“The Age of Beloveds by Walter Andrews and Mehmet Kalpakli is perhaps one of the first works systematically analyzing sex, gender, and pleasure in ottoman society as they are represented in literature—including poetry and prose such as biographies, histories, and memoirs—produced during the early Ottoman era, beginning with the start of Ottoman rule in Constantinople and continuing to the early seventeenth century. . . . [I]t contributes immensely to the scholarship on Ottoman Turkish literature, culture, and intellectual history. . . . The Age of Beloveds offers compelling interpretations on various fronts of Ottoman cultural and literary history analyzed within a context of and in comparison to European societies of the same period. . . . The Age of Beloveds is a stimulating work of scholarship on Ottoman history as European cultural history.” — Fikret Turan, Journal of the History of Sexuality
“[The Age of the Beloveds] contributes significantly to the now growing recognition of the multiculturalism of the Mediterranean. . . . The analysis . . . has a refreshing tartness to it.” — L.R.N. Ashley , Bibliotheque D'humanisme & Renaissance
“The argument is cogent and welcome for its investigation of a rarely-treated topic in a broad context using nontraditional sources.” — Ali Anooshahr , Comitatus
“This book … challenges European historians to broaden their view and include the Ottoman Empire (and beyond?) in their understanding of such quintessentially European things as ‘the Renaissance’ and ‘mannerism.’… Their argument is multifaceted, disarming, well written, and full of novel connections and cogent examples.” — Robert Dankoff , Speculum
“This book by Walter G. Andrews and Mehmet Kalpakli is a provocative, engaging, and beautifully written study. . . .The authors deftly analyze poems while providing stories and fascinating details about the men and women who authored them. The book, however, is much more than a work of literary scholarship. The poems are thoughtfully contextualized amid the social, cultural, and political history of both the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe.” — Nancy Bisaha , American Historical Review
"The Age of Beloveds ventures compelling parallels between western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. . . . Even without the wide-ranging insights intelligently argues in this book, its presentation of . . . other narratives by Nev'izade Atayi, as well as writings by such poets as Ishak Celebi, Mirek'I Tabib, Hayali Bey, and Azizi Misri, will surely insure its influence in the field." — Mary Ellen Lamb, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900
"[A] fascinating and challenging interpretation of Ottoman poetry as a window into sexual-social relations in the East and West. . . . [B]y providing English translations of significant Ottoman poetry for the first time, [Andrews and Kalpakli] have done a major service for literary critics of the early modern period. Their explication of the texts is masterful and convincing." — Jonathan Grant , History Reviews of New Books
"[T]ruly a unique and remarkable achievement. Its subject . . . is . . . of great cultural and scientific importance. . . . Each of the book's eleven chapters is a marvel of conciseness and good writing. . . . Readers will have their horizons broadened in a way they would have thought impossible. . . . It is should be read by all interested in social history and its ramifications." — Alan D. Corré, Digest of Middle East Studies
"Curious readers will have been enticed by the illustrations and already noticed how the central chapters offer contextualized readings of Ottoman court poetry and illustrate key themes and their links to Renaissance culture in Italy, France, and England. . . . [T]he authors offer brilliant close readings of gazels by Baki and Hayali that show us how to read such works and appreciate the heteroglossic interplay which makes Ottoman court poetry so fascinating and beyond summary here." — Gerald Maclean , Times Literary Supplement
“The Age of Beloveds is a treasure and a masterpiece. With breathtakingly extensive original research, it is beautifully written, in a style both inviting and impressive. It is the fruit of a lifetime’s project to add Ottoman literature to the canons of world literature.” — Victoria Holbrook, author of The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance
“The Age of Beloveds is a unique and powerful book. There is nothing remotely like this out there and yet as one reads it one is struck by the dire need for the sort of basic information and insights it provides about the other half of the Mediterranean during the early modern period.” — María Rosa Menocal, author of Shards of Love: Exile and the Origins of the Lyric
“A wonderful and brave book that is so fun to read. . . . An astonishing account of love and the beloved where they intersect with sex, spirituality, politics and power. . . . Amazing!” — Orhan Pamuk, author My Name Is Red