'A veteran writer's ruminations about a key transition point in life that has gotten surprisingly little literary attention: retirement. . . . The quiet testimony of a man whose ongoing writing, editing, reading, gardening, traveling and ceaseless quest for self-knowledge make him much less retired than many people half his age.' -Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost
'A veteran writer's ruminations about a key transition point in life that has gotten surprisingly little literary attention: retirement. . . . The qui...
Charles Lamb, one of the most engaging personal essayists of all time, began publishing his unforgettable, entertaining Elia essays in the "London Magazine" in 1820; they were so immediately popular that a book-length collection was published in 1823. Inventing the persona of Elia allowed Lamb to be shockingly honest and to gain a playful distance for self-examination. The resulting essays touch upon a wide range of compelling subjects from the deliciously humorous Dissertation upon Roast Pig to the poignantly reflective New Year's Eve. Yet collectively they also comprise a fascinating...
Charles Lamb, one of the most engaging personal essayists of all time, began publishing his unforgettable, entertaining Elia essays in the "London ...
The author reminds readers that the season of brown twigs and icy gales is just as much a part of the year as the time when the tulips open and tomatoes thrive. He keeps track of snow falling, birds flocking, soups simmering, garden catalogues arriving, buds swelling and seed trays coming to life.
The author reminds readers that the season of brown twigs and icy gales is just as much a part of the year as the time when the tulips open and tomato...
The human presence that animates the personal essay is surely one of the most beguiling of literary phenomena, for it comes across in so familiar a voice that it s easy to believe we are listening to the author rather than a textual stand-in. But the person in a personal essay is always a written construct, a fabricated character, its confessions and reminiscences as rehearsed as those of any novelist. In this first book-length study of the personal essay, Carl Klaus unpacks this made-up self and the manifold ways in which a wide range of essayists and essays have brought it to life.
By...
The human presence that animates the personal essay is surely one of the most beguiling of literary phenomena, for it comes across in so familiar a...
The first historically and internationally comprehensive collection of its kind, "Essayists on the Essay" is a path-breaking work that is nothing less than a richly varied sourcebook for anyone interested in the theory, practice, and art of the essay. This unique work includes a selection of fifty distinctive pieces by American, Canadian, English, European, and South American essayists from Montaigne to the present many of which have not previously been anthologized or translated as well as a detailed bibliographical and thematic guide to hundreds of additional works about the...
The first historically and internationally comprehensive collection of its kind, "Essayists on the Essay" is a path-breaking work that is nothing l...
Confident or fretful, solemn or sassy, tough or tender, casual or formal: the self you project in writing--your persona--is the byproduct of numerous decisions you make about what to say and how to say it. Though any single word or phrase or sentence might make little difference within the scope of an entire essay or book, collectively they create an impression of who you are or seem to be--an impression that's sure to influence how readers respond to your work. Thus it's essential to take charge of how you come across on the page, to craft an appropriate persona for whatever you're writing,...
Confident or fretful, solemn or sassy, tough or tender, casual or formal: the self you project in writing--your persona--is the byproduct of numerous ...