A DEFENSE OF ARDOR: ESSAYS - Rare Fine Copy of The First American Edition/First Printing: Double-Signed, Dated (In The Year of Publication), And Inscribed by Adam Zagajewski And Clare Cavanagh - ONLY SIGNED COPY ONLINE

Zagajewski, Adam (Translated by Clare Cavanagh)

ISBN 10: 0374136300 / ISBN 13: 9780374136307

Published by New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004, 2004

About this Item

1st Printing. Signed. 198 pages. Published in 2004. The author's fourth collection of literary essays. One of the greatest books of our time. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Adam Zagajewski's "Obrona zarliwosci" in the definitive English translation by Clare Cavanagh. The masterly achievement of a poet-genius who writes rare poet's prose. These fourteen essays constitute Zagajewski's "defense": An engaging and witty blend of literary commentary and memoir, it is passionate about beleaguered aesthetic values yet refreshingly free of rancor. "Thoughtful; precise; rhapsodic; rueful; courteous; prone to wonder. Nothing could take the reader in a direction more contrary to today's cult of the excitements of self than to follow Zagajewski as he unspools his seductive praise of serenity, sympathy, forbearance, of the calm and courage of an ordinary life. Indispensable prose" (Susan Sontag). The only American writer of our time who has written a comparable polemic on behalf of literature-as-the ideal life is Cynthia Ozick, and it cannot be an accident that one of her classic books is "Art & Ardor" (1983). An absolute "must-have" title for Adam Zagajewski collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, dated (in the year of publication), and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "To Heather, Adam Zagajewski [inscription in Polish], September 2004". It is also very prominently and beautifully signed, dated, and inscribed in blue ink-pen by the translator: "9-30-04 To Heather, with very best wishes, Clare Cavanagh". They signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such double-signed, publication-year dated, and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. One of the greatest poet/writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ADAM ZAGAJEWKI AND WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0374136300. Seller Inventory # 23154

Bibliographic Details

Title: A DEFENSE OF ARDOR: ESSAYS - Rare Fine Copy ...

Publisher: New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004

Publication Date: 2004

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

Signed: Signed by Author

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Ardor, inspiration, the soul, the sublime: Such terms have long since fallen from favor among critics and artists alike. In his new collection of essays, Adam Zagajewski continues his efforts to reclaim for art not just the terms but the scanted spiritual dimension of modern human existence that they stake out.

Bringing gravity and grace to his meditations on art, society, and history, Zagajewski wears his erudition lightly, with a disarming blend of modesty and humor. His topics range from autobiography (his first visit to a post-Soviet Lvov after childhood exile; his illicit readings of Nietzsche in Communist Poland); to considerations of artist friends past and present (Zbigniew Herbert, Czeslaw Milosz); to intellectual and psychological portraits of cities he has known, east and west; to a dazzling thumbnail sketch of postwar Polish poetry.

Zagajewski gives an account of the place of art in the modern age that distinguishes his self-proclaimed liberal vision from the “right-wing radicalism” of such modernist precursors as Eliot or Yeats. The same mixture of ardor and compassion that marks Zagajewski’s distinctive contribution to modern poetry runs throughout this eloquent, engaging collection.

About the Author:

Adam Zagajewski was born in Lvov, Poland, in 1945. He lives in Krakow and spends part of the year teaching at the University of Houston. He was awarded the 2004 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.