Sidney Homan is Professor of English at the University of Florida and author or editor of some twenty-two books on Shakespeare and the modern playwrights. He is also a director and actor in professional and university theatres.

• Acknowledgements; Introduction: “What work of art has stayed with you--and why?”; Sidney Homan; Section One: “Changes in Attitude”; 1.  Poetry Meets Power: Tamburlaine the Great; Frederick Kiefer; 1. From Madness to Miracle: An Encounter with Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale; June Schlueter; 2. The Prison of Chillon; Donna Soto-Morettini; 3. Being All You Can’t Be: Robinson Crusoe as a Communist of One; Mike Hill; Section Two: The Medium Is Indeed the Message; 4. Marlowe’s Changing Line: Repetition, Poetry, and the Stage; S. P. Cerasano; 5. Playing Richard III: The Experience of a Moment and a Lifetime; Sidney Homan; 6.“If Only It Were Possible.” Time in Uncle Vanya’s Timeless Legacy; Avra Sidiropoulou; 7. Plastic Art Moment; Ranjan Ghosh; Section Three: Companions on a Journey; 8. Conversations with the Dead; Lawrence Quill; 9. Fight the Power: Spike Lee’s Visionary Moment; Jeffrey Di Leo; 10. “Nekyia”: The Homeric Passage to Hades; Elizabeth Sakellaridou; 11.Picasso’s “Three Musicians”; Henry Sussman; 12. Why Kitchens Matter: Re-visiting Renée’s Wednesday to Come; David O’Donnell; 13.“And a Little Bit Not”; Gina Mackenzie; Section Four: Very Personal Encounters; 15. Two for One; Daniel O’Hara; 16. Listening to James Baldwin; Daniel Nutters; 17. Keats’s Nightingale and Other Nightingales; Caroline Rooney; 18. Oliver!; Josh Marsh; 19. Pleasant Dreaming with “Thanatopsis”; Jerry Harp; 20. Lucky; Ralf Remshardt; 21. “It’s Okay Now”: Sending Myself Postcards from the Edge; MJ Robinson; Epilogue: Something of Great Constancy; Sidney Homan

“This impressive gathering of essays reminds us that often the best criticism derives not from theoretical or ideological systems of thought, but from those deep, indeed transformational, experiences we have when our encounters with art change the way we think or feel. Admirably free of jargon or pretension, this collection will appeal to, and perhaps even inspire, readers of all stripes.” — Joseph Candido, Professor of English, Emeritus, University of Arkansas

Sidney Homan is Professor of English at the University of Florida and author or editor of some twenty-two books on Shakespeare and the modern playwrights. He is also a director and actor in professional and university theatres.

• Acknowledgements; Introduction: “What work of art has stayed with you--and why?”; Sidney Homan; Section One: “Changes in Attitude”; 1.  Poetry Meets Power: Tamburlaine the Great; Frederick Kiefer; 1. From Madness to Miracle: An Encounter with Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale; June Schlueter; 2. The Prison of Chillon; Donna Soto-Morettini; 3. Being All You Can’t Be: Robinson Crusoe as a Communist of One; Mike Hill; Section Two: The Medium Is Indeed the Message; 4. Marlowe’s Changing Line: Repetition, Poetry, and the Stage; S. P. Cerasano; 5. Playing Richard III: The Experience of a Moment and a Lifetime; Sidney Homan; 6.“If Only It Were Possible.” Time in Uncle Vanya’s Timeless Legacy; Avra Sidiropoulou; 7. Plastic Art Moment; Ranjan Ghosh; Section Three: Companions on a Journey; 8. Conversations with the Dead; Lawrence Quill; 9. Fight the Power: Spike Lee’s Visionary Moment; Jeffrey Di Leo; 10. “Nekyia”: The Homeric Passage to Hades; Elizabeth Sakellaridou; 11.Picasso’s “Three Musicians”; Henry Sussman; 12. Why Kitchens Matter: Re-visiting Renée’s Wednesday to Come; David O’Donnell; 13.“And a Little Bit Not”; Gina Mackenzie; Section Four: Very Personal Encounters; 15. Two for One; Daniel O’Hara; 16. Listening to James Baldwin; Daniel Nutters; 17. Keats’s Nightingale and Other Nightingales; Caroline Rooney; 18. Oliver!; Josh Marsh; 19. Pleasant Dreaming with “Thanatopsis”; Jerry Harp; 20. Lucky; Ralf Remshardt; 21. “It’s Okay Now”: Sending Myself Postcards from the Edge; MJ Robinson; Epilogue: Something of Great Constancy; Sidney Homan

“This impressive gathering of essays reminds us that often the best criticism derives not from theoretical or ideological systems of thought, but from those deep, indeed transformational, experiences we have when our encounters with art change the way we think or feel. Admirably free of jargon or pretension, this collection will appeal to, and perhaps even inspire, readers of all stripes.” — Joseph Candido, Professor of English, Emeritus, University of Arkansas

Sidney Homan is Professor of English at the University of Florida and author or editor of some twenty-two books on Shakespeare and the modern playwrights. He is also a director and actor in professional and university theatres.

• Acknowledgements; Introduction: “What work of art has stayed with you--and why?”; Sidney Homan; Section One: “Changes in Attitude”; 1.  Poetry Meets Power: Tamburlaine the Great; Frederick Kiefer; 1. From Madness to Miracle: An Encounter with Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale; June Schlueter; 2. The Prison of Chillon; Donna Soto-Morettini; 3. Being All You Can’t Be: Robinson Crusoe as a Communist of One; Mike Hill; Section Two: The Medium Is Indeed the Message; 4. Marlowe’s Changing Line: Repetition, Poetry, and the Stage; S. P. Cerasano; 5. Playing Richard III: The Experience of a Moment and a Lifetime; Sidney Homan; 6.“If Only It Were Possible.” Time in Uncle Vanya’s Timeless Legacy; Avra Sidiropoulou; 7. Plastic Art Moment; Ranjan Ghosh; Section Three: Companions on a Journey; 8. Conversations with the Dead; Lawrence Quill; 9. Fight the Power: Spike Lee’s Visionary Moment; Jeffrey Di Leo; 10. “Nekyia”: The Homeric Passage to Hades; Elizabeth Sakellaridou; 11.Picasso’s “Three Musicians”; Henry Sussman; 12. Why Kitchens Matter: Re-visiting Renée’s Wednesday to Come; David O’Donnell; 13.“And a Little Bit Not”; Gina Mackenzie; Section Four: Very Personal Encounters; 15. Two for One; Daniel O’Hara; 16. Listening to James Baldwin; Daniel Nutters; 17. Keats’s Nightingale and Other Nightingales; Caroline Rooney; 18. Oliver!; Josh Marsh; 19. Pleasant Dreaming with “Thanatopsis”; Jerry Harp; 20. Lucky; Ralf Remshardt; 21. “It’s Okay Now”: Sending Myself Postcards from the Edge; MJ Robinson; Epilogue: Something of Great Constancy; Sidney Homan

“This impressive gathering of essays reminds us that often the best criticism derives not from theoretical or ideological systems of thought, but from those deep, indeed transformational, experiences we have when our encounters with art change the way we think or feel. Admirably free of jargon or pretension, this collection will appeal to, and perhaps even inspire, readers of all stripes.” — Joseph Candido, Professor of English, Emeritus, University of Arkansas