Except When I Write : Reflections of a Recovering Critic

Arthur Krystal

ISBN 10: 0199782407 / ISBN 13: 9780199782406

Edité par OXFORD UNIV PR, 2011

A propos de cet article

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - From Montaigne in the sixteenth century to Orwell, Eliot, and Trilling in the twentieth, the best literary essayists combine a gift for observation with an abiding commitment to books. Although it may seem that books are becoming less essential and that a revolution in sensibility is taking place, the essays of Arthur Krystal suggest otherwise. Companionable without being chummy, engaged without being didactic, erudite without being stuffy, he demonstrates that literature, even in the digital age, remains the truest expression of the human condition. Covering subjects as diverse as aphorisms, dueling, the night, and the 1960s, the essays gathered here offer the common reader uncommon pleasure. In prose that is both vibrant and elegant, Krystal negotiates among myriad subjects-from historical writing as exemplified by Jacques Barzun to the art of screenwriting as not so happily represented by F. Scott Fitzgerald. His cardinal rule as a writer William Hazlitt's 'Confound it, man, don't be insipid.' No fear of that. Except When I Write is thoughtful in the most joyful sense--brimming with ideas in order to give us the flow and cadence of someone actually thinking. Keenly observant and death on pretension, Krystal examines the world of books without ever losing sight of the world beyond them. Literature may be the bedrock on which these essays rest, but as F. R. Leavis aptly noted, 'One cannot seriously be interested in literature and remain purely literary in interests.' Except When I Write is a reminder of both the pleasure and the power of a well-tuned essay.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9780199782406

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Except When I Write : Reflections of a Recovering Critic
• Éditeur: OXFORD UNIV PR
• Date de parution: 2011
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0199782407
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780199782406
• Reliure: Buch
• État de l'article: Neu
• Dimensions: 222 L x 145 H x 16 P (en millimètres) 222 millimètres de largeur par 145 millimètres de hauteur par 16 millimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 439 grammes

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

"I never think except when I sit down to write." - Attributed to Montaigne by Edgar Allan Poe From Montaigne in the sixteenth century to Orwell, Eliot, and Trilling in the twentieth, the best literary essayists combine a gift for observation with an abiding commitment to books. Although it may seem that books are becoming less essential and that a revolution in sensibility is taking place, the essays of Arthur Krystal suggest otherwise. Companionable without being chummy, engaged without being didactic, erudite without being stuffy, he demonstrates that literature, even in the digital age, remains the truest expression of the human condition.

Covering subjects as diverse as aphorisms, dueling, the night, and the 1960s, the essays gathered here offer the common reader uncommon pleasure. In prose that is both vibrant and elegant, Krystal negotiates among myriad subjects-from historical writing as exemplified by Jacques Barzun to the art of screenwriting as not so happily represented by F. Scott Fitzgerald. His cardinal rule as a writer? William Hazlitt's "Confound it, man, don't be insipid." No fear of that. Except When I Write is thoughtful in the most joyful sense-brimming with ideas in order to give us the flow and cadence of someone actually thinking.

À propos de l?auteur

Arthur Krystal has written essays and book reviews for the New Yorker, Harpers, the American Scholar, the Washington Post Book World, and other places. He is the author of two collections of essays and two edited collections.