The Finger: A Handbook - Couverture rigide

Trumble, Angus

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0374154988 ISBN 13 : 9780374154981

Editeur : Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2010

Synopsis

Book by Trumble Angus

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

In this collision between art and science, history and pop culture, the acclaimed art historian Angus Trumble examines the finger from every possible angle. His inquiries into its representation in art take us from Buddhist statues in Kyoto to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, from cave art to Picasso's 'Guernica', from Van Dyck's and Rubens's winning ways with gloves to the longstanding French taste for tapering digits. But Trumble also asks intriguing questions about the finger in general: how do fingers work, and why do most of us have five on each hand? Why do we bite our nails? This witty, odd and fascinating book is filled with diverse anecdotes about cow-milking, the fingerprint of a grave robber in King Tut's tomb and a woman in Trumble's local bank whose immensely long, coiled fingernails do not prevent her from signing a check. Side by side with historical discussions of rings and gloves and nail varnish are meditations on the finger's essential role in writing, speech, sports, crime, law, sex and, of course, the eponymous show of contempt.

Revue de presse

'This is the sort of exuberant nonfiction in which you learn something surprising on every page, and not only does Trumble amass a great wealth of finger facts, his interpretations are deft and pleasing in their acuity, and his delight in the entire endeavour is contagious.' --Donna Seaman

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Date d'édition: 2010
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0374154988
• ISBN 13: 9780374154981
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 300
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible