Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Can't play? Read. Can't Read? Listen.

The following is from an Ed Kostreba e-mail. While he doesn't specifically note which University of Massachusetts campus he's referring to, I'm fairly sure it's Amherst.
Histor(ies) of Chess: A Two-Author Book Reading
Sponsored by UMass Department of English, The Five-College Medieval Seminar, and Five Colleges, Inc.
Thursday, October 5, 2006, 5:00 p.m.
Memorial Hall, University of Massachusetts

David Shenk, author of The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science and the Human Brain

In his wide-ranging examination of chess, David Shenk unearths the hidden history of a game that seems so simple yet contains infinity. From its invention somewhere in India around 500 A.D. to its twenty-first-century importance in the development of artificial intelligence, chess has been a remarkably omnipresent factor in the development of civilization.

"Fun, factual, and a good read... Not a reference book to be stored on a shelf [but] a book to be read and enjoyed, and even read again... buy this book!" - Chess Life magazine

"Shenk, a spry writer... [offers] a strong case for the game's bewitching power." - The New York Times
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Jenny Adams, author of Power Play: The Literature and Politics of Chess in the Late Middle Ages

Power Play is the first book to ask why chess became so popular so quickly, why its pieces were altered, and what the consequences of these changes were.
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There will also be a post-talk reception afterwards to which all are invited.

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