The World Is a Text is a popular composition textbook devoted to helping students to understand a variety of non-traditional texts and develop their skills as creators of texts. It teaches critical reading, writing, and argument in the context of pop-culture and visual examples, showing students how to "read" everyday objects and visual texts. The book shows show how texts of all kinds, from a painting to a university building to a pair of sneakers, make complex arguments through their use of semiotics, and shows students how to make these arguments in their own essays. This new compact edition is rich with images, real-world examples, writing and discussion prompts, and examples of student writing. New to the edition are chapters on fashion, sports, and nature and the environment.

A frog and a toad walk into a book of poems. They meet Paul Klee, Hieronymus Bosch, Adrienne Rich, Sesshu Toyo, Mark Twain, all of them escorted by Dean Rader. There are adventure poems, landscapes, assassins, self portraits, there are what some might call "ideas" mixed with some very funny moments, and what we might quite seriously call "emotions."
This collection will engage those interested in innovative, arresting, humorously engaging poetry.