared to that of Erich Zann. Satie — one of the greats of contemporary music — is portrayed as an eccentric and passionate about esoteric beliefs.