Jeffrey Katz – författare

How a passion for translation fueled the development of a great American poet_x000D__x000D_So Much Secret Labor is a window into the work of the great American poet, James Wright, whose love of languages and quest for the "true imagination" helped transform American poetry. The book draws on memoir, archival research, interviews, letters, and previous unpublished journal excerpts, presenting a scrupulous and intimate reading of Wright's work and the translations he insisted were as redemptive in his life as they were crucial to his poetics. At its center is a selection of Wright's translations, both from German and Spanish: poems by Trakl, Rilke, Heine, Vallejo, Lorca, and Neruda, among others, including draft versions discovered among his collected papers that have never been published. It also provides an important assessment of the little known formative influence of German poetry on Wright's own poems. Wright's literary relationship with another great mid-century American poet, Robert Bly, is featured here in a portfolio of unpublished letters, typescripts and holographs. These tell the story of their ardentfriendship and earliest translation collaborations, and situates them in the history of the emergence of poetry of the "true imagination" that they were beginning to explore at that time.

Hannah Arendt is one of the most important political theorists of the twentieth century. In her works, she grappled with the dark events of that century, probing the nature of power, authority, and evil, and seeking to confront totalitarian horrors on their own terms.This book focuses on how, against the professionalized discourses of theory, Arendt insists on the greater political importance of the ordinary activity of thinking. Indeed, she argues that the activity of thinking is the only reliable protection against the horrors that buffeted the last century. Its essays explore and enact that activity, which Arendt calls the habit of erecting obstacles to oversimplifications, compromises, and conventions.Most of the essays were written for a conference at Bard College celebrating the 100th anniversary of Arendt's birth. Arendt left her personal library and literary effects to Bard, and she is buried in the Bard College cemetery. Material from the Bard archive—such as a postcard to Arendt from Walter Benjamin or her annotation in her copy of Machiavelli's The Prince—and images from her life are interspersed with the essays in this volume.The volume will offer provocations and insights to Arendt scholars, students discovering Arendt's work, and general readers attracted to Arendt's vision of the importance of thinking in our own dark times.

RULES TO LIVE BY FOR WEALTH, HEALTH & HAPPINESS“There is a lot in this book that can turn lives around, towards fulfillment and happiness.”—The Jewish PressBorn in Spain during the height of the Middle Ages, Maimonides, also known as Rambam, is recognized as one of the greatest scholars of all time. Influential throughout the Middle East, he was both a traditionalist and an innovator – a Rabbi, physician, and philosopher – and his teachings continue to be widely respected today by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Jeffrey Katz is recognized as one of the foremost contemporary interpreters of Maimonides’ teachings. In RULES TO LIVE BY: Maimonides' Guide to a Wonderful Life, Katz shows today’s readers how the strategies and advice of this medieval philosopher stand the test of time and serve as a roadmap to health, wealth, and satisfaction despite the turmoil and uncertainties of modern life. By following these RULES TO LIVE BY readers can help make themselves physically, psychologically, and morally sound, as stated in the Bible, “And you shall be holy for My sake, for I, God, am holy” (Leviticus 20:26).  Using these rules, readers can take cues from above rather than from below, and retain enough of these time-tested values to keep their bodies and our society at its strongest, healthiest, and most honorable.“Rules to Live By: Maimonides’s Guide to a Wonderful Life, divides Rambam’s advice into seven categories, covering the key areas of life, including character development, family life, connection with G-D, career, and health. The advice is profound and provides an approach to excelling in each area, while also achieving an overall balance in your life, so you can be fulfilled and happy.”—The Jewish Press