{"product_id":"ecstasy-and-terror-daniel-mendelsohn-9781681374055","title":"Ecstasy and Terror: From the Greeks to Game of Thrones","description":"\"The role of the critic,\" Daniel Mendelsohn writes, \"is to mediate intelligently and stylishly between a work and its audience; to educate and edify in an engaging and, preferably, entertaining way.\" His latest collection exemplifies the range, depth, and erudition that have made him \"required reading for anyone interested in dissecting culture\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Beast\u003c\/i\u003e). In \u003ci\u003eEcstasy and Terror\u003c\/i\u003e, Mendelsohn once again casts an eye at literature, film, television, and the personal essay, filtering his insights through his training as a scholar of classical antiquity in illuminating and sometimes surprising ways. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMany of these essays look with fresh eyes at our culture's Greek and Roman models: some find an arresting modernity in canonical works (\u003ci\u003eBacchae\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eAeneid\u003c\/i\u003e), while others detect a \"Greek DNA\" in our responses to national traumas such as the Boston Marathon bombings and the assassination of JFK. There are pieces on contemporary literature, from the \"aesthetics of victimhood\" in Hanya Yanagihara's \u003ci\u003eA Little Life \u003c\/i\u003eto the uncomfortable mixture of art and autobiography in novels by Henry Roth, Ingmar Bergman, and Karl Ove Knausgård. Mendelsohn considers pop culture, too, in essays on the feminism of \u003ci\u003eGame of Thrones \u003c\/i\u003eand on recent films about artificial intelligence--a subject, he reminds us, that was already of interest to Homer. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis collection also brings together for the first time a number of the award-winning memoirist's personal essays, including his \"critic's manifesto\" and a touching reminiscence of his boyhood correspondence with the historical novelist Mary Renault, who inspired him to study the Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Daniel Mendelsohn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1681374056\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781681374055\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New York Review of Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/08\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.70w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/08\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/15\/2019 pg. 69","brand":"Daniel Mendelsohn","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44046442823935,"sku":"9781681374055","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ec9b524a-0fb5-4cf4-b92e-6860a13bcd6f.jpg?v=1684984593","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ecstasy-and-terror-daniel-mendelsohn-9781681374055","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}