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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.84
EAN: 9780385423397
ISBN: 038542339X
Label: Anchor
Manufacturer: Anchor
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 777
Publication Date: 1995-01-15
Publisher: Anchor
Product Release Date: 1997-01-15
Studio: Anchor

For more than four hundred years, the personal  essay has been one of the richest and most vibrant  of all literary forms. Distinguished from the  detached formal essay by its friendly, conversational  tone, its loose structure, and its drive toward  candor and self-disclosure, the personal essay  seizes on the minutiae of daily life-vanities,  fashions, foibles, oddballs, seasonal rituals, love and  disappointment, the pleasures of solitude,  reading, taking a walk -- to offer insight into the  human condition and the great social and political  issues of the day. The Art of the Personal Essay is  the first anthology to celebrate this fertile  genre. By presenting more than seventy-five personal  essays, including influential forerunners from  ancient Greece, Rome, and the Far East,  masterpieces from the dawn of the personal essay in the  sixteenth century, and a wealth of the finest  personal essays from the last four centuries, editor  Phillip Lopate, himself an acclaimed essayist,  displays the tradition of the personal essay in all  its historical grandeur, depth, and  diversity.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Well worth it
Review: My favorite essay in this thick, heavy, door-stopping book is a humble writing of G.K. Chesterton entitled "A Piece of Chalk". I absolutely adore drawing with chalk and so of course I felt connected to him right off the bat. It was actually the first time I'd ever read Chesterton before, and I instantly fell in love. There is something in his writing that resonates with something inside me... in other words, it feels good. This anthology also includes other masters, both classic and modern such as Didion, Seneca, among many, many others. Despite the size, it's very easy to read through and find your own favorites thanks to the table that sorts the essays by theme.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Art of the Personal Essay...
Review: Using this book as a reference for a class in writing the personal essay. It is very comprehensive and the essays are interesting and helpful.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Essential!
Review: I recently attended a lecture by Philip Lopate. It was informative, instructional, and entertaining. I can say the same about this anthology. Anyone interested in the personal essay--readers, and especially writers--will find this collection a gold mine. I highly recommend it.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A little disappointing
Review: I should have researched this book more--I thought it was about writing, but it is actually a compilation of essays.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Easy to miss...
Review: I had to read most of the essays in this book for an English MA course. The best essays were the ancient ones. The moderns ones were often dry and dull, with the exception of George Orwell. His memories of his school days were like something out of a Charles Dickens novel, which was depressing and shameful, but rather interesting.

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