Description
In prehistoric times, our ancestors began building shelters and planting crops in order to escape from nature's harsh realities. Today, we flee urban dangers for the safer, reconfigured world of suburban lawns and parks. According to geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, people have always sought to escape in one way or another, sometimes foolishly, often creatively and ingeniously. Glass-tower cities, suburbs, shopping malls, Disneyland-all are among the most recent monuments in our efforts to escape the constraints and uncertainties of life-ultimately, those imposed by nature. "What cultural product," Tuan asks, "is not escape?" In his new book, the capstone of a celebrated career, Tuan shows that escapism is an inescapable component of human thought and culture.
Acclaimed cultural geographer Yi-Fu Tuan considers humanity's enduring desire to escape reality- and embrace alternatives such as love, culture, and Disneyworld
About the Author
From 1983 until retiring in 1998, Yi-Fu Tuan was the John K. Wright and Vilas Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. One of the most important and influential cultural geographers of our time, Tuan has been the recipient of many awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Cullum Medal of the American Geographical Society, and the Laureat d'Honneur of the International Geographical Union. His previous books include Cosmos and Hearth: A Cosmopolite's Viewpoint; Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values; Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets; and Who Am I? An Autobiography of Emotion, Mind, and Spirit.
Reviews
Escapism... is not so much an argument as a tour-sometimes a tour de force-of cultural escapes with exotic stops and unexpected twists and turns. And such a convivial tour guide! Tuan is chatty, engaging, unpretentious and charming. -- Francis I. Kane New York Times Book Review A reader could hardly ask for a more congenial guide, as Tuan's discussion ranges from Christ's last supper to chimpanzees copulating, from African bushmen barbecuing a turtle to diplomat-author Harold Nicolson bathing in a lake... Through this unusual perspective, Tuan is able to realign things usually considered opposites-'fantasy' and 'reality,' 'travel' and 'home,' 'work' and 'private life'-until they converge in fruitful new combinations... His playful treatment of life's glum realities feels at times as tonic as a leisurely Sunday morning... An original work to be read for both intellectual profit and pleasure. -- Jeffery Paine Washington Post Book World Writing in a deeply thoughtful style, Tuan, a leading cultural geographer, examines the wonders and atrocities that stem from the human impulse to deny the brutal realities of earthly existence. Utne Reader
Book Information
ISBN 9780801865404
Author Yi-Fu Tuan
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 283g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 14mm
Acclaimed cultural geographer Yi-Fu Tuan considers humanity's enduring desire to escape reality- and embrace alternatives such as love, culture, and Disneyworld
About the Author
From 1983 until retiring in 1998, Yi-Fu Tuan was the John K. Wright and Vilas Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. One of the most important and influential cultural geographers of our time, Tuan has been the recipient of many awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Cullum Medal of the American Geographical Society, and the Laureat d'Honneur of the International Geographical Union. His previous books include Cosmos and Hearth: A Cosmopolite's Viewpoint; Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values; Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets; and Who Am I? An Autobiography of Emotion, Mind, and Spirit.
Reviews
Escapism... is not so much an argument as a tour-sometimes a tour de force-of cultural escapes with exotic stops and unexpected twists and turns. And such a convivial tour guide! Tuan is chatty, engaging, unpretentious and charming. -- Francis I. Kane New York Times Book Review A reader could hardly ask for a more congenial guide, as Tuan's discussion ranges from Christ's last supper to chimpanzees copulating, from African bushmen barbecuing a turtle to diplomat-author Harold Nicolson bathing in a lake... Through this unusual perspective, Tuan is able to realign things usually considered opposites-'fantasy' and 'reality,' 'travel' and 'home,' 'work' and 'private life'-until they converge in fruitful new combinations... His playful treatment of life's glum realities feels at times as tonic as a leisurely Sunday morning... An original work to be read for both intellectual profit and pleasure. -- Jeffery Paine Washington Post Book World Writing in a deeply thoughtful style, Tuan, a leading cultural geographer, examines the wonders and atrocities that stem from the human impulse to deny the brutal realities of earthly existence. Utne Reader
Book Information
ISBN 9780801865404
Author Yi-Fu Tuan
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 283g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 14mm
