Latest Previews (Forethoughts)
Forethoughts: The Art of the Personal Essay
It’s little wonder that this hefty tome convinced me to put more of my reading focus into essays. I’ve yet to read the entries contained within this particular anthology, but I already hold this book close to me as if it were a prized possession. It’s a beautiful book, both to hold and to look at.
Forethoughts: At Large and At Small by Anne Fadiman
Anyone who has read Anne Fadiman’s debut essay collection Ex Libris, will know what a great essayist she is, and this, her second collection, looks to be more of the same, with the only difference being that this one is focussed on a wider topic range than just books.
Individual Essay Reviews
‘Asthma’ by Seneca
Seneca describes a recent asthma attack and his reaction to it, in a wholly modernistic stream-of-consciousness kind of way.
‘The Moon Under Water’ by George Orwell
George Orwell talks about his favourite pub while reminiscing on the simple pleasures in life.
‘On Noise’ by Seneca
Seneca shows what a real hero he is, living in the midst of temptation while enduring it with steadfast stoicism.
‘Collecting Nature’ by Anne Fadiman
In this warm and personal essay, Fadiman talks about entomology and nature collecting, and her own childhood attraction to it.
Essay News
Essay ‘book bites’ for Monday 25th February 2013
“The resurrection of the essay is a mirage” – Adam Kirsch has penned a rather interesting piece over on the New Republic website on the perceived rising popularity of the personal essay. Focussing on those he terms the ‘new essayists’ i.e David Sedaris, Sloane Crosley, Davy Rothbart and one of my current favourites, John Jeremiah [...]
New imprint sets out to revive the published essay
New publisher Notting Hill Editions arrives on the scene, with the sole aim of putting a spark back into the essay publishing tradition.
Nothing strikes more fear in the heart of some people than the word 'essay'. But of course there's more to the essay than its formal and scholarly side, and I gain no greater delight in seeking out and sharing with others some of the remarkable essayists who have well and truly taken the academic out of essay. Michel de Montaigne is a bit of a hero around these parts, and so are those who have followed in his footsteps, taking the form to a new and much more exciting level.
