Comprises 13 contributions reflecting the wide range of Eco's interests and influence, arranged in sections on semiotics, philosophy of language, and theory of interpretation; writing (post)modern fictions--the ambivalent status of knowledge; popular culture--ideology, consumption, resistance. Some examples of specific topics: individual and communal encyclopedias; the limitations of openness--Foucault's pendulum and Kabbalah; popularizing culture in Eco's Superfictions; and cinema and the question of reception. An afterword by Eco himself discusses how and why he writes. Lacks an index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR