{"title":"Boria Sax","description":"\u003cp\u003eBoria Sax is a distinguished author whose work brilliantly bridges the realms of mythology, history, and zoology. Known for his captivating narratives and meticulous research, Sax invites readers into the enigmatic world of animals, blending fact with folklore in a way that is both enlightening and engrossing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis collection includes remarkable titles like \u003cem\u003eAvian Illuminations\u003c\/em\u003e, which offers a rich exploration of birds in myth and culture, revealing their profound influences on human societies. Similarly, \u003cem\u003eDinomania\u003c\/em\u003e dives into the world of dinosaurs, uncovering the mystique and cultural significance these ancient creatures hold in our collective imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eEnchanted Forests\u003c\/em\u003e, Sax ventures into the mystical woods, weaving tales of forests as seen through the lens of science, legend, and art, whilst \u003cem\u003eImaginary Animals\u003c\/em\u003e examines the fantastical beasts that populate our myths and dreams, delving into how these creatures have shaped human thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach book in the collection falls under the \u003cstrong\u003eScience \u0026amp; Nature\u003c\/strong\u003e category, offering readers a unique perspective on how the natural world and human culture are intertwined. Boria Sax's work is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the stories we build around the natural world and its inhabitants.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"avian-illuminations-by-boria-sax-9781789144321","title":"Avian Illuminations","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAvian Illuminations\u003c\/i\u003e examines the many roles birds have played in human society, from food, messengers, deities, and pets, to omens, muses, timekeepers, custodians, hunting companions, decorative motifs and, most importantly, embodiments of our aspirations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt narrates the history of our relationships with a host of birds including crows, owls, parrots, falcons, eagles, nightingales, hummingbirds, and many more. Along the way, the book describes how birds' nesting has symbolised human romance, and how their flight has inspired inventors throughout history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book concludes by showing that the interconnections between birds and humans are so manifold that a world without birds would effectively mean an end to human culture itself. Beautifully illustrated, this is a superb overview of our long and rich association with our feathered friends.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832376316140,"sku":"9781789144321","price":57.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/27972253482824.jpg?v=1758384691"},{"product_id":"dinomania-by-boria-sax-9781789140040","title":"Dinomania","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt once reptilian and avian, dinosaurs enable us to imagine a world far beyond the usual boundaries of time, culture, and physiology. We have envisioned them in diverse and contradictory ways, reflecting, in part, our changing conceptions of ourselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTheir discovery, around the start of the nineteenth century, was intimately tied to our awareness of geological time; their vast size and power called to mind railroads, battleships, and factories, making dinosaurs, paradoxically, emblems of modernity. At the same time, their world was nature at its most pristine, and they simultaneously symbolised childhood innocence and wonder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDinosaurs provided a sort of code that has enabled people to speak indirectly about the possibility of our own extinction. Not unlike humans today, dinosaurs seem both powerful—almost godly—and helpless in the face of cosmic forces even mightier than themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDinomania\u003c\/em\u003e by Boria Sax offers a fascinating exploration of these contradictions, delving into how our perceptions of these incredible creatures reveal as much about us as they do about the prehistoric world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46854454313196,"sku":"9781789140040","price":59.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3d607bc5f426302c41b7e25e29d2c958.jpg?v=1759269962"},{"product_id":"enchanted-forests-by-boria-sax-9781789147902","title":"Enchanted Forests","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLinking literature, philosophy, art, and personal experience, a moving exploration of the wooded landscape's power.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1985, Boria Sax inherited an area of forest in New York State, which had been purchased by his Russian, Jewish, and Communist grandparents as a buffer against what they felt was a hostile world. For Sax, in the years following, the woodland came to represent a link with those who currently live and had lived there, including Native Americans, settlers, bears, deer, turtles, and migrating birds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this personal and eloquent account, Sax explores the meanings and cultural history of forests from prehistory to the present, taking in Gilgamesh, Virgil, Dante, the Gawain poet, medieval alchemists, the Brothers Grimm, Hudson River painters, Latin American folklore, contemporary African novelists, and much more. Combining lyricism with contemporary scholarship, Sax opens new emotional, intellectual, and environmental perspectives on the storied history of the forest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'We generally take forests for granted, but Sax, in this elegant history, reveals their glory and importance. When we look at our devastation of forests throughout the world, and how ignorant we are about the value of trees, it is a crime that we don't know more about their existence. Sax's graceful analysis guides us through all kinds of enchanted forests throughout history that need more respect than they have received.' - Jack Zipes, professor emeritus, University of Minnesota\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Put on your hiking boots and prepare for an adrenaline-fueled journey around the world with Sax as your expert guide. Make stops with Gilgamesh at the Cedar Forest of Lebanon, with Dante as he enters a dark forest, and with Joseph Conrad's Marlow as he navigates his way down a river to the Congo. Behold Yggdrasil of Nordic mythologies, the Cosmic Tree that grows in Siberia, or the Waq Waq tree in medieval Arab belief systems. Beauty and wisdom flash out at us on every page of this captivating volume.' - Maria Tatar, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Heroine with 1001 Faces\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003eEnchanted Forests\u003c\/i\u003e is a book that will take the reader through the deep, dark woods and yet enlighten, entertain, and enthrall. Sax has brought together knowledge from many fields, and the ease with which he moves between them shows his intense engagement with the subject. It is a must-read for all those who love forests.' - Sadhana Naithani, Jawaharlal Nehru University\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46854475546860,"sku":"9781789147902","price":57.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781789147902.jpg?v=1759243884"},{"product_id":"imaginary-animals-by-boria-sax-9781789145458","title":"Imaginary Animals","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTales throughout the world generally place fabulous beasts in marginal locations – deserts, deep woods, remote islands, glaciers, ocean depths, mountain peaks, caves, swamps, heavenly bodies and alternate universes. Legends tell us that imaginary animals belong to a primordial time, before we had encompassed the world with names, categories and scientific knowledge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eImaginary Animals\u003c\/i\u003e by Boria Sax traces the history of imaginary animals from Palaeolithic art to the \u003ci\u003eHarry Potter\u003c\/i\u003e stories, and beyond. It shows how imagined creatures help us psychologically, giving form to our subconscious fears as 'monsters', as well as embodying our hopes as 'wonders'. Nevertheless, their greatest service may be to continually challenge our imaginations, directing us beyond the limitations of our conventional beliefs and expectations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Shows how mermaids and dragons, even superheroes and Tamagochis, help us measure what it means to be human. A well illustrated and philosophically sophisticated book.' - \u003ci\u003eWorld of Interiors\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'A thought-provoking analysis of bestial creations...Recommended.' - \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Intriguing and thought-provoking...Scholarly and well-researched, without being either ponderous or condescending, it is written with real wit, and with a contagious delight in its subject rare in such a study. I would recommend it enthusiastically.' - Peter S. Beagle, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Unicorn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46854602227948,"sku":"9781789145458","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/e233f0e1b2907361d189379cda102f94.jpg?v=1759267779"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/boria-sax.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}