"I began writing in March of 1978, prodded by a seminal idea: I felt like poisoning a monk." This dark inspiration led Umberto Eco to begin his career as novelist at the somewhat tardy age of 46. Already established as one of the world's leading semioticians, a lecturer in constant demand, and a thin

Dense, Layered, Lush, Mathematical, Postmodern fiction, Semiotics

As a filmmaker, Peter Greenaway funnels influences from many art forms onto the screen. Primary among these influences is painting -- his cinematic eye is informed by a training in art history and a painterly sense of color, composition, and frame. Greenaway learned to work in the medium of film thro

Avant-garde film, Erotic, Ethereal, Implosive, Layered, Surreal

The work of Philip K. Dick represents some of the most influential writing to come out of the 1950s and 1960s. His explorations into the tenuous nature of reality have influenced thinkers across disciplines and genres. Recognizing that reality is a construct -- he disturbingly called it a "consensual

Agitated, Cyberpunk fiction, Dark, Distorted, Dystopic, Fantastic, Layered, Machinistic, Noir / pulp fiction, Religious, Trippy

The Buena Vista Social Club is a band of musicians whose careers span the history of twentieth-century Cuban music, from 90-year-old vocalist Compay Segundo (whose career began in the 1920s), to pianist Ruben Gonzalez, vocalist Ibrahim Ferrar (who came to fame in the 1950s), and 13-year-old timbalist

Bright, Ebullient, Expansive, Intimate, Layered, Round, Salsa music