A Cynthia Ozick Reader [Paperback]

Cynthia Ozick (Author), Elaine Kauvar (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 1996

"[Ozick's] range of influences is obvious in the fine selections of poems and short stories as well as essays from Art & Ardor (1983) and Metaphor and Memory (1989) that Kauvar has so sensitively chosen." —Booklist

"[This collection reflects] the imaginative, inventive, and insightful Ozick. Some of the best of Ozick as poet, essayist, and fiction writer is represented in A Cynthia Ozick Reader." —Library Journal

"Gathered here are some bristling, incandescent tales and thorny essays that show Ozick at her finest." —The Seattle Times

Cynthia Ozick is among the ten most important writers in North America today. This Reader brings her manifold talents together in a sampler of the many genres she explores. The poems, stories, and essays in this collection burst with all the energy of her capacious imagination. For those who have always lauded her, the Reader offers a representative selection; those new to Cynthia Ozick's work will revel in the discovery of a major writer.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These two collections reflect the imaginative, inventive, and insightful Ozick. Some of the best of Ozick as poet, essayist, and fiction writer is represented in A Cynthia Ozick Reader, including the poems "Greeks," "The Fish in the Net," and "When That with Tragic Rapture Moses Stood" and the short stories "Envy," "Virility," and "Puttermesser and Xanthippe." Besides seven poems and seven fiction pieces, including a selection from Ozick's epic novel, Trust, there are eight provocative essays taken from her previous collections, focusing on the secret humanness underlying the literary lives of Virginia Woolf and Edith Wharton, the demise of a literary culture, classical vs. modern feminism, and her cherished Henry James. This anthology is a good introduction to the range of styles, themes, and ideas in her writing. Essayist Ozick shines further in Fame & Folly, a new collection of 17 typically provocative, sometimes witty essays. Most of these focus on the various life experiences, foibles, and follies of selected literary figures. In the first essay, "T.S. Eliot at 101," Ozick reflects on how Eliot was revered in colleges in the Forties, Fifties, and early Sixties and is almost ignored today. She revisits Eliot in "Helping T. S. Eliot Write Better," an entertaining literary spoof in which, among other things, confusion between T.S. Eliot and George Eliot reigns. In other essays, Ozick focuses on Christian heroism and the Holocaust or reflects on the state of American culture, while a couple of the essays are short fictional pieces. The wide variations in themes and length tend to make this collection uneven and jumbled. Separating the pieces into at least two distinct categories would have lessened frustration for readers. Nevertheless, the essays are well worth reading. Both of these collections should be in public and academic libraries.?Jeris Cassel, Rutgers Univ. Libs., New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

ELAINE M. KAUVAR is Professor of English at Baruch College (CUNY). She is the author of Cynthia Ozick's Fiction: Tradition and Invention.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (May 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253210534
• ISBN-13: 978-0253210531
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,155,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Virility!, May 21, 2008

By 

Lynn Hoffman, author:The Short Course in Beer (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Cynthia Ozick Reader (Paperback)

Of course everyone will commend you to Puttermesser and Xanthippe-a novella of almost operatic drama and sadness. A Mercenary has charms because it so evokes the news in 2008 and Envy is a wicked little piece likely to have lasting appeal.
But I am urging you to buy this book for the sake of one story. It's called Virility. In it, Ozick puts aside her Judeopean, world-weary voice for the clean credulity and wholesome cynicism of a male waspy New Yorker who tells the secret story of one of America's most famous poets and some of the real truths behind the New York literary scene.
I read this back in the 70's and its sour little truth changed the way I thought about men and women in the way that no argument could have.

The other pieces are good too, but get yourself to Virility as soon as you can.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent selection, September 2, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Cynthia Ozick Reader (Paperback)

This is an excellent selection of Ozick's work . It includes what in my judgment is the finest piece of fiction that she has written the novella ,'Envy'. It also a number of her outstanding literary and historical reflections including some which touch upon her wise and insightful understanding of Jewish history.