Our Vampires, Ourselves

by Nina Auerbach

Book Overview

Nina Auerbach shows how every age embraces the vampire it needs, and gets the vampire it deserves. Working with a wide range of texts, as well as movies and television, Auerbach locates vampires at the heart of our national experience and uses them as a lens for viewing the last two hundred years of Anglo-American cultural history.

" Auerbach] has seen more Hammer movies than I (or the monsters) have had steaming hot diners, encountered more...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226032019
• ISBN13: 9780226032016
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Vampires Through A Far-Left Feminist Prism

Are you one of those fans of the genre who like to get all "analytical" about it? (WHY do people like it? How has it evolved to reflect the times/societies we live in?) This book is one author's take on those questions. Ms. Auerbach is a product of the revolutionary sixties. Her stances are unabashedly liberal. Thusly, you may not be on the same page (you'll pardon my using that expression) with her on everyhting, if you, personally, did not find the Reagan era "depressing" and never "hated" Republicans. Still, she writes with eloquence and states her conclusions clearly, without turning the book into a total "bash-fest". It is in interesting read, one that I recommend, especially if you have ever given any thought to the vampire genre in literature and movies and how it reflects/impacts society. Cheers.

Friendly vampires??

I don't totally buy the argument, but it's a novel take on the subject. Definitely worth a read if you want to find out about the "softer side" of the undead!

Book for School

I received the book in better condition than was described by the author. It shipped sooner than expected as well. I purchased this book as a resource for an academic paper for one of my graduate classes. The information was very interesting and useful. I believe this particular seller to be honest and trustworthy and would buy other products without worry. This book is a resource for academic study and it is also an interesting read for personal use.

An Interesting Take

For those who aren't interested in a Lit Crit approach: Don't bother to read it, then complain that it's focused on Literary Criticism! If you bother to know what you're getting into however, and want to approach it not as a collection of horror stories but as a provocative take on what these "little stories" mean when applied to the broader cultural perspective, then I definitely recommend it. This is a well-written book by a very intelligent and engaging author.

An interesting take on the familiar

Cogently argued, thoughtfully presented, entertainingly written. Since purchasing this book when it was first published, I've reread parts of it many times, just for the enjoyable and lively style of argument. Sure, there are many points I disagree with (but I could say the same for Neitzsche and Wittgenstein, too), but I always put the book down impressed by Auerbach's style and imagination. Others may claim that the book warrant only a single star in terms of a rating, for no other reason than their disagreement with the thesis. I say, whether you wind up agreeing or disagreeing--buying into everything Auerbach says or writing her off as wrongheaded--this book gives you plenty to chew on. If you disagree, ask yourself why you disagree; you may end up embracing the viewpoint of the third mind.