Some of the greatest thinkers and writers of our age meditate on play and the mysteries of inanimate life. This unusual literary collection contains writings from Baudelaire, Kleist, Rilke, Freud, Kafka, Walter Benjamin, Bruno Schulz, Elizabeth Bishop, Dennis Silk, and Marina Warner. The essays and reflections explore the seriousness of play and the mysteries of inanimate life - 'the unknown, spaces, dust, lost objects, and small animals that fill any house' - which have provoked many writers to take the side of these dead or non-human things, resulting in some of the most profound passages in literature. The collection is introduced and edited by Kenneth Gross. On Dolls includes contributions from: Heinrich Von Kleist 'On the Marionette Theatre', Charles Baudelaire 'The Philosophy of Toys', Sigmund Freud 'The Uncanny', Rainer Maria Rilke 'On the Dolls of Lotte Pritzel', Frank Kafka 'The Cares of a Family Man', Bruno Schulz 'Tailor's Dummies', Walter Benjamin 'Old Toys: The Toy Exhibition at the Markisches Museum', Elizabeth Bishop, 'Cirque d'Hiver', Dennis Silk 'The Marionette Theatre', and Marina Warner 'On the Threshold: Sleeping Beauties'.

As 85 color images reveal the beauty and craftsmanship of these unique toys, 25 historical sepia-toned photos place them in the context in which they were used, all accompanied by fact-filled captions and an authoritative text. Seven tales illustrate the role of toys in passing on valuable lessons.

Stories from a world both fantastically strange and gruellingly familiar where isolation, ruin, prejudice, and misinformation soar in an irresistible, susurrant fugue of displaced families yearning to belong In the four stories that make up The Dolls, characters are plagued by unexplained illnesses and oblique, human-made disasters and environmental losses. A big sister descends into the family basement. Another sister refuses her younger brother. A third sister with memory loss is on the run and offered shelter by Notpla, a man both an ally and an enemy. A fourth set of siblings travel to Hungary with their late mother in a coffin. They each have a different version of their mother's story. Drawing on the likes of August Strindberg, Franz Kafka, Andrej Kurkov, Knut Hamsun, T.S. Eliot, Béla Tarr, and Hieronymus Bosch, Scavenius's universe is chilling and excruciatingly seductive. In it, nothing can be said to be true anymore. After all, anything can be propaganda today. Praise for The Dolls Here is a writer of extremely unusual imaginative powers. I found myself completely entranced. This is one of the most extraordinary pieces of writing I've ever read - Editor's Pick, BBC Radio 4 From a Rear Window-like position, a girl in a wheelchair watches extremely sinister happenings at a refugee centre with her complicit parents while her sister refuses to leave the basement of their house. A woman seeks refuge from the ever-present threat of war or the chaos of climate change with a man whose identity is as unclear as his intentions... These are artful, singular stories which, with rigorous inventiveness of language and technique, vividly evoke the calamities that form our nightmares - The Irish Times Fiercely anti-establishment and addictively macabre. The translation is appropriately atmospheric: Jennifer Russell has done a marvellous job of weaving the narrative seamlessly between an almost dreamlike lyricism and a grisly reality - Translating Women Scavenius's book is filled with impressive observation and uncomfortable characters, all bound together by her peculiarnand gritty prose, beautifully told in Russell's immaculate translation - Asymptote A dilute wash of watercolour exposes the terrifying images and themes underneath... Emerging from Scavenius' world, we recognise the cruelty and threat and bewilderment as not only the domain of the world she's writing from, but also a powerful and poetic compression of where we live - Exacting Clam Ursula Scavenius is one of the most exciting Danish short story writers at work today. The Dolls, in Jennifer Russell's magnificent translation, is a literary page-turner: haunting, mesmerizing, and unforgettable in all its grotesque glory - Katrine Øgaard Jensen Scavenius's dystopian narratives are hard to put down, recalling both historical crimes and current crises - Information URSULA SCAVENIUS is a writer based in Copenhagen. She is a graduate of the Danish Academy of Creative Writing and holds an MA in comparative literature and Italian from the University of Copenhagen. She debuted in 2015 with the short story collection Fjer [Feathers], which won the Bodil and Jørgen Munch-Christensen Prize and was nominated for the Montana Prize for Fiction. Her second book, The Dolls, was published in January 2020 and was shortlisted for the Edvard P. Prize that same year, as was Feathers in 2015. JENNIFER RUSSELL has published translations of Amalie Smith, Christel Wiinblad, and Peter-Clement Woetmann. She was the recipient of the 2019 Gulf Coast Prize for her translation of Ursula Scavenius's

It isn't fair. I did everything you asked... The metal face-plate is wrenched tight. She screams as the pump whines and suddenly, burning rubber is scorching the flesh of her cheeks, destroying her face and leaving behind a hideous apparition. Cameron Rice is discovered in a rail-yard. A fashion model, she had everything to live for, until a photographer talked her out of her clothes. Found naked, evidence suggests Cameron has been sexually abused. But more disturbing, Cameron's features are obscured by a rubber doll's-face, fused to the front of her skull. Cause of death: Suffocation. Pathologist Frank Reid has Cameron on the table and eight other fashion-girls are reported missing. Frank fears that a serial killer is on the loose in New York's Garment District. The investigation falls to Buddy Sheean, an inept detective who is more interested in exploiting the glamorous complainants, than he is in solving the crime. But when Buddy bends model, Debbie Langford over, to push up her skirt, he doesn't realize she has ties to the CIA. And that she is about to unload a shitload of grief on his sorry ass: Taz Azaria. Halfway around the world, a coffin arrives from America and is delivered to the apartment of Alisha Wong. The consignment indicates the body is Li-Meng Yan, eighty-six years, who died while visiting the US. Mrs Wong has the box opened and peers inside at the naked teenager. She is Caucasian– and perfect in every other detail, as well. Wong reads the toe-tag. "Ah-h, Cameron Rice. Welcome to China."

This vintage book contains comprehensive guide to collecting dolls, containing information on the history of dolls, buying and selling, restoration, and a much more. Profusely illustrated and full of interesting information, "Dolls - A Guide for Collectors" constitutes a timeless resource for doll enthusiasts and is not to be missed by modern collectors. Contents include: "What is a Doll", "On Collecting Dolls-Where to Buy, What to Pay, and Dolls Worth Collecting", "Early Toy Dolls", "Dolls of the Nineteenth Century", "China-Headed Dolls and their Marks", "Bidque Dolls and their Marks", "Dolls of Papier Mache and Composition", "Hand-made Dolls", "The Christmas Crib", "The Cloth Doll", et cetera. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on dolls.

Since the 1980s there has been a growing billion dollar business producing porcelain collectible dolls. Avertised in Sunday newspapers and mailbox fliers, even Marie Osmond, an avid collector herself, is now promoting her own line of dolls on the Home Shopping Network and sales are soaring. With average price tags of $100 -- and $500 or more for a handcrafted or limited edition doll -- these dolls strike a chord in the hearts of middle-aged and older women, their core buyers, some of whom create "nurseries" devoted to collections that number in the hundreds. Each doll has its own name, identity and "adoption certificate," like Shawna, "who has just learned to stack blocks all by herself," and Bobby, whose "brown, handset eyes shine with mischief and little-boy plans." Exploring the nexus of emotions, consumption and commodification they represent, A. F. Robertson tracks the rise of the porcelain collectible market; interviews the women themselves; and visits their clubs, fairs and homes to understand what makes the dolls so irresistible. Lifelike but freakish; novelties that profess to be antiques; pricey kitsch: These dolls are the product of powerful emotions and big business. Life Like Dolls pursues why middle-class, educated women obsessively collect these dolls and what this phenomenon says about our culture.

Paper dolls might seem the height of simplicity--quaint but simple toys, nothing more. But through the centuries paper figures have reflected religious and political beliefs, notions of womanhood, motherhood and family, the dictates of fashion, approaches to education, individual self-image and self-esteem, and ideas about death. This book examines paper dolls and their symbolism--from icons made by priests in ancient China to printable Kim Kardashians on the Internet--to show how these ephemeral objects have an enduring and sometimes surprising presence in history and culture.

Two revered doll makers - Elinor Peace Bailey and Noreen Crone-Findlay - come together for the first time in this unique re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk. Crafters and doll enthusiasts will marvel at the two different inspiring creations and presentations of this age-old story. Features step by step instructions, patterns, illustrations and photos to help readers weave, sew, and craft more than 15 delicate and whimsical dolls, as well as build a complete puppet stage for presentations. Perfect for storytellers, doll makers, troop leaders librarians and parents.