The Oxford Book of Essays - Couverture souple

Gross, John

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 019288106X ISBN 13 : 9780192881069

Editeur : Oxford Paperbacks, 1999

Synopsis

The essay is one of the richest of literary forms. Its most obvious characteristics are freedom, informality and the personal touch - though it can also find room for poetry, satire, fantasy and sustained argument. All these qualities, and many others, are on display in this volume. A wide-ranging collection, it includes 140 essays by 120 writers: classics, curiosities, meditations, diversions, old favourites, and recent examples felt to deserve being better known. A particular feature is the amount of space allotted to American essayists, from Benjamin Franklin to John Updike and beyond. The anthology opens with comments on the nature of truth and closes with a consideration of the novels of Judith Krantz. Some of the other topics discussed in its pages are anger, pleasure, Gandhi, Beau Brummell, wasps, party-going, gangsters, plumbers, Beethoven, potato crisps, the importance of being the right size, and the demolition of Westminster Abbey.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

The essay is one of the richest of literary forms. Its most obvious characteristics are freedom, informality, and the personal touch - though it can also find room for poetry, satire, fantasy, and sustained argument. All these qualities, and many others, are on display in 'The Oxford Book of Essays'. The most wide-ranging collection of its kind to appear for many years, it includes 140 essays by 120 writers: classics, curiosities, meditations, diversions, old favourites, recent examples that deserve to be better known. A particularly welcome feature is the amount of space allotted to American essayists, from Benjamin Franklin to John Updike and beyond. This is an anthology that opens with wise words about the nature of truth, and closes with a consideration of the novels of Judith Krantz. Some of the other topics discussed in its pages are anger, pleasure, Gandhi, Beau Brummell, wasps, party-going, gangsters, plumbers, Beethoven, potato crisps, the importance of being the right size, and the demolition of Westminster Abbey. It contains some of the most eloquent writing in English, and some of the most entertaining.

Revue de presse

A vast, wonderful company. (Michael Foot,The Observer,)

From the thousands of essays and pieces available nobody would choose the same...but I doubt if anyone would have chosen better (Frank Kermode,Independent on Sunday)

The selection has nothing in it that is not of the top class...John Gross has the shrewdest possible eye for what practitioners in the genre can do best with a sense of form and culture, of humour and balance...Every essay here is a pleasure to read. (John Bayley, Times Literary Supplement)

John Gross's achievement is to see the essay as an essentially modern medium which addresses us as directly and potently as the newspaper. (Barbara Everett, The Independent)

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford Paperbacks
• Date d'édition: 1999
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 019288106X
• ISBN 13: 9780192881069
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 703
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italie