Dracula: The Connoisseur's Guide

This odd assortment of exploratory essays circles around Dracula's neighborhood by looking at the philosophy of blood, the wonders of the vampire bat, the cryptic life of Bram Stoker, Dracula's movie lineage, and seven other vampiric topics. Author Leonard Wolf conveys his enthusiasm for the Dracula myth and its many resonances without sounding like either a drooling fan-boy or a lifeless academic. Bringing in his personal experiences with English students in the late '60s (Wolf taught at San Francisco State University) Wolf is able to connect the Dracula myth to the meanings of modern lives in a way that is playful, free from presumption, readable, and rigorous.