And there’s a bookshelf!
Posted by Jesse Willis
A World Of Talent by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN
A World Of Talent, a novelet by Philip K. Dick, is PUBLIC DOMAIN.
The public domain status was not generally known because there was a fraudulent attempt to renew the copyright the year after the story was legally eligible to be renewed. This gave the deceptive appearance that the story was not in the public domain.
Here is the evidence.
HERE is the copyright renewal form. Notice that it states that the story, A World Of Talent, was published in Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1955, volume 10, number 5.
It was not in that issue.
Have a look at the table of contents:
A World Of Talent was actually published in the October 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. Here is that table of contents:
Because it was not properly renewed A World Of Talent is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Here is a |PDF| made from scans of Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1954.
Posted by Jesse Willis
CBC: Ideas: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, and its author Stephen Greenblatt, are the subject of the latest CBC Ideas podcast. The Swerve is the story of the recovery of a lost epic Roman poem, by Titus Lucretius Carus, titled On The Nature Of Things – Greenblat makes the case for it being a work that changed the world, made it modern, by bringing ancient philosophy into an age ready for enlightenment. It’s an absolutely fascinating discussion. Host Paul Kennedy, as usual, shows that Canadian tax dollars can be used incredibly well when put in the right hands.
The poem in question is available as a LibriVox audiobook HERE.
And The Swerve: How the World Became Modern is available from Recorded Books (narrated by Edoardo Ballerini).
Here’s the book’s description:
Renowned historian Stephen Greenblatt’s works shoot to the top of the New York Times best-seller list. With The Swerve, Greenblatt transports listeners to the dawn of the Renaissance and chronicles the life of an intrepid book lover who rescued the Roman philosophical text On the Nature Of Things from certain oblivion.
Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late 30s took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic by Lucretius – a beautiful poem containing the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion, colliding and swerving in new directions.
The copying and translation of this ancient book – the greatest discovery of the greatest book-hunter of his age – fueled the Renaissance, inspiring artists such as Botticelli and thinkers such as Giordano Bruno; shaped the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein; and had a revolutionary influence on writers such as Montaigne and Shakespeare, and even Thomas Jefferson.
Here’s the |MP3|
Podcast feed: http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/ideas.xml
Posted by Jesse Willis
LibriVox: A video introduction
A brief description of LibriVox.org, what it is, why it’s awesome, narrated by Phil Chenevert.
[via LibriVideo]
Posted by Jesse Willis
LibriVox: The Man In Asbestos: An Allegory Of The Future by Stephen Leacock
There’s a new great narrator working over on LibriVox and his name is Phil Chenevert.
Now when I say new I mean new-to-me, Chenevert has, apparently, been active on LibriVox since 2010. Since then he’s recorded an impressive number of audiobooks. I only discovered that after hearing his newly released, pitch perfect, reading of The Man In Asbestos: An Allegory Of The Future by Stephen Leacock (which is just one section of THIS audiobook).
You can check out all of his narrations HERE – based on what he’s recorded so far Chenevert seems to have a fondness towards children’s literature with several whole single narration audiobooks of Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and the Br’er Rabbit stories (which are awesomely accented) as well as a schooling manual (Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook by Dr. Maria Montessori). But there are a few SF titles in his catalogue too.
The Man In Asbestos: An Allegory Of The Future
By Stephen Leacock; Read by Phil Chenevert
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: April 16, 2012
A 20th century man travels to the distant future by typical means (eating donuts and reading comics) only to find himself in a museum of the 20th century. The museum’s curator isn’t exacty sure if it’s the year 3000 or not, but he is sure that life is better now that nobody dies, eats, or has a telephone. First published in 1911 as a part of Nonsense Novels.
[Thanks also to April Gonzales!]
Posted by Jesse Willis
Tantor Media: FREE AUDIOBOOK: Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry
Tantor Media is currently offering a FREE MP3 audiobook download of Thomas Perry’s Vanishing Act!
All you’ll need to get it is a Tantor account, which itself is completely free. If you already have one you’re three or four clicks away from getting the zipped folder full of MP3s.
There’s no information on how long this promotion will last, based on similar past freebies I’m betting it’ll be gone by month’s end, so grab it while you can.
Vanishing Act (Book 1 in the Jane Whitefield series)
By Thomas Perry; Read by Joyce Bean
MP3 Download – Approx. 10 Hours 7 Minutes[UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: October 28, 2009
Vanishing Act introduces Thomas Perry’s popular heroine Jane Whitefield, a Native American guide who secretly provides sanctuary to fugitives seeking new identities. In assisting the mysterious former cop John Felker, Jane is drawn into a trap that will take all of her cunning and the knowledge of her ancestors to escape.
Posted by Jesse Willis