Zossima Press

Harry Potter & Imagination, by Travis Prinzi

Travis Prinzi — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:03:41 +0000

“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.” Those words, written by Plutarch and quoted by J.K. Rowling in her 2008 Harvard commencement speech, sum up both the Harry Potter series and Travis Prinzi’s analysis of the best-selling books in Harry Potter & Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds. Great imaginative literature places readers between two worlds - the magical world on the page and the world of daily life - and challenges readers to imagine and to act for a better world. Starting with Harry Potter’s great themes, Harry Potter & Imagination takes readers on a journey through the transformative power of those themes for both the individual and for culture by placing Rowling’s series in its literary, historical, and cultural contexts. Prinzi explores how fairy stories in general, and Harry Potter in specific, are not merely tales that are read to “escape from the real world,” but stories with the power to transform by teaching us to imagine better.

Listen to an interview with Travis on Harry Potter Prognostications.

The Cat on the Catamaran: A Christmas Tale - Now Shipping!

Travis Prinzi — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:18:32 +0000

Good news! John Martin’s book, The Cat on the Catamaran: A Christmas Tale, is now shipping! Order your copy today!

The Cat on the Catamaran: A Christmas Tale, by John Martin

Travis Prinzi — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:16:05 +0000

Here is a modern-day parable of a modern-day cat with modern-day attitudes. Riverboat Dan is a “cool” cat on a perpetual vacation from responsibility. He’s The Cat on the Catamaran – sailing down the river of life. Dan keeps his guilty conscience from interfering with his fun until he runs into trouble. But will he have the courage to believe that it’s never too late to change course?

“This book is a joy, and as companionable as a good-natured cat.”
Walter Hooper, author of C.S. Lewis: Companion and Guide.

“Cat lovers and poetry lovers alike will enjoy this whimsical story
about Riverboat Dan, a philosophical cat in search of meaning.”
Regina Doman, author of Angel in the Waters.

CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society - Contributing Membership

Travis Prinzi — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:05:45 +0000

CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society. Published since 1969, this bi-monthly bulletin contains essays and reviews on C.S. Lewis, his works, ideas, and connections to other writers. 16 pages for $20 USA subscribing membership. Special Offer (while supplies last) for every USA subscription you may get a FREE hardcover copy of James Como’s Branches to Heaven: The Geniuses of C.S. Lewis. You pay only the price of subscription ($20) plus $4.75 shipping/handling (Total - $24.75). For more information and samples of the bulletin go to their website: www.nycslsociety.com. Each issue is sixteen 8.5 x 11” pages. (USA orders only)

The New York C.S. Lewis Society has kept the domestic subscription price at $10 dollars (below our cost) for many years to encourage membership from students and those with less disposable income. The generosity of members who become “contributing members” for $20 dollars or “sustaining members” for $30 dollars helps us to keep our general membership affordable for more people. Contributing and sustaining memberships through the website will receive a free hardcopy of Jim Como’s Branches to Heaven while supplies last.

CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society - Sustaining Membership

Travis Prinzi — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:55:08 +0000

CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society. Published since 1969, this bi-monthly bulletin contains essays and reviews on C.S. Lewis, his works, ideas, and connections to other writers. 16 pages for $30 USA subscribing membership. Special Offer (while supplies last) for every USA subscription you may get a FREE hardcover copy of James Como’s Branches to Heaven: The Geniuses of C.S. Lewis. You pay only the price of subscription ($30) plus $4.75 shipping/handling (Total - $34.75). For more information and samples of the bulletin go to their website: www.nycslsociety.com. Each issue is sixteen 8.5 x 11” pages. (USA orders only)

The New York C.S. Lewis Society has kept the domestic subscription price at $10 dollars (below our cost) for many years to encourage membership from students and those with less disposable income. The generosity of members who become “contributing members” for $20 dollars or ”sustaining members” for $30 dollars helps us to keep our general membership affordable for more people. Contributing and sustaining memberships through the website will receive a free hardcopy of Jim Como’s Branches to Heaven while supplies last.

Four Exciting Pre-orders!

Travis Prinzi — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:53:56 +0000

Zossima is proud to announce that four forthcoming books are currently available for pre-order:

C.S. Lewis & Philosophy as a Way of Life, by Adam Barkman

Harry Potter & Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds, by Travis Prinzi

Repotting Harry Potter: A Professor’s Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Re-Reader, by James W. Thomas

The Cat on the Catamaran, by John Martin (Update: Now Shipping!)

Pre-order: C.S. Lewis & Philosophy as a Way of Life

Travis Prinzi — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:38:32 +0000

C.S. Lewis, renowned Christian apologist and beloved author of children’s novels, is rarely thought of as a “philosopher,” per se, despite his university traning in this subject and his teaching philosophy for several years at Oxford. Lewis’s long journey to Christianity was essentially philosophical - passing through six different stages. This journey, as well as every philosophical topic Lewis discussed, including metaphysics, natural theology, epistemology, logic, psychology, ethics, socio-political philosophy, and aesthetics is explained here in detail. Barkman incorporates previous unexplored treasures from Lewis’s unpublished philosophy lectures, lecture notes, and hand-written annotations from copies of philosophical books suchs as Aristotle’s Ethics and Augustine’s City of God.

Owen Barfield once said that “What Lewis thought about everything was evident in what he wrote about anything.” C.S. Lewis & Philosophy as a Way of Life is the definitive book on “what Lewis thought about everything,” which is to say, his philosophical underpinnings. This book, consequently, is must reading to better understand Lewis’s theological and literary writings.

Pre-order Repotting Harry Potter, by Dr. James W. Thomas

Travis Prinzi — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:41:26 +0000

A professor of literature for over thirty years, Dr. James W. Thomas takes us on a tour back through the Potter books in order to enjoy them [even more and] in different ways upon subsequent readings. Re-readers will be pleasantly surprised at what they may have missed in the books and at what secrets Rowling has encoded for us to decode as we revisit these rich texts. The professor’s informal and often lighthearted discussions focus on puns, humor, foreshadowing, literary allusions, narrative techniques, and various other aspects of the Potter books hard-to-see on the hurried first or fifth reading. Throughout, Dr. Thomas also draws parallels between passages in Harry’s story and various literary classics. Repotting Harry Potter is not concerned with spoilers. After all, it’s for re-readers; and, as the professor points out, for the serious student of serious literature there are no spoilers, and nothing can really be spoiled. Dr. Thomas shows us too in his brilliant but light touch that a “serious” reading of literature can be as much fun as it is edifying and rewarding.

Pre-Order Harry Potter & Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds

Travis Prinzi — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:31:38 +0000

Now shipping! Order your copy today!

Three Special C.S. Lewis Offers!

Travis Prinzi — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:59:38 +0000

Zossima Press is glad to offer three exciting deals on excellent C.S. Lewis scholarship. Inventory is limited. When they’re gone they’re gone. Order for yourself or for a gift (or both!)

Offer #1: CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society. Published since 1969, this bi-monthly bulletin contains essays and reviews on C.S. Lewis, his works, ideas, and connections to other writers. 16 pages for $10 USA subscribing membership. Special Offer (while supplies last) for every USA subscription you may get a FREE hardcover copy of James Como’s Branches to Heaven: The Geniuses of C.S. Lewis. You pay only the price of subscription ($10) plus $4.75 shipping/handling (Total - $14.75). For more information and samples of the bulletin go to their website: www.nycslsociety.com. Each issue is sixteen 8.5 x 11” pages. Click here to purchase! (USA orders only)

Offer #2: Why I Believe in Narnia: 33 Reviews and Essays on the Life and Works of C.S. Lewis by James Como PLUS get a FREE hardcover copy of Branches to Heaven: The Geniuses of C.S. Lewis for $15.25, with just $4.75 shipping/handling (Total = $20). Thomas Howard calls James Como “an enormously astute critic and scholar of immense integrity.” America Magazine writes: ”Many have rummaged around the Lewis legacy, but few interpreters are as trustworthy as Como.” Library Journal wrote: “For the serious reader . . . good insights into Lewis the man.” Click here to purchase!

Offer #3: C.S. Lewis: View from The Wake Forest (16 essays edited by Michael Travers) for just $15.25 PLUS get a bonus hardcover book C.S. Lewis: Memories and Reflections by John Lawlor for just $4.75 shipping for both books (Total = $20). Lawlor was a personal friend of not only C.S. Lewis, but all the other Inklings. The list price of Lawlor’s book is $22.95an you can get a brand new shrink-wrapped copy for FREE. Thomas Howard writes of this book, “I do not think I have ever read a book on Lewis which so instantly engaged and delighted me.” Walter Hooper writes: “The range of this book is staggering.” Library Journal writes: ”A welcome addition to Lewis biography.” And the Washington Post reviewer thought, “The chapter on the Chronicles of Narnia is one of the best evaluations of the famous children’s books I have ever read.” Click here to purchase!