Underscores the writers profound erudition, lively wit, and passion for ideas of all shapes and sizes . . . Ecos pleasure in such explorations is obvious and contagious. -- BooklistInventing the Enemy covers a wide range of topics on which Eco has written and lectured over the past ten years: from a disquisition on the theme that runs through his recent novel The Prague Cemetery -- every country needs an enemy, and if it doesnt have one, must invent it -- to a discussion of ideas that have inspired his earlier novels (and in the process he takes us on an exploration of lost islands, mythical realms, and the medieval world); from indignant reviews of James Joyces Ulysses by fascist journalists of the 1920s and 1930s, to an examination of Saint Thomas Aquinass notions about the soul of an unborn child, to censorship and violence and WikiLeaks. These are essays full of passion, curiosity, and obsession by one of the worlds most esteemed scholars and critically acclaimed, best-selling novelists. True wit and wisdom coexist with fierce scholarship inside Umberto Eco, a writer who actually knows a thing or two about being truly human. -- Buffalo News Thought provoking . . . nuanced . . . the collection amply shows off Ecos sophisticated, agile mind. -- Publishers WeeklyAbout the Author:UMBERTO ECO is the author of The Prague Cemetery, The Name of the Rose, and numerous collections of essays. Formerly a professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna, he is now president of the Scuola Superiore de Studi Umanistici in Bologna.