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

Phillip Lopate (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1997

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderful book. The most charming smorgasbord  imaginable of essays from around the world."  -- Diane Cole, USA Today.  

"Without a doubt, this is the most  nourishing essay collection I've read in years."  -- Susan Burmeister-Brown, Portland  Oregonian.

"A labor of deeply  felt love and keenly honed scholarship by an  essay authority who knows his territory down to his  bones." -- Christian Science  Monitor.

"The best available [essay  anthology] no matter how crowded the field."  -- Chicago Tribune.  

"The striking thing is how much Lopate has managed  to pack in, and how high a standard he has  managed to maintain." -- John Gross, New  York Newsday.

"Packed with  personality and beguiling first-person prose... of  reminders of the perils and pleasures of the  craft." -- The Wall Street  Journal.

From the Publisher

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.

"A wonderful book. The most charming smorgasbord imaginable of essays from around the world." -- Diane Cole, USA Today.

"Without a doubt, this is the most nourishing essay collection I've read in years." -- Susan Burmeister-Brown, Portland Oregonian.

"A labor of deeply felt love and keenly honed scholarship by an essay authority who knows his territory down to his bones." -- Christian Science Monitor.

"The best available [essay anthology] no matter how crowded the field." -- Chicago Tribune.

"The striking thing is how much Lopate has managed to pack in, and how high a standard he has managed to maintain." -- John Gross, New York Newsday.

"Packed with personality and beguiling first-person prose... of reminders of the perils and pleasures of the craft." -- The Wall Street Journal.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 777 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; 1st Anchor Books Pbk. Ed edition (January 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038542339X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385423397
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.6 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Essays
  • #43 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > United States

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading to further enhance your writing !!, January 8, 2002

By 

Rizzo (Nowhere) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present (Paperback)

It's clear that reading good literature leads to improved writing. This anthology is a superb collection, selected and introduced by Phillip Lopate. Lopate is said to be one of the best essayists and critics of the personal essay. The book identifies itself as a "Teachers & Writers Collaborative Book". It is absolutely wonderful, a thick, heavy book full of pleasure and is dubbed as the "first anthology to celebrate this lively, fertile genre."

In his introduction, Lopate says of the personal essay: The hallmark of the personal essay is its intimacy. The writer seems to be speaking directly into your ear, confiding everything from gossip to wisdom. Through sharing thoughts, memories, desires, complaints, and whimsies, the personal essayist sets up a relationship with the reader, a dialogue, a friendship, if you will, based on identification, understanding, testiness, and companionship.

The introduction is with rich detail of everything you ever needed to know about the "personal essay". He delves into his selection, rationale and arrangement of this book. As I said, everything you ever needed to know is here!

The collection consists of 75 personal essays, spanning over 400 years. The first section is called the forerunners, these are the earliest dating from 1600's, including: Seneca, Plutarch, Kenko, Shonagon, Hsiu, Michel De Montaigne. Then, the rise of the English essay: Abraham Cowley, Addison & Steele, Samuel Johnson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginia Woolf, Orwell, etc.

Another section is titled "Other Cultures, Other Continents", some listed are: Ivan Turgenev, Lu Hsun, Jorge Luis Borges, Roland Barthes, etc. Last section is titled "American Scene" includes: Thoreau, Thurber, McCarthy, Fitzgerald, E.B. White, Baldwin, Didion, Lopate, etc., etc.

Then, he has all essays in a table of contents categorized by "Theme and Form". Some types of theme are are: ambition, city life, country living, death, drugs & alcohol, disability & illness, food, family ties, leisure, love and sexuality, music, nature, walking, race & ethnicity etc. etc.

The classifications of essays under "Form" list: analytical meditation, consolation, diatribe, humor, list, mossaic, memoir, etc., etc. Many of the essays may be cross-referenced into a few different classifications.

If you consider writing essay, this is a great tool and a real keeper. ..Rizzo

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Anthology!!!, November 23, 2004

By 

JR Pinto (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present (Paperback)

Laurie Stone, the essayist and creative writing teacher, recommended this book to me as the most essential volume on the personal essay. I could not agree more. The editor, Philip Lopate, is one of the most well-respected authors of the personal essay and he has compiled this anthology of pieces from the classical era to the present. The book works well for readers and writers alike. Lopate, in his lengthy introduction, gives an overview of the personal essay, and instructions on how to use this book as a learning tool. It is divided into several sections, beginning with the essay's forerunners in the classical period. Michel De Montaigne, the father of the personal essay, gets his own section. Personally, I did not find it useful to read the book cover-to-cover - I read it in reverse. I started out with the most recent, contemporary essays - those most accessible to me - and went backwards in order to see the devolution of the essay, as it were.

The essay is fast becoming one of my favorite forms - it is short, funny, and insightful. I highly recommend this book to ANYONE.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Anthology on the Market for Personal Essays, October 18, 1999

By 

Jadepearl "geezer geek" (Wandering, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present (Paperback)

A book that has travelled with me for years and well worth all the space in my limited luggage space. I would definitely take this book to a desert island and it would be a book that I would grab off its shelf if my house was on fire.

Time has made me appreciate the voices contained within its cover greatly.