Essays category: 9344 books

Guy Davenport demonstrates his unparalleled critical vision as he interprets art, literature, and culture In this collection of 20 essays, Guy Davenport applies his insightful gaze and critical wisdom to topics including modern art and the effects of the automobile on contemporary society....

Eloquently written essays about aspects of Asian American life comprise this collection that looks at how Asian-Americans view themselves in light of America's insensitivities, stereotypes, and expectations. My Chinese-America speaks on masculinity, identity, and topics ranging from Jeremy Lin and...

A New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Title "For democracy’s weary champions, White’s time-tested prose is a shot of adrenaline," (Madeleine Albright) in this collection of essays and letters from E.B. White. “I am a member of a party of one, and I live in...

One of the most influential works of this century, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays is a crucial exposition of existentialist thought. Influenced by works such as Don Juan and the novels of Kafka, these essays begin with a meditation on suicide; the question of living or not living in a universe...

The founder of the influential Gnosis magazine collects essays by some of today's finest spiritual writers to explore the West's magical and esoteric traditions. Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Gnosticism, The Knights Templar . . . Even before the success of The Da Vinci Code, many readers knew...

Finalist for the NBCC award for Criticism. "Ugresic is sharp, funny and unafraid. . . . Orwell would approve."-Times Literary Supplement Over the past three decades, Dubravka Ugresic has established herself as one of Europe"s greatest-and most entertaining-thinkers and...

An American Orwell for the age of Trump, Roy Scranton faces the unpleasant facts of our day with fierce insight and honesty. We’re Doomed. Now What? penetrates to the very heart of our time. Our moment is one of alarming and bewildering change—the breakup of the post-1945 global order,...

"Plant one bamboo shoot-cut bamboo for the rest of your life." William Boyd's prolific, fruitful career is a testament to this old Chinese saying. Boyd penned his first book review in 1978-the proverbial bamboo shoot-and we've been reaping the rewards ever since. Beginning with the Whitbread...

"The gift of Oliver's poetry is that she communicates the beauty she finds in the world and makes it unforgettable" (Miami Herald). This has never been truer than in Long Life, a luminous collection of seventeen essays and ten poems. "Poets must read and study, but also they...

More important and timely than ever--a collection of illuminating essays on the shifting definition of the modern American family. Edited by bestselling writer Rebecca Walker, this fascinating exploration of today's American family features essays by prominent voices such as Z.Z. Packer, Dan...

In these wonderfully stylish and eclectic essays, Charles Nicholl pursues the fugitive traces of the past with the skill and relish that have earned him a reputation as one of the finest literary and historical detectives of our time.His subjects range from a murder-case in Renaissance Rome to the...

“[A] collection of Clive James’s essays on a variety of literary topics . . . This is sanity, humor and acuity in the face of death” (The Wall Street Journal). In 2010, Clive James was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. Deciding that “if you don’t know the exact moment when the lights...

In his books and in a string of wide-ranging and inventive essays, Luc Sante has shown himself to be not only one of our pre-eminent stylists, but also a critic of uncommon power and range. He is “one of the handful of living masters of the American language, as well as a singular historian and philosopher...

From a maximum-security prison to a cancer ward, from a mental institution to the World Trade Center, Laurence Gonzales's prose grips from the first sentence. Sometimes hair-raising, sometimes heart-wrenching, among these essays is "Marion Prison," a National Magazine Award finalist, with its intimate...