Unfortunately, little is known about the personal life of Thomas Pynchon, the man behind such innovative texts as "The Crying of Lot 49" (1966) and "Gravity's Rainbow" (1973). Carefully guarding his privacy ever since the 1961 publication of his first novel, "V.," Pynchon has nevertheless dazzled cri
There are two mutually exclusive opinions regarding jazz musician Ornette Coleman. By some he is considered a visionary genius, representing the "third spur" of the Modernist revolution -- "a shift in approach to melody and rhythm to match Coltrane's skyscraping harmonics and Cecil Taylor's introduct
As a teacher, writer, and cultural critic, bell hooks consistently pinpoints the nastiest dust balls of sexism, racism, and homophobia that lurk in the dark corners of society. She challenges readers of all cultural or political stances with the perspective that no 'ism' is flawless and no one is ent
Andre Breton's hallucinatory approach to poetry emerged as a reaction against the tiresome literary conventions of Paris in the 1920s. Abandoning traditional notions of creativity and promoting the philosophical and political ideals of the Surrealist movement, Breton's highly stylized yet spontane