What are the various atmospheres or moods that the reading of literary works can trigger? Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht has long argued that the function of literature is not so much to describe, or to re-present, as to make present. Here, he goes one step further, exploring the substance and reality of language as a material component of the worldimpalpable hints, tones, and airs that, as much as they may be elusive, are no less matters of actual fact.Reading, we discover, is an experiencing of specific moods and atmospheres, orStimmung. These moods are on a continuum akin to a musical scale. They present themselves as nuances that challenge our powers of discernment and description, as well as language's potential to capture them. Perhaps the best we can do is to point in their direction. Conveying personal encounters with poetry, song, painting, and the novel, this book thus gestures toward the intangible and in the process, constitutes a bold defense of the subjective experience of the arts.Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht is Albert Gu?rard Professor in Literature at Stanford University. His books in English includeIn 1926(1998),Production of Presence(Stanford, 2004), andIn Praise of Athletic Beauty(2006).This book explores the act of reading as the experiencing of specific moods and atmospheres. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht is one of the 'Meisterdenker' (Master Thinkers) of our time and a teacher in the best sense of the word. The perspective on literature that he presents herethe study of the emotional reactions, moods, and atmospheres that reading can triggerentails a serious methodological challenge. How can one avoid delivering subjective impressions without any objective relevance? His answer is as simple as it is bold, thought-provoking, and charming: You can't. A delightful read. There is a fine and subtle affinity between the form of the chapters, which might almost be called 'mood pieces,' and their delicate and somewhat elusive subject. ExpertslS)