Overview
""Chess gets a hold of some people, like a virus or a drug,"" writes Robert Desjarlais in this absorbing book. Drawing on his lifelong fascination with the game, Desjarlais guides readers into the world of twenty-first-century chess to help us understand its unique pleasures and challenges, and to advance a new ""anthropology of passion."" Immersing us directly in chess's intricate culture, he interweaves small dramas, closely observed details, illuminating insights, colorful anecdotes, and unforgettable biographical sketches to elucidate the game and to reveal what goes on in the minds of experienced players when they face off over the board. Counterplay offers a compelling take on the intrigues of chess and shows how themes of play, beauty, competition, addiction, fanciful cognition, and intersubjective engagement shape the lives of those who take up this most captivating of games.
Full Product Details
Author: Robert R. Desjarlais
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.363kg
ISBN: 9780520272606
ISBN 10: 0520272609
Pages: 266
Publication Date: 22 March 2011
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
The subject of chess boasts more books than any other game, but this one is special, crafted for the general reader as well as the aficionado... Like the game itself, Counterplay is an enjoyable mental exercise. --Foreword Desjarlais draws from his backgrounds in ethnographic research and amateur tournament chess to nimbly explore the game's social, philosophical, aesthetic, psychological, and technological quirks. --Utne An informative and penetrating survey of the game today. --Publishers Weekly
The subject of chess boasts more books than any other game, but this one is special, crafted for the general reader as well as the aficionado... Like the game itself, Counterplay is an enjoyable mental exercise. --Foreword Desjarlais draws from his backgrounds in ethnographic research and amateur tournament chess to nimbly explore the game's social, philosophical, aesthetic, psychological, and technological quirks. --Utne An informative and penetrating survey of the game today. --Publishers Weekly Desjarlais brings to Counterplay a social scientist's eye for broader themes and implications, a researcher's exhaustive annotation, and a chess junkie's passion and respect for the game. --Santa Fe New Mexican/ Pasatiempo
Author Information
Robert Desjarlais is Professor of Anthropology at Sarah Lawrence College.
