Fly
Publishing Details
Fly
By (Author) Steven Connor
Reaktion Books
Reaktion Books
1st October 2006
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Cultural studies
595.77
Physical Properties
224
Description
For centuries, flies have been seen as mankind's enemy, blamed for plagues, subject to public excommunication in the Middle Ages and campaigns of extermination during the early years of the twentieth century. This book tracks the representation of the fly in in myth, literature, poetry, film, painting, theology and biology. There are chapters on artificial flies, the demonic fly, the erotics of the fly and the fly as carrier of disease.
Reviews
In Fly, Steven Connor undertakes the monumental task of acquainting a prejudiced public with the spectacular diversity of Diptera. The book is a tour de force of all manner of flies through both scientific and cultural lenses . . . The illustrations are an unremitting delight the author has done a fantastic job of hunting down images . . . Fly is a joy to read . . . * Science *
Fly is a fascinating little volume, informative because of the imaginative breadth of material used to reflect mankind's attitude to the flies that have shared our lives for millennia . . . the text is interspersed with fascinating illustrations . . . This is a compact work of scholarship, well researched and well referenced, both from entomological and literary standpoints. I commend it to any reader whose view is broader than a microscope tube. * British Journal of Entomology and Natural History *
. . . a very interesting read . . . highly recommended * European Journal of Entomology *
In Fly, Connor weaves art, literature, science, entomology, and history together to provide a fascinating read and which offers not only interesting overviews of human relations with, and attitudes towards flies, but some fascinating facts which will remain with you long after the book is finished. * Anthrozoös *
Author Bio
Steven Connor is Professor of English and Director of Research at the Digital Futures Institute, Kings College London. He is the author of eighteen books, most recently The Madness of Knowledge: On Wisdom, Ignorance and Fantasies of Knowing (2019).
