The familiar essayist [in the genre’s heyday] didn’t speak to the millions; he spoke to one reader, as if the two of them were sitting side by side in front of the crackling fire with their cravats loosened, their favorite stimulants at hand, and a long evening of conversation stretching before them. His viewpoint was subjective, his frame of reference concrete, his style digressive, his eccentricities conspicuous, and his laughter usually at his own expense.
~Ann Fadiman
When thinking of the world "essay", don't let your mind get drawn into images of school homework assignments. From Michel de Montaigne to Christopher Hitchens, essayists seek to entertain, enlighten, & engage with their very personal viewpoint. Today might not be the "heyday" of the essayist, but I think that there are some fine essays out there for your reading pleasure, on a disparate variety of subjects, from art to caving, fashion to Def Leppard, creating to being. As Alexander Smith says in "Of the writing of essays", "Everything I see or hear is an essay in bud. The world is everywhere whispering essays, and one need only be the world’s amanuensis."
Higher Gossip: Essays and Criticism by John Updike [eBook only in our catalog]
Cleopatra's Nose: 39 Varieties of Desire by Judith Thurman
Otherwise Known as the Human Condition: Selected Essays and Reviews, 1989-2010 by Geoff Dyer
Woolgathering by Patti Smith
Magic Hours: Essays on Creators and Creation by Tom Bissell
Living, Thinking, Looking : Essays by Siri Hustvedt
Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery by Jeanette Winterson
When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson
In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood [eBook only in our catalog]
Scribble, Scribble, Scribble: Writings on Politics, Ice Cream, Churchill, and My Mother by Simon Schama
Lost in Language & Sound, or, How I Found My Way to the Arts: Essays by Ntozake Shange
Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography by Errol Morris
Pulphead : Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan
For the Time Being by Annie Dillard [eBook only in our catalog]
Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places by Ursula K. Le Guin
Something to Declare by Julia Alvarez
Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work by Bell Hooks
Other Colors: Essays and a Story by Orhan Pamuk
The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays by Caroline Knapp
For a variety of short pieces on different topics, try a keyword search in the catalog using the words "best writing". You'll find collections that include the best of writing on language, science, spirituality, music, travel, the military, & more in recent years.
1 comment:
Essays are endangered, in our 140-character Twitter world. But they are a wonderful form, and a good essay is a gift to the ages.
One of my favorite quotes on essays, from Amos Oz:
"Every time I agree with myself, I write an essay. When I disagree with myself, I know I'm pregnant with a short story."
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