Robert Mayer

The 1,000 plus texts of the Ancient Tantra Collection (rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum) contain many of the oldest examples of Tantric literature in Tibetan. They also contain many of the most important examples of Buddhist Tantric literature surviving in any language. Their contribution to Tibetan religion and culture over the last 1,200 years has been incalculable, and remains undiminished in modern times. Yet, like most manuscript traditions of such great antiquity, centuries of accumulated scribal corruption have reduced them in a great many cases almost to incomprehensibility, even to the most learned Tibetan lamas. Modern times have been a particularly testing period for this great scriptural tradition, above all because the Chinese invasion of Tibet led to the destruction of an estimated 95% of its extant witnesses. In this work, Cantwell and Mayer attempt to start the immense task of restoring these wonderful texts to their original state through textual criticism. They discuss the received scribal state of the texts, their surviving editions, and different possible methods of restoring them through textual criticism. They produce editions of two importang texts, also considering features of their original compilation, and commentarial usage of them. This is intended as a small contribution towards the eventual restoration of the entire tradition.

The true story of how the disappearance of Denice Haraway, a young woman from Ada, Oklahoma, tore apart the small midwestern town and irrevocably corrupted its sense of justice describes the crime, the investigation, and the resulting trial and conviction of two men, in a focused analysis of the American criminal justice system. Reprint. 60,000 first printing.

Before there was WATCHMEN, there was SUPERFOLKS.... David Brinkley used to be a hero, the greatest the world had ever seen--until he retired, got married, moved to the suburbs, and packed on a few extra pounds. Now all the heroes are dead or missing, and his beloved New York is on the edge of chaos. It's up to Brinkley to come to the rescue, but he's in the midst of a serious mid-life crisis--his superpowers are failing him. At long last this classic satire that inspired comic books like Watchmen and Miracleman is back in print. It's a hilarious thriller that digs deep into the American psyche.

This new study of the origins of the English novel argues that the novel emerged from historical writing. Examining historical writers and forms frequently neglected by earlier scholars, Robert Mayer shows that in the seventeenth century historical discourse embraced not only ‘history’ in its modern sense, but also fiction, polemic, gossip, and marvels. Mayer thus explains why Defoe’s narratives were initially read as history. It is the acceptance of the claims to historicity, the study argues, that differentiates Defoe’s fictions from those of writers like Thomas Deloney and Aphra Behn, important writers who nevertheless have figured less prominently than Defoe in discussions of the novel. Mayer ends by exploring the theoretical implications of the history-fiction connection. His study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the emergence of what we now call the novel in Britain in the eighteenth century.

This new study of the origins of the English novel argues that the novel emerged from historical writing. Examining historical writers and forms frequently neglected by earlier scholars, Robert Mayer shows that in the seventeenth century historical discourse embraced not only ‘history’ in its modern sense, but also fiction, polemic, gossip, and marvels. Mayer thus explains why Defoe’s narratives were initially read as history. It is the acceptance of the claims to historicity, the study argues, that differentiates Defoe’s fictions from those of writers like Thomas Deloney and Aphra Behn, important writers who nevertheless have figured less prominently than Defoe in discussions of the novel. Mayer ends by exploring the theoretical implications of the history-fiction connection. His study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the emergence of what we now call the novel in Britain in the eighteenth century.