The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present

Lopate, Phillip (Editor)/ Teachers & Writers Collaborative (Collaborator)

ISBN 10: 0385422989 / ISBN 13: 9780385422987

Published by Anchor Books, 1994

About this Item

777 pages. 9.50x6.75x2.00 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # 0385422989

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385422989
• ISBN 13: 9780385422987
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 1.27 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

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.

From the Back Cover

"A wonderful book. The most charming smorgasbord imaginable of essays from around the world." -- Diane Cole, USA Today.

"Without a doubt, this is the most nourishing essay collection I've read in years." -- Susan Burmeister-Brown, Portland Oregonian.

"A labor of deeply felt love and keenly honed scholarship by an essay authority who knows his territory down to his bones." -- Christian Science Monitor.

"The best available [essay anthology] no matter how crowded the field." -- Chicago Tribune.

"The striking thing is how much Lopate has managed to pack in, and how high a standard he has managed to main- tain." -- John Gross, New York Newsday.

"Packed with personality and beguiling first-person prose... of reminders of the perils and pleasures of the craft." -- The Wall Street Journal.