The Eloquent Essay: An Anthology of Classic & Creative Nonfiction (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780892552412)

This anthology of seventeen modern essays shows the form at its most varied and dramatic. Purposefully concise, it gathers together exemplars of the personal narrative, the argument, the anecdotal essay, digressive discourse, the "open letter," and others. Some of the most engaging authors of our time write on subjects as diverse as becoming a doctor, cattle grazing rights, the death of Socrates, Anne Frank, computer culture, and how to detect "baloney" in all the verbiage that surrounds us.

Included in the collection are essays by George Orwell, W. H. Auden, Bruno Bettelheim, Eudora Welty, Martin Luther King Jr., Joan Didion, Edward Abbey, Leo Marx, I. F. Stone, Pico Iyer, Amy Tan, Lewis Thomas, Barbara Kingsolver, Ann S. Causey, Carl Sagan, Ellen Ullman, and Opal Palmer Adisa. Arranged in chronological order, each selection begins with a note about the author and the essay that follows. The introduction discusses the history of the essay form and the reasons for its special vitality.

The Eloquent Essay engages the intellect and the passions, and offers the general reader the pleasures of cogent written discourse. At the same time, its carefully selected essays--each one superbly written and accessible--are well suited to study and discussion.

Author: John Loughery
ISBN-10: 0892552417
ISBN-13: 9780892552412
Publisher: Persea Books
Language: English
Published: 04/17/2000
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.54lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.30w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 12/20/1999 pg. 75
Library Journal 01/01/2000 pg. 104
Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2000 pg. 198