This Means This, This Means That

Linguistics presents a friendly face in this user's guide to semiotics

Those who have tried to plough through the works of Ferdinand de Saussure or Jacques Derrida are likely to flee from anything with “semiotics” in the title—and with good reason. Without a significant amount of time and dedication, the field is nearly impenetrable. “This Means This, This Means That“, however, delivers on a promise to explain the obscure field of semiotics by way of example. …

Thornwillow Press at the St. Regis

The publisher's secret shop in NYC

In 1985, Luke Ives Pontifall was your average high school overachiever—the kind of guy whose regular classes weren’t enough to keep him busy, so he sought more stimulating after-school activities. Born out of tedium Thornwillow Press is a small publisher that produces finely crafted, handmade, limited-edition books. What began in Pontifall’s parents’ proverbial basement now thrives in Newburgh, NY, a town just across the Hudson …

Charles Dickens

The complete, interactive history of a literary legend

Charles Dickens is like the Madonna of the literary world. Two centuries later, the progressive British novelist remains as relevant and legendary today as he was at the height of his career. Marking the bicentennial of his birth this year is a series of events around London, dubbed Dickens 2012, and a new book by Dickens’ great-great-great-granddaughter Lucinda Dickens Hawksley. “Charles Dickens” is an interactive …