Writers on Writers

"Winner of the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, Best Critical/Biographical Category, Mystery Writers of America" "Finalist for the 2012 Marfield Prize, The National Award for Arts Writing, Arts Club of Washington" "One of The Times Literary Supplement's Books of the Year 2014, chosen by Joyce Carol Oates" Michael Dirda is a Pulitzer Prize–winning critic and longtime book columnist for the Washington Post. He is the author of four collections of essays, Readings, Bound to Please, Book by Book, and Classics for Pleasure, as well as the memoir An Open Book. A lifelong Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle fan, he was inducted into The Baker Street Irregulars in 2002. From Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Michael Dirda, a delightful introduction to the creator of Sherlock Holmes A passionate lifelong fan of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Michael Dirda is a member of The Baker Street Irregulars-the most famous and romantic of all Sherlockian groups. Combining memoir and appreciation, On Conan Doyle is a highly engaging personal introduction to Holmes's creator, as well as a rare insider's account of the curiously delightful activities and playful scholarship of The Baker Street Irregulars. On Conan Doyle is a much-needed celebration of Arthur Conan Doyle's genius for every kind of storytelling. "[A] brief, elegant reflection. . . . With thoughtful care, Dirda explains how Conan Doyle 'rose above the conventions of his time' in many of his writings. Dirda shines a helpful light on the adventurers Professor Challenger and Brigadier Gerard, while a selection of 'weird' fiction causes him to declare that those stories 'can stand up to the best work of such masters of the uncanny as Sheridan Le Fanu and M.R. James.' Dirda circles back to Holmes, directing our attention to overlooked aspects of the stories--the elusive presence of Professor Moriarty, for example, or Holmes' brother Mycroft. He also treats us to a delightful, intimate glimpse of the magical power of books in his own early life. What book lover hasn't had at least one cherished experience of reading? Dirda's own involves his loving preparations, as a youth, to read The Hound of the Baskervilles on an appropriately stormy day when the rest of his family was out of the house. . . . And there's much of that same feeling in Dirda's inviting book, which demonstrates why for so many years Dirda has been such an insightful guide to literatures past and present. (Note to director Guy Ritchie: If you're still looking for more Conan Doyle fare after 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows' opens next month, you might read Dirda's book for ideas.)"---Nick Owchar, Los Angeles Times "Charming. . . . As any Conan Doyle aficionado knows, the adventures of Holmes comprise a mere fraction of the oeuvre . . . and one of Dirda's chief concerns is to give the rest of it appropriate attention. . . . Dirda is also enlightening on the author's influences and literary heirs."---Toby Lichtig, Times Literary Supplement "While casual readers will associate Conan Doyle exclusively with 221B Baker Street, Dirda makes a strong case for investigating Doyle's extensive bibliography, which includes adventure stories (The Lost World), historical novels (Micah Clarke), supernatural stories (The Horror of the Heights), and books on spiritualism. But Holmes is still the main attraction, and the fascinating dynamics of the Irregulars are as rich as any of Conan Doyle's fictions. The Irregulars grudgingly accept, but do not encourage, the views of 'Doyleans,' who consider the Holmes stories as blips written by the author of The Lost World. Dirda's lifelong enthusiasm and keen critical skills underscore the timeless quality of the brilliant detective and his multifaceted creator." "Michael Dirda's book is at once a capsule overview of Doyle's character and writing career and an affectionate tribute to boyhood reading--along with Doyle's works, Dirda discusses Sax Rohmer, Lord D

"A Seminary Co-Op Notable Book of the Year" Eva Hoffman is a critic, novelist, historian, and memoirist who grew up in Kraków, Poland, before immigrating to Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Her many books include Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language and Exit into History: A Journey through the New Eastern Europe. She is a visiting professor at the European Institute of University College London. A compelling personal introduction to the life and work of Nobel Prize–winning writer Czesław Miłosz from his fellow Polish exile and acclaimed writer Eva Hoffman Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004) was a giant of twentieth-century literature, not least because he lived through and wrote about many of the most extreme events of that extreme century, from the world wars and the Holocaust to the Cold War. Over a seven-decade career, he produced an important body of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including classics such as The Captive Mind, a reflection on the hypnotic power of ideology, and Native Realm, a memoir. In this book, Eva Hoffman, like Miłosz a Polish-born writer who immigrated to the West, presents an eloquent personal portrait of the life and work of her illustrious fellow exile. Miłosz experienced the horrors of World War II in Warsaw-the very epicenter of the inferno-and witnessed the unfolding of the Holocaust from up close. After the war, he lived as a permanent exile-from Poland, communism, and mainstream American culture. Hoffman explores how exile, historical disasters, and Miłosz's origins in Eastern Europe shaped his vision, and she occasionally compares her own postwar trajectory with Miłosz's to show how the question of "the Other Europe" is still with us today. She also examines his later turn to the poetry of memory and loss, driven by the need to remember and honor his many friends and others killed in the Holocaust. Combining incisive personal and critical insights, On Czesław Miłosz captures the essence of the life and work of a great poet and writer. "This marvellous short book. . .is unsettling and relevant to our own times. Essential reading."---Mark Glanville, Jewish Chronicle "Hoffman's short book ought to be . . . one of the most perceptive and sympathetic introductions to Miłosz's life and work available. She manages not only to bring vividly alive one of the greatest Europeans of the century, but also to raise once again all the hauntingly insistent questions about art, politics, power and suffering that the century generated – and that we are constantly in danger of forgetting."---Rowan Williams, Literary Review "[A] profoundly honest and rather beautiful book. . . .On Czeslaw Milosz, is a true treasure to both read and embrace." "[An] illuminating study. . . . [Hoffman] knew Miłosz as only another Polish writer could know him, as she has known other Polish Nobel laureates. That makes this book, written from a fresh new angle, both distinctive and trustworthy."---Jill Peláez Baumgaertner, Christian Century "This brilliant and very personal book offers unique insights into one of the twentieth century's most iconic poets. Drawing out Miłosz's experience of exile, the ideas that shaped his imagination, and the almost sacred significance he found in nature, Hoffman illuminates a body of poetry rooted in a divided Europe: 'A home that refused to acknowledge itself as a whole.' "-Ruth Padel, author of Beethoven Variations: Poems on a Life "One great Polish authority on exile, displacement, and memory meets another in Eva Hoffman's subtle and succinct study. Faithful to Miłosz's instinct that 'literature should feed not on itself but should be supported by a knowledge of society,' she shares his gift for relating the concrete and particular to the major flows of history. Prose as well as poetry is interrogated empathetically but not uncritically, dominated by the question of how the survivors of Europe's trau

C. K. Williams (1936–2015) won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. He taught creative writing and translation at Princeton University. Pulitzer Prize–winning poet C. K. Williams's personal reflection on the art of Walt Whitman In this book, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet C. K. Williams sets aside the mass of biography and literary criticism that has accumulated around Walt Whitman and attempts to go back to Leaves of Grass as he first encountered it-to explore why Whitman's epic "continues to inspire and sometimes daunt" him. The result is a personal reassessment and appreciation of one master poet by another, as well as an unconventional and brilliant introduction to Whitman. Beautifully written and rich with insight, this is a book that refreshes our ability to see Whitman in all his power. "A winning book. . . . Enlightening and often moving."---Helen Vendler, New York Times Book Review "Whitman, the great New York poet, cries out for evangelization, not explication. Accordingly, in this sweet slip of a book, Williams, himself an eminent poet, lets Walt speak freely, filling many pages with favorite passages, most frequently from the original 'Leaves of Grass,' of 1855. Williams's own prose is chatty and loose, dipping into big categories like 'Nature' and 'America' with the casualness of a Sunday social call."---Leo Carey, New Yorker "One can see why C.K. Williams, a poet of wide-ranging curiosity and distinctive verbal 'music,' might have been drawn to write an introduction to Whitman. In his use of long, flowing lines--sometimes so long that his publishers have adopted unusually wide pages to accommodate them--Williams can seem to be an heir to Whitman's own poetic practice. There are times in his book on Whitman when Williams confides something that he knows as a poet."---Christopher Benfey, New York Review of Books "On Whitmanis an admirable homage to a poet without whom C. K. Williams himself would not write as he does."---Stephen Burt, , New Republic "On Whitman is revelatory when it comes to explaining Whitman's poetic gifts. With generous quotations from Leaves of Grass, Williams returns us to Whitman's music, his remarkable fusion of language and song. . . . On Whitman is not simply a personal tribute to Williams' great forerunner. The book rethinks the ways the 'good gray poet' established a language and an identity for future poets."---David Haven Blake, Philadelphia Inquirer "Now, C. K. Williams has written a book on Whitman, and it arrives not a moment too soon. . . . In On Whitman, Williams takes an approach that's more innovative than it sounds: he keeps his focus on the poems. He wants to strip away the heavy theorizing and layers of biography that have accrued around his fellow poet. Williams's aim is to restore the strangeness and power he encountered when, at age 16, he made a Whitman anthology his first poetry purchase. 'For a young poet, reading Whitman is sheer revelation, sheer wonder, a delight bordering on then plunging into disbelief. How could all this come to pass?' His slender book offers a convincing answer."---Jeremy McCarter, Newsweek "On Whitman is a small, excellent look at the greatest poet that the United States has produced to date. . . . If you really don't know Whitman's poetry, except for a poem or two you encountered in high school or college, Williams is a gracious, welcoming guide. Even if you are already an avid reader, he is still apt to renew your wonder about the work. Williams knows he isn't able to explain how Whitman became the poet he did, any more than his biographers. But he is able to describe what makes his poetry great, and so readable, as well as anyone."---Robert Pincus, San Diego Union-Tribune "This little book is almost a book of devotion, so moved is the author, himself a poet, as he reads and re-reads Whitman. He writes that Whitman 'was the most spiritually perfect

Michael Wood is professor emeritus of comparative literature at Princeton University and the author of many books, including Yeats and Violence, Alfred Hitchcock: The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Magician's Doubts: Nabokov and the Risks of Fiction (Princeton). He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. He lives in Princeton. From one of today's most distinguished critics, a beautifully written exploration of one of the twentieth century's most important literary critics Are literary critics writers? As Michael Wood says, "Not all critics are writers-perhaps most of them are not-and some of them are better when they don't try to be." The British critic and poet William Empson (1906–84), one of the most important and influential critics of the twentieth century, was an exception-a critic who was not only a writer but also a great one. In this brief book, Wood, himself one of the most gifted writers among contemporary critics, explores Empson as a writer, a distinguished poet whose criticism is a brilliant literary performance-and proof that the act of reading can be an unforgettable adventure. Drawing out the singularity and strength of Empson's writing, including its unfailing wit, Wood traces the connections between Empson's poetry and criticism from his first and best-known critical works, Seven Types of Ambiguity and Some Versions of Pastoral, to later books such as Milton's God and The Structure of Complex Words. Wood shows why this pioneer of close reading was both more and less than the inventor of New Criticism-more because he was the greatest English critic since Coleridge, and didn't belong to any school; and less because he had severe differences with many contemporary critics, especially those who dismissed the importance of an author's intentions. Beautifully written and rich with insight, On Empson is an elegant introduction to a unique writer for whom literature was a nonstop form of living. "Wood's On Empson offers the most fluent guidance imaginable to the genius and the ingenuity of the man."---David Bromwich, New York Review of Books "There couldn't be a more seductive partnership: Wood's sidelong, subtle sentences, both understated and exhaustive, reflecting on Empson's brisk and thrilling originality. Returning to Empson is always a pleasure, but so too is watching Wood read."---Frances Wilson, Times Literary Supplement "The trick of Wood's book is to subject Empson's work to the same kind of collaborative, close reading to which Empson subjects Shakespeare, Milton and Donne. In its most enthralling passages, Wood's own writing participates in Empson's critical creativity, providing an additional layer of interpretation, and constructing a critique of critique itself."---David Hawkes, Times Literary Supplement "A brilliant introduction to one of the most original and beguiling intellects of the 20th century."---Michael Dirda, Washington Post "An elegant and concise study of the great British literary critic William Empson (1906-1984). . . . If we come away with one thing from On Empson, it is the reminder, in the age of STEM courses, of just how much poetry matters--matters not on ethical or political grounds but simply for its own sake, for its exposure of the possibilities of the language that we use every waking moment of every day without taking into account its astonishing possibilities for knowledge, power, and, especially, pleasure."---Marjorie Perloff, Weekly Standard "Part of the dexterity of Wood's own critical idiom lies in using the resources of the colloquial register to say just enough, leaving us to complete and digest the thought. His stylish brevity avoids the dogmatising implicit in all attempts to turn an observation into a theory . . . Wood even manages to make Milton's God (1961), Empson's grumpiest, most obsessive book, seem attractive . . . An appropriately subtle yet spirited introduction to the sedu

"Colm Tóibín – Winner of the 2017 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation" "Colm Tóibín, Inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame 2015" "Nominee for the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism" "One of The Guardian's Best Books of 2015, selected by Blake Morrison" "One of The Guardian's Best Books of 2015, selected by Nicci Gerrard" "One of The Guardian's Readers' Books of 2015" "One of the Irish Times 2015 Readers' Books of the Year" "One of The New Yorker's Twelve Books Related to Poems, 2015" Colm Tóibín is the author of eight novels, three of which have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize: The Blackwater Lightship, The Master (the Los Angeles Times Novel of the Year), and The Testament of Mary. His other novels include Nora Webster and Brooklyn. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University, a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, and a contributing editor at the London Review of Books. A compelling portrait of a beloved poet from one of today's most acclaimed novelists In this book, novelist Colm Tóibín offers a deeply personal introduction to the work and life of one of his most important literary influences-the American poet Elizabeth Bishop. Ranging across her poetry, prose, letters, and biography, Tóibín creates a vivid picture of Bishop while also revealing how her work has helped shape his sensibility as a novelist and how her experiences of loss and exile resonate with his own. What emerges is a compelling double portrait that will intrigue readers interested in both Bishop and Tóibín. For Tóibín, the secret of Bishop's emotional power is in what she leaves unsaid. Exploring Bishop's famous attention to detail, Tóibín describes how Bishop is able to convey great emotion indirectly, through precise descriptions of particular settings, objects, and events. He examines how Bishop's attachment to the Nova Scotia of her childhood, despite her later life in Key West and Brazil, is related to her early loss of her parents-and how this connection finds echoes in Tóibín's life as an Irish writer who has lived in Barcelona, New York, and elsewhere. Beautifully written and skillfully blending biography, literary appreciation, and descriptions of Tóibín's travels to Bishop's Nova Scotia, Key West, and Brazil, On Elizabeth Bishop provides a fresh and memorable look at a beloved poet even as it gives us a window into the mind of one of today's most acclaimed novelists. "Toibin's close readings of Bishop's poems in this deft suite of essays are admirably acute, but what's truly special is that Toibin offers not an elegant study of Bishop's achievements as a poet, but also a shadow account of his own development as a writer, and thus an incidental treatise on the ways writers affect one another's process."---Joel Browner, New York Times Book Review "[The book's] pull on the reader is almost tidal . . . it's still impossible for a reader to resist getting sucked into the orbit of Robert Lowell, the rapaciously brilliant and royally messed-up literary lion whom Bishop considered her closest friend. The cat-and-mouse dynamic of Bishop and Lowell's correspondence remains, in Mr. Tóibín's telling, as riveting as a series on Netflix or HBO, and probably ought to become one."---Jeff Gordinier, New York Times "The Irish writer's valentine to the Canadian-American poet: a beautiful meditation on shyness, sex, art, and family."---Dan Chiasson, New Yorker "Tóibín's little book on Bishop is a writer's exercise in rechristening himself, a second time through with Bishop as his chaperone. The narrative draws us back to moments when the discovery of Bishop, and later of Thom Gunn, drew Tóibín forward. This is the kind of beautiful relay that great writers provide for each other, and it gives you hope that some young person somewhere who fi

Alexander McCall Smith is the internationally bestselling author of numerous novels, including the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. His books have been translated into forty-six languages. Formerly a professor of medical law, he now devotes himself to writing. He lives in Scotland. Bestselling novelist Alexander McCall Smith's charming account of how the poet W. H. Auden has helped guide his life-and how he might guide yours, too When facing a moral dilemma, Isabel Dalhousie-Edinburgh philosopher, amateur detective, and title character of a series of novels by best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith-often refers to the great twentieth-century poet W. H. Auden. This is no accident: McCall Smith has long been fascinated by Auden. Indeed, the novelist, best known for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, calls the poet not only the greatest literary discovery of his life but also the best of guides on how to live. In this book, McCall Smith has written a charming personal account about what Auden has done for him-and what he just might do for you. Part self-portrait, part literary appreciation, the book tells how McCall Smith first came across the poet's work in the 1970s, while teaching law in Belfast, a violently divided city where Auden's "September 1, 1939," a poem about the outbreak of World War II, strongly resonated. McCall Smith goes on to reveal how his life has related to and been inspired by other Auden poems ever since. For example, he describes how he has found an invaluable reflection on life's transience in "As I Walked Out One Evening," while "The More Loving One" has provided an instructive meditation on unrequited love. McCall Smith shows how Auden can speak to us throughout life, suggesting how, despite difficulties and change, we can celebrate understanding, acceptance, and love for others. An enchanting story about how art can help us live, this book will appeal to McCall Smith's fans and anyone curious about Auden. "A joy, start to finish." "The book comes alive when Smith connects his own moral and intellectual growth to his appreciation of the poet. . . . Anyone interested in the intellectual underpinnings of Smith's warm and humane novels should read this book."---Regina Marler, New York Times Book Review "Alexander McCall Smith plumbs the British poet's modern resonance in this charming, quirky, slim volume, a deft weave of biography, textual analysis and memoir. It's a must-read for Auden fans-even more for those who know his work only from a British rom-com. . . . That there's only kindness in the telling marks the moral generosity McCall Smith says the great poet has taught him. He's learned a bunch of other stuff as well. And if you read his quietly wise book, you'll learn it, too."---Anne Kingston, Maclean's "Poets need readers who aren't poets, and it is delightful to see an established novelist answer the call."---Lachlan MacKinnon, Times Literary Supplement "What W. H. Auden Can Do for You is a graceful and personal response of gratitude for Auden, celebrating the resonance, reverence, and rebellion of the man who believed 'truth is catholic, but the search for it is protestant.'"---Mark Oakley, Church Times "McCall Smith restores the link between poetry and life."---Anthony Daniels, New Criterion "Charming."---Fiona Sampson, New Humanist "An appreciation of the poet that should appeal even to those only familiar with his work via Four Weddings and a Funeral."---Eugenia Williamson, Boston Globe "Maybe the name of this book is the most radical, insightful thing about it: the notion that Auden is, as McCall Smith writes, 'a healer,' and that this is healing is collective. It's not just what Auden can do for you alone, but for all of us."---Alex Nazaryan, Newsweek "A wonderful work."---Vinton Rafe McCabe, New York Journal of Books "Of all the volumes I've read about

John Burnside is a poet, novelist, and memoirist whose recent books include Still Life with Feeding Snake and Ashland & Vine. He has won many awards for his poetry, including the T. S. Eliot, Forward, Whitbread, and Geoffrey Faber Memorial prizes. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, and the Guardian, and he writes a regular nature column for the New Statesman. He is professor of English at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. An engaging invitation to rediscover Henry Miller-and to learn how his anarchist sensibility can help us escape "the air-conditioned nightmare" of the modern world The American writer Henry Miller's critical reputation--if not his popular readership-has been in eclipse at least since Kate Millett's blistering critique in Sexual Politics, her landmark 1970 study of misogyny in literature and art. Even a Miller fan like the acclaimed Scottish writer John Burnside finds Miller's "sex books"-including The Rosy Crucifixion, Tropic of Cancer, and Tropic of Capricorn-"boring and embarrassing." But Burnside says that Miller's notorious image as a "pornographer and woman hater" has hidden his vital, true importance-his anarchist sensibility and the way it shows us how, by fleeing from conformity of all kinds, we may be able to save ourselves from the "air-conditioned nightmare" of the modern world. Miller wrote that "there is no salvation in becoming adapted to a world which is crazy," and in this short, engaging, and personal book, Burnside shows how Miller teaches us to become less adapted to the world, to resist a life sentence to the prison of social, intellectual, emotional, and material conditioning. Exploring the full range of Miller's work, and giving special attention to The Air-Conditioned Nightmare and The Colossus of Maroussi, Burnside shows how, with humor and wisdom, Miller illuminates the misunderstood tradition of anarchist thought. Along the way, Burnside reflects on Rimbaud's enormous influence on Miller, as well as on how Rimbaud and Miller have influenced his own writing. An unconventional and appealing account of an unjustly neglected writer, On Henry Miller restores to us a figure whose searing criticism of the modern world has never been more relevant. "In On Henry Miller . . . John Burnside shifts the focus from Henry Miller's unsavoury legacy to the politics of his aesthetics, seeking to draw our attention to 'that most misunderstood of figures, the philosophical, earth-loving pagan anarchist.'"---Merve Fejzula, Times Literary Supplement "Burnside's provocative study makes a strong case for Henry Miller as a romantic anarchist comparable, on the basis of the evidence provided here, to Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman." "On Henry Miller is a considered, moving account of how this flawed but much mis-read writer thought, and of what he still offers, philosophically and politically."---Guy Stevenson, Literary Review "Praise for John Burnside: "A master of language.""---Hilary Mantel, London Review of Books "Praise for John Burnside: "Quite simply, he is a wonderful writer.""---Eileen Battersby, Irish Times "Praise for John Burnside: "A brilliant poet, a brilliant memoirist, and a brilliant novelist.""---Christina Patterson, The Independent "Praise for John Burnside: "A writer of manifest and manifold talent.""---Adam O'Riordan, Sunday Telegraph "Exploring Henry Miller's reputation and work and making the case for his relevance today, John Burnside has written a lively, engaging appreciation with an exhilarating, globe-trotting literary range."-Kasia Boddy, University of Cambridge "John Burnside, a remarkable writer, vividly shows his affinities with Henry Miller. Paralleling Miller's style, Burnside is impressionistic, digressive, hyperbolic, and sometimes outrageous. He argues that Miller wrote to 'find out if books can help us to live better,' and this is Burnside's aim too. Burnside and Miller make a

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2009" Phillip Lopate is the author of many books, including the essay collections Getting Personal (Basic), Against Joie de Vivre (Simon & Schuster), Portrait of My Body (Doubleday), and Bachelorhood (Little, Brown), as well as the anthology, The Art of the Personal Essay (Doubleday). Among his other books is Waterfront: A Walk around Manhattan (Crown). He teaches writing at Columbia University, and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Notes on Sontag is a frank, witty, and entertaining reflection on the work, influence, and personality of one of the "foremost interpreters of . . . our recent contemporary moment." Adopting Sontag's favorite form, a set of brief essays or notes that circle around a topic from different perspectives, renowned essayist Phillip Lopate considers the achievements and limitations of his tantalizing, daunting subject through what is fundamentally a conversation between two writers. Reactions to Sontag tend to be polarized, but Lopate's account of Sontag's significance to him and to the culture over which she loomed is neither hagiography nor hatchet job. Despite admiring and being inspired by her essays, he admits a persistent ambivalence about Sontag. Lopate also describes the figure she cut in person through a series of wry personal anecdotes of his encounters with her over the years. Setting out from middle-class California to invent herself as a European-style intellectual, Sontag raised the bar of critical discourse and offered up a model of a freethinking, imaginative, and sensual woman. But while crediting her successes, Lopate also looks at how her taste for aphorism and the radical high ground led her into exaggerations that could do violence to her own common sense, and how her ambition to be seen primarily as a novelist made her undervalue her brilliant essays. Honest yet sympathetic, Lopate's engaging evaluation reveals a Sontag who was both an original and very much a person of her time. "With the thoroughness and clarity of a latter-day Edmund Wilson and an urbanity and wit that are all his own, Phillip Lopate has given us, in the modest guise of these Notes, an extraordinarily rewarding study."---Rachel Hadas, Times Literary Supplement "Notes on Sontag achieves a remarkable evenhandedness, caressing even as it kicks. The author gives ample credit where it's due, particularly when he champions Sontag's unparalleled aphoristic style and her essays. Throughout, Lopate, a beautiful and sometimes very funny writer, exudes a relaxed self-awareness about his own strengths and weaknesses, admitting, for instance, that he once sought Sontag's approval (she was an acquaintance). In the end, his toughness and self-knowledge actually enhance his praise. He takes Sontag seriously, and even if he finds her ridiculous at times, his persuasive prose makes it clear that he misses her: 'Sontag's best ruminations have a power and cohesion that merit countless revisitation, both to savor their insights and wonder how she did it.'" "Lopate has produced an absolute gem of a book. In places personal (he knew Sontag for many years), but more often focused on the work itself--essays, fiction, films, reviews--this book stands as the best appreciation of Sontag in print and is an ideal introduction to this major American thinker." "Lopate's book . . . is a deeply personal study of an intellect and a provocative public figure. It is an excellent introduction to Sontag, a brief yet tantalizing piece of work for those inspired by, and those who wish to discover, her."---Anette Carter, Women's News "A reflection on both Sontag's specific oeuvre and literary life in general, Notes on Sontag. will reward both those who know Sontag's work well and those only beginning to make her acquaintance."---Jennifer Burns, Virginia Quarterly Review "[T]he book offers a multifaceted, challenging and vivid picture of an elaborate personality--all conveyed through a very personal lens."--

"One of the Financial Times' Best Books of 2020: Critics' Picks" R. F. Foster is Professor of Irish History and Literature at Queen Mary University of London and Emeritus Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford. His many books include Modern Ireland: 1600–1972, the two-volume W. B. Yeats: A Life, and, most recently, Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890–1923. Foster's writing has appeared in the Guardian, the New York Review of Books, the Irish Times, and many other publications. He lives in London. A vivid and original account of one of Ireland's greatest poets by an acclaimed Irish historian and literary biographer The most important Irish poet of the postwar era, Seamus Heaney rose to prominence as his native Northern Ireland descended into sectarian violence. A national figure at a time when nationality was deeply contested, Heaney also won international acclaim, culminating in the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. In On Seamus Heaney, leading Irish historian and literary critic R. F. Foster gives an incisive and eloquent account of the poet and his work against the background of a changing Ireland. Drawing on unpublished drafts and correspondence, Foster provides illuminating and personal interpretations of Heaney's work. Though a deeply charismatic figure, Heaney refused to don the mantle of public spokesperson, and Foster identifies a deliberate evasiveness and creative ambiguity in his poetry. In this, and in Heaney's evocation of a disappearing rural Ireland haunted by political violence, Foster finds parallels with the other towering figure of Irish poetry, W. B. Yeats. Foster also discusses Heaney's cosmopolitanism, his support for dissident poets abroad, and his increasing focus in his later work on death and spiritual transcendence. Above all, Foster examines how Heaney created an extraordinary connection with an exceptionally wide readership, giving him an authority and power unique among contemporary writers. Combining a vivid account of Heaney's life and a compelling reading of his entire oeuvre, On Seamus Heaney extends our understanding of the man as it enriches our appreciation of his poetry. "Foster's characteristic brio brings Heaney to life again. . . . On Seamus Heaney, with its abundant account of his life, its illuminating analysis of his work, and the generous quotations from favourite poems, should find a place on bookshelves all over Ireland and beyond."---Clíona Ní Ríordáin, Irish Times "A sparkling memorial to an utterly singular poet."---Sebastian Barry, Sydney Morning Herald "[An] excellent new study."---James Parker, The Atlantic "A compact but comprehensive guide."---Seamus Perry, London Review of Books ​​​​​​ "This exploration of Heaney's oeuvre, and the tumultuous times that inspired it, is an immensely enjoyable step towards giving Ireland's great poet his due."---Maria Crawford, Financial Times "There will be longer, fatter biographical and critical books about Seamus Heaney, but none will be better written, more knowledgeable, more generously understanding than this one."---Anne Chisholm, The Tablet ​​​​​​​ "One of the most elegant works of criticism I have ever read."---David Mason, Hudson Review "Engrossing. . . . Undeniably impressive."---Hilary A. White, Irish Independent "Foster brings long-felt passion and measured scholarship to his welcome analysis of the poetry of Seamus Heaney." "A concise, meticulously researched account. . . . Foster couples forensic attention to detail with engaging prose."---Tara McEvoy, Times Literary Supplement "More than [in] any other writing on Heaney, you actually get a sense of Heaney's own personality, his charisma, his friendliness, his warmth, his humour and it's a hugely respectful biography in that way because you get the sense of Heaney's own words about himself that have not been made public before and you've got the impression, at least,

A gift of an essay that illuminates the literary talents of two of Australia's greatest writers

A brilliant essay by one of Australia's most exciting literary talents, which offers new insights into Garner's entire body of work and her life as a writer. What I love in Helen Garner's writing is a particular kind of closeness to self, the good, greedy, mistaken, emotional, fierce, sceptical, changing and disrupting self. Garner makes so much from what seems to be just her individual sense, individual observation – rather than anything made by and for the group. But I also love the beautiful strong contradiction in her work: she's always fighting to come back enough, as well, to find enough that can stop the self; enough of a good order, a rule, a law, a family, a home. In a brilliantly argued and very personal essay, Sean O'Beirne looks at the whole of Helen Garner's writing life so far – from Monkey Grip to the recently published Diaries – while trying to come to terms with the demands, and the rewards, of Garner's extraordinary, radical individualism and honesty. In the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.

Hazzard was the first Australian writer I read who looked outwards, away from Australia. Her work spoke of places from which I had come and places to which I longed to go … It was reading as an affair of revelations and gifts. It fell like rain, greening my vision of Australian literature as a stony country where I would never feel at home. Splendour had entered the scene. In this vibrant, rich and personal essay on acclaimed author Shirley Hazzard, Michelle de Kretser offers a masterclass in writing that is powerful and exhilarating, that is 'perfect' because it is 'exact'. She celebrates the precision and musicality of Hazzard's prose and illuminates the humour, humanity and revelatory impact of her work. This jewel of a book is both a wonderful introduction to Hazzard and a treat for her long-time fans. In the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.

Robyn Davidson, author of the classic memoir Tracks, has led a remarkable life of writing and nomadic travel. In this crisp, erudite essay, acclaimed critic and journalist Richard Cooke explores Davidson's relationship with place and freedom, and her singular presence in Australian letters. In the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and well-written, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. The Writers on Writers series is published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.

Keneally's caricature of a self-loathing Jimmie Blacksmith is a lost opportunity to explore the complex ways that Aboriginal people . . . were pushing against a white world that would not accept them for who they were; that would not see them as equal; that, in truth, would not see them as human. Acclaimed journalist Stan Grant weaves literary criticism, philosophy and memoir to shed light on The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Drawing parallels with Indigenous writers Tara June Winch and Bruce Pascoe, Grant brilliantly re-examines Keneally's novel, raising questions about identity, modernity and storytelling. In the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.

Across Farmer's works, there has always been an attraction to those beings who occupy two realms … Once one has lived elsewhere, lived differently, it doesn't matter whether she stays to forge a new life or turns back towards the old, or moves on once again; there will always be the shadow, the after-image, of the life not lived. Beverley Farmer's writing reflects on restlessness, desire and homecoming. In this brilliantly acute essay, fellow novelist and short-story writer Josephine Rowe finds a kindred spirit and argues for a celebration and reclamation of this unique Australian author. In the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and well-written, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.

Exploring dislocation and longing, Sarah Krasnostein dives into Peter Carey's literary tour de force, True History of the Kelly Gang, in this latest offering from the stunning Writers on Writers essay series. Award-winning writer Sarah Krasnostein shines new light on the impossibly vulnerable Ned Kelly of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang. Carey, who moved from Australia to America, conjured Kelly after seeing Sidney Nolan's paintings of the bushranger at the Met. In this moving essay Krasnostein, who moved from America to Australia, interrogates notions of home, history, distance and identity in Peter Carey's Booker Prize–winning novel. In the Writers on Writers series, leading writers reflect on another Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.

An illuminating essay on the bestselling Noongar writer and author of the Miles Franklin Award–winning novels Benang and That Deadman Dance 'I value Kim Scott's fiction so highly because I feel that his approach is to put the flags aside. That Deadman Dance asks us not to consider who we were so much as who we could be, collectively, in the future.' Noongar writer Kim Scott has won the Miles Franklin Award twice for his novels. In this moving essay, Tony Birch shows how Scott uses fiction as a pathway to truth. We meet a writer who 'inhabits a range of guises, faces he wears to interrogate the complex and messy frontier history of colonial encounters'. The result is 'new stories' for the nation. This, says Birch, is the work that Kim Scott has been doing for many years.

Here was a very-much-alive half-Lebanese writer (from provincial Brisbane, no less) producing English-language writing of the very first order … The poetry was in the prose; it stayed and sprung its rhythms, chorded its ideas, concentrated its images. Every other novel claims to be written in "poetic prose"; the real thing, when you come across it, is actually shocking. Nam Le takes the reader on a thrilling intellectual ride in this sharp, bold essay. Encompassing identity politics, metaphysics, the relationship between life and art, and the 'Australianness' of Malouf's work, it is unlike anything else written about one of Australia's most acclaimed writers. In the Writers on Writers series, leading writers reflect on another Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.