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Beyond Life: Dizain Des DÃ(c)miurges
Paperback
PhilosophyLetters & EssaysLiterary Criticism
ISBN13: 9781025304748
Publisher: Tradd Street Press
Published: Feb 14 2026
Pages: 396
Weight: 1.22
Height: 0.81 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
Beyond Life: Dizain Des Démiurges is a profound and witty exploration of the human impulse toward romance and the transformative power of literature. Serving as the philosophical prologue to James Branch Cabell's celebrated Biography of the Life of Manuel, this work takes the form of an extended intellectual dialogue where the protagonist argues that romance is the demiurge-the creative force that enables humanity to endure reality by imagining a more noble and beautiful existence.
Cabell masterfully examines the role of the artist and the necessity of artifice, weaving together literary criticism, social satire, and aesthetic theory. Through a series of intellectual provocations, the text challenges the conventions of realism, suggesting instead that the pursuit of becoming through fiction is the highest human endeavor. Beyond Life remains a cornerstone of early 20th-century American letters, offering a sophisticated defense of the imaginative spirit and a gateway into one of the most intricate fictional universes ever conceived. Its blend of irony, erudition, and stylistic elegance provides a timeless meditation on why we tell stories and how those stories, in turn, shape the world we inhabit.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
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