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Elysium

A Visual History of Angelology
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Elysium by Ed Simon is an exploration of the concept of paradise through the lens of arts and culture. The author delves into historical and cultural interpretations of utopia, weaving together literary analysis, philosophy, and theology. It's a rich tapestry of ideas examining how different societies envision their versions of perfection and what these reveal about human aspirations and beliefs.
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Format: Hardback
$8000
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy exploring rich and thought-provoking themes in arts and culture. Delving into the intersection of history, identity, and mythology, it offers a unique perspective, blending literary analysis with a deep dive into cultural narratives.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Ineffable, invisible, inscrutable—angels are enduring creatures across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and human experiences of the divine as mediated by spiritual emissaries are an aspect of almost every religious tradition.

In popular culture, angels are often reduced to the most gauzy, sentimental, and saccharine of images: fat babies with wings and guardians with robes, halos, and harps. By contrast, in scripture whenever one of the heavenly choirs appears before a prophet or patriarch, they first declare “Fear not!” for terror would be the most appropriate initial reaction to these otherworldly beings.

Angels are often not what we’d expect, but it’s precisely in that transcendent encounter that something of the strangeness of existence can be conveyed.

Elysium: A Visual History of Angelology is a follow-up volume to Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology, and like the earlier title, this book offers an account of the angelic hierarchies as they’ve been understood across centuries and cultures and of the individual personages, such as the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel, who have marked the mythology of the West.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781419767579

Publisher: Abrams

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 23 November 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: Abrams

Illustration: Full-color illustrations throughout

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 251.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 400

About the Author

Ed Simon is staff writer for the literary site The Millions and has contributed his characteristically engaging cultural criticism to almost every major American literary publication, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Paris Review Daily, the New Republic, and the Washington Post. With a PhD in English, Simon is an expert on the literature and religion of Renaissance Britain and early America, but he has developed a reputation among editors, critics, and readers for introducing complex subjects in an accessible manner. In fall 2021, Abrams released his book Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology, which has since become the standard text on the subject for popular readers.

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