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Böll, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Böll, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh böl [key], 1917–85, German novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Böll presents a critical, antimilitarist view of modern society in a collection of masterful sh...

Ustinov, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Ustinov, Sir Peter (Alexander) yo͞osˈtənôf [key], 1921–2004, English writer, director, and actor, b. London. A witty, charming, and cosmopolitan man, he debuted on the London stage at 18 and sub...

Johnson, Samuel, English author

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Samuel, 1709–84, English author, b. Lichfield. The leading literary scholar and critic of his time, Johnson helped to shape and define the Augustan Age. He was equally celebrated for his br...

Asunción

(Encyclopedia)Asunción äso͞onsyōˈn [key], city, S Paraguay, capital of Paraguay, on the Paraguay River. It is the principal port and chief industrial and cultural center of Paragua...

Auchincloss, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Auchincloss, Louis (Louis Stanton Auchincloss) ôˈkĭnklŏs [key], 1917–2010, American novelist and man of letters, b. Lawrence, New York; studied Yale, Univ. of Virginia Law School (LL.B., 1941). ...

Hitchcock, Sir Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Sir Alfred, 1899–1980, English-American film director, writer, and producer, b. London. Hitchcock began his career as a director in 1925 and became prominent with The 39 Steps (1935) and ...

heron

(Encyclopedia)heron hĕrˈən [key], common name for members of the family Ardeidae, large wading birds including the bittern and the egret, found in most temperate regions but most numerous in tropical and subtrop...

epic

(Encyclopedia)epic, long, exalted narrative poem, usually on a serious subject, centered on a heroic figure. The earliest epics, known as primary, or original, epics, were shaped from the legends of an age when a n...

Irish literary renaissance

(Encyclopedia)Irish literary renaissance, late 19th- and early 20th-century movement that aimed at reviving ancient Irish folklore, legends, and traditions in new literary works. The movement, also called the Celti...

Albee, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Albee, Edward ălˈbē [key], 1928–2016, American playwright, one of the leading dramatists of his generation, b. Washington, D.C., as Edward Harvey. His most characteristic work constitutes an absu...