The Duchess of Malfi's Apricots, and Other Literary Fruits
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Published: December 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 872
ISBN-13: 9781570034176
Subjects: Literary studies: general; Special Subjects In Literature; Literature - Classics / Criticism; Literary Criticism; Semiotics & Theory; General; Fruit; Fruit in literature
First sentence: To contrast with the fine tribute to apples by Plutarch (b. before 50; d. after 120 C.E.), another Greek text, perhaps half a millennium earlier, may be quoted from an even more prestigious source-if it is indeed by Plato (ca. 429-327 B.C.E.), as the (doubtful) traditional attribution would have it: I am an apple [malon] tossed by one who loves you.
Description: "What is the powerful cultural significance of mangoes to contemporary Hispanic American writers? How does the strange sex life of figs relate to literature? Why are bananas the humorous fruit par excellence, and how are grapefruits anomalous among the citruses?".

"Literary episodes featuring fruit are pervasive across genre and cultural tradition, occurring in the Bible, modern and contemporary literature, and everywhere in between. Robert Palter provides a meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated account of this phenomenon.

The Duchess of Malfi's Apricots, and Other Literary Fruits is a lively and far-ranging investigation of the way fruit has been used in literature to express the entire gamut of human experience from desire, love, and religious fervor to anger, hate, and horror. The visual arts - including sculpture, painting, and printmaking - are also richly represented, with some fifty illustrations, most of them in color."--BOOK JACKET.