Reading selected texts by Michael Ondaatje, including the novels In the Skin of a Lion and The English Patient and the poem "Birch Bark," Annick Hillger demonstrates how his writing both answers and challenges attempts to delineate the idea of a Canadian national self. She sets Ondaatje's work within the context of theoretical and philosophical ideas, developing the notion of a "literature of silence" concerned with finding a ground for self beyond the realm of language.

Those of us on Earth depicts the trials and tribulations of two female alien-born friends who did not anticipate a forbidden love with their earth-alien guides. Yet through various devices, with the assistance of the mafia, the FBI and alien families who escaped to an ancient city in the mountains, they were able to save all of those on earth, seek a defense against the alien ship which threatened Las Vegas and trade advanced technologies to the U.S. Government for the return of a high ranking alien.

Through close readings of five Italian collections of novellas written over a 500-year period, Martin Marafioti explores the literary tradition of storytelling, and particularly its efficacy as a healing tool following traumatic visitations from the plague. In this study, Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron provides the framework for later authors. Although Boccaccio was not the first writer to deal with pestilence or epidemics in a literary work, he was the first to unite the topos of a life-threatening context with a public health disaster like the Black Death, and certainly the first author to propose storytelling as a means of prophylaxis in times of plague. Marafioti goes on to analyze Franco Sacchetti's Trecento Novelle, Giovanni Sercambi's Novelliere, Celio Malespini's Duecento Novelle, and Francesco Argelati's Decamerone, following in its longue-durée the ups and down, structurally and thematically, of the realistic novella as a genre.

In Staging Scenes from the Operas of Donizetti and Verdi, veteran opera director William Ferrarapresents a detailed, practical exploration of the staging of twenty-one scenes from two of opera’s most beloved composers. He brings to life Donizetti’s delightful comedies, L’Elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale, and guides us throughthe haunted world of Lucia di Lammmermoor. He explores Verdi’s dark themes and imagery in scenes from Rigoletto, and the heartbreaking choices of the characters in La traviata. With signature comic touches, vivid characters, and dynamic stage action, Ferrara brings tried-and-true techniques as well as lively new ideas to these favorite scenes. Topics include study and research, rehearsal planning, blocking, characterization, ideas for simplified sets and props, and costume design. The introduction to each of the five operas includes a brief description of the story and characters, and suggestions for several different approaches to staging—both traditional and modern. The heart of each chapter is the text and translation of the scene, embedded with line-by-line notes on character, movement, emotion, and interaction. This fresh approach to staging an opera scene by applying insights and ideas directly to the text sparks the student’s dramatic imagination and inspires a deeper understanding of the connection between words and music. In addition, by exploring creative improvisations, exercises and contemporary parallels, young performers are encouraged to build more authentic and dynamic performances. Intended for college and university voice teachers seeking guidance for developing a scenes program or opera workshop class, this is also the perfect workbook for students studying opera stage direction, as well as graduate and undergraduate students performing opera scenes by Donizetti and Verdi.