Essays category: 9344 books

Since the end of the Cold War the world has become a different and increasingly volatile place, where our lives are ever more intertwined with the lives of others around the globe; a world of rising terrorism, of clashing cultures and religions, of expanding multi-national corporations, of economic...

An indispensable source of advice and inspiration for aspiring writers, this anthology features observations on the craft of creating fiction, by classic and contemporary authors. A literary feast of artistic practices and philosophies, its absorbing essays offer a vast array of personal reflections,...

Is fear an evolutionary tool that helps us steer clear of danger and death, or is it a stumbling block that keeps us from realizing our full potential? According to essayist A. C. Benson, it is both of these things simultaneously, and many more as well. In a probing series of autobiographical sketches...

As a writer, if you thrive on encouragement, this book is for you. From three decades of editing, teaching, and writing fiction and poetry, Ioannou knows well the thorns and honey of the literary life. When we write, we are up against the wall. Who am I? What do I feel? What do I think? Writing forces...

This collection of essays by well-established professional writers explores how their notebooks serve as their studios and workshops—places to collect, to play, and to make new discoveries with language, passions, and curiosities. For these diverse writers, the journal also serves as an ideal forum...

What does it mean when people say “You can’t compare apples and oranges”? Are comparisons across genres inherently invalid, or can they be insightful and illuminating? In this brilliant and provocative collection of essays, Dutch author Maarten Asscher maintains that comparisons can be the highest...

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Robert Louis Stevenson, in full Robert Louis Balfour...

An entertaining collection drawn from G. K. Chesterton’s early years as a newspaper columnist This compilation of “fleeting sketches,” written by G. K. Chesterton while he was a columnist for the Daily News, contains the humor, foresight, and intellectual curiosity that quickly made the...

We live with the idea of sin every day – from the greatest transgressions to the tiniest misdemeanours. But surely the concept was invented for an age where divine retribution and eternal punishment dominated the collective consciousness?  In this lively collection of new writing, Nicola...

William Morris was an English writer, architect, and artist and was integral to the birth of socialism in Great Britain. He founded the Socialist League in 1884, but later broke away from it over differences in methods and goals. Signs of Change is a collection of his essays on art, politics and socialism, including 'Useful Work versus Useless Toil'.

For fifteen years, Lewis Lapham has written a monthly column in Harper's Magazine, for which he won a 1995 National Magazine Award for his "exhilarating point of view in an age of conformity." This major collection of Lapham's essays defines his distinct view of the way the world really...

African Americans have been at war with some elements of the white population from the very beginning. In this collection of essays, his first since Airing Dirty Laundry in 1993, Reed explores the many forms that this homefront war has taken. His brilliant social criticism feints deftly among past...

Spanning politics and art, music and baseball, Cuba on the Verge is a timely look at a society’s profound transformation—from inside and out Change looms in Cuba. Just ninety miles from United States shores yet inaccessible to most Americans until recently, Cuba fascinates as much...

Inga Clendinnen believes that democratic people need true stories about their past. In these engaging essays, based on her 1999 Boyer Lectures, she argues for the rejection of any single, simple account of the Australian past and looks towards a deeper understanding of what whites have done to Indigenous...