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

The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present | Phillip Lopate | Essays

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The Art of the Per...

	The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present Phillip Lopate Anchor, 1995 - 777 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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.

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Essential!

I recently attended a lecture by Philip Lopate. It was informative, instructional, and entertaining. I can say the same about this anthology. Anyone interested in the personal essay--readers, and especially writers--will find this collection a gold mine. I highly recommend it.

Essays

As a new writer interested in writing personal essays, Philip Lopate's collection is essential for understanding the history of essays and how essays have evolved to date.

Well worth it

My favorite essay in this thick, heavy, door-stopping book is a humble writing of G.K. Chesterton entitled "A Piece of Chalk". I absolutely adore drawing with chalk and so of course I felt connected to him right off the bat. It was actually the first time I'd ever read Chesterton before, and I instantly fell in love. There is something in his writing that resonates with something inside me... in other words, it feels good. This anthology also includes other masters, both classic and modern such as Didion, Seneca, among many, many others. Despite the size, it's very easy to read through and find your own favorites thanks to the table that sorts the essays by theme.

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The Art of the Personal Essay...

Using this book as a reference for a class in writing the personal essay. It is very comprehensive and the essays are interesting and helpful.

A little disappointing