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Books below and on the left are listed in order of pending or actual
publication date, starting with the most recent.
Click on any of the
links directly on the left to view any Smart Pop Books title.
Scroll down to
view all Smart Pop Classics titles.
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Revisiting Narnia:
Fantasy, Myth and Religion in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles
October 2005
Edited
by Shanna Caughey
Suggested Retail Price:
$14.95 US |
$20.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$11.96 US | $16.76 CAN
“A
fascinating collection of twenty-five essays … If you want a book that
will provide a variety of new ideas to think about, this book should be
on your short list.”
Robert Trexler, editor of CSL: The Bulletin of
the New York C.S. Lewis Society
C. S. Lewis'
Chronicles of Narnia have stimulated imaginations for more than half a
century, inspiring childhood wonder, earnest faith and spirited debate
regarding Christian doctrine.
Widely studied and
revered, Lewis' Chronicles are structured around deep paradigms and
resounding questions: How do the books form such an intimate, personal
bond with readers both young and old? Does Narnia betray some hidden
Universalism in Lewis' theology? What are we to think of the evil
dark-skinned Calormenes from the South who seem to represent the Arab
race? What really prevented Susan from entering Narnia? What does
Aslan's characterization as a "tame lion" say about Lewis' thoughts on
providence?
Contributors include:
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Peg Aloi
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David E. Bumbaugh
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Jacqueline Carey
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Marie-Catherine Caillava
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James Como
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Russell W. Dalton
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Vox Day
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Colin Duriez
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Natasha Giardina
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Wesley A. Kort
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Nick Mamatas
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Louis A. Markos
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Sam McBride
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Cathy McSporran
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Ingrid Newkirk
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Joseph Pearce
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Martha C. Sammons
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Peter J. Schakel
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James V. Schall, S. J.
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Sally D. Stabb, Ph.D.
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Charlie W. Starr
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Lawrence Watt-Evans
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Naomi Wood
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Mary Frances Zambreno
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Sarah Zettel
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Flirting with
Pride and Prejudice: Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit
Masterpiece
September 2005
Edited by New
York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Crusie
Suggested Retail Price:
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Special Smart Pop
Price:
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(STARRED REVIEW)
"Each contribution to this smart and entertaining collection is a pure
delight, adding up to an unusually enjoyable work of literary
criticism...This is one book about Austen's novels that teens will
actually enjoy reading."
John Charles,
Booklist
“Readable and interesting … the selections reflect some current thinking
on the topic and add another much-needed volume to the general
literature of the field. Provocative and entertaining … this makes for
fascinating, sometimes hilarious, reading and should find a home in
collections focusing on the popular romance genre.”
Kristin
Ramsdell, Library Journal
“... pop culture has never had a tastier harvest. ... Funny and full of
smart ideas, Flirting with Pride and Prejudice is a chick lit
feast, complete with saucy appetizers before every bite by the queen of
romantic comedy, Jennifer Crusie.”
Cindy Harrison,
Romantic Times
Book Club magazine
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of the most beloved
novels of our time, transcending the literary world to earn a spot on
every woman’s nightstand. Now, Flirting with Pride and Prejudice
takes a fresh and humorous look at Austen’s classic tale of looking for
Mr. Right, marrying rich and finding true love in the process.
Flirtatious interludes include:
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Karen Joy Fowler,
bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club, explores the
genius of Austen’s work, its appeal to the truly feminine and
compares them to comic books, teen magazines and fairytales
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Renowned
historical romance author Cheryl Sawyer tells the little
known tale of Jane Austen’s chance encounter with the infamous Lord
Byron
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New York Times
bestselling author Teresa Medeiros
explains the unfathomable allure of the ever-stoic Mr. Darcy
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Popular Salon.com
television critic Joyce Millman ponders the
implications of a new reality show: Pride
and Prejudice
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Bestselling fantasy writer Mercedes Lackey
puts a fantastical twist on the matchmaking ploys of the newly
married Elizabeth
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Acclaimed Buffy and Firefly
screenwriter Jane Espenson sheds light on one of the most
lightly drawn characters of Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Darcy’s
enigmatic little sister, Georgiana
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Bestselling romance author Jill Winters
retells Pride and Prejudice to reveal the untold story of
Mary’s secret life
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Celebrated chick-lit, romance and comedic novelist
Michelle Cunnah considers how cell phones would have drastically
changed the courtship of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy
Other contributors include (in order
of appearance):
- Beth Kendrick
- Jennifer O'Connell
- Laura Caldwell
- Lawrence Watt-Evans
- Joe Beverly
- Elisabeth Fairchild
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- Adam Roberts
- Shanna Swendson
- Lauren Baratz-Logsted
- Jennifer Coburn
- Laura Resnick
- Sarah Zettel
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- Lani Diane Rich
- Mercedes Lackey
- Melissa Senate
- Erin Dailey
- Alesia Holliday
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Jennifer Crusie is a
New York Times bestselling author whose novels include Bet Me,
Faking It, Fast Women and Welcome to Temptation. She is a frequent
contributor to the BenBella Books Smart Pop series and editor of
Totally Charmed: Whitelighters, Demons and the Power of the Three.
She holds an MA in feminist criticism and
an MA in fiction. For more information visit
www.jennycrusie.com.
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Navigating the
Golden Compass: Religion, Science and Daemonology
in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
August 2005
Edited by Glenn Yeffeth
Suggested Retail Price:
$17.95 US |
$24.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$14.36 US | $19.96 CAN
About Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
“Fit for bonfire.” - The
Catholic Herald
“This is after all an alternative world, or set of worlds ... What would
the church look like, what would it inevitably be, if it believed only
in a God who could be rendered powerless and killed and needed unceasing
protection? It would be a desperate, repressive tyranny. Pullman’s views
are clear; but he is a good enough writer to leave some spaces. This is
a church without creation, or redemption, certainly without Christ.”
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Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
About
Navigating the Golden Compass
From the streets of Lyra’s Oxford to Dr. Mary Malone’s
lab, from the Republic of Heaven to the harpy-ruled pit of hell,
Navigating the Golden Compass examines every aspect of Pullman’s
brilliant fantasy:
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Michael Chabon
on truth and lies, literature that lives in the borderlands, and
Pullman’s two great inventions: daemons and Dust
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Harry Turtledove
considers Occam’s Razor and The Subtle
Knife
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Jean Rabe
extols the virtues of Mrs. Coulter
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Justin Leiber
weighs in on the “Christian Fatwa” heading Pullman’s way ... and
volunteers to be his bodyguard
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Dan Moloney
asks if Pullman’s atheist agenda gets in the way of his story
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Don DeBrandt
makes the case that Pullman’s dark materials are actually
psychedelic drugs
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Karen Traviss
explores the practical implications of introducing daemons to our
world
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Natasha Giardina
shows that Pullman breaks the rules by writing a book that isn’t
about the superiority of grown-ups
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Gregory Maguire
asks if there can
be
such a thing as temptation in a world where sin has lost its meaning
Other contributors include:
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Kim
Dolgin
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Richard Harland
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Dave
Hodgson
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Kay
Kenyon
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Arthur
B. Markman
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Robert
A. Metzger
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Naomi
J. Wood
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Sarah
Zettel
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The War of the
Worlds: Fresh Perspectives on the H. G. Wells Classic
Includes Original The War of the Worlds
Novella
May 2005
Edited by Glenn Yeffeth
Suggested Retail Price:
$17.95 US |
$24.95 CAN
Special Smart Pop
Price:
$14.36 US | $19.96 CAN
Introduction by
Robert Silverberg
H. G. Wells’ The
War of the Worlds, one of the great classics of science fiction,
is as vivid and powerful today as the day it was written. In this
collection, fourteen of science fiction’s greatest talents come together
to discuss, with insight and humor, one of science fiction’s most
important works.
Essays include:
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“H. G. Wells’
Enduring Mythos of Mars,” in which Stephen Baxter provides
the history of man’s investigations of Mars and explains why Wells
was right after all
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“Just Who Were
Those Martians, Anyway?” in which Lawrence Watt-Evans
explains how ridiculously incompetent the Martians were as
interplanetary invaders, and why
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“In Woking’s
Image,” in which Mercedes Lackey takes us to a different
alien world: Wells’ hometown of Woking during the late 19th
century
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“The Tiniest
Assassins,” in which Mike Resnick suggests that Wells gets
one tiny thing wrong
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The Hugo-winning
“The Soul Selects Her Own Society” (the only reprint in this
anthology), in which Connie Willis describes the unfortunate
encounter between Emily Dickinson and Wells’ Martians
Other contributors
include:
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David
Gerrold
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Fred
Saberhagen
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Pamela
Sargent
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Robert
Silverberg
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Ian
Watson
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Jack
Williamson
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Robert
Charles Wilson
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George
Zebrowski
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David
Zindell
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H. G. Wells is
considered by many to be the originator of science fiction as we know it
today. A novelist, journalist, sociologist and historian, Wells’ best
known works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr.
Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the
Worlds (1898).
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