Essays of E. B. White (Perennial Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "For some weeks now I have been engaged in dispersing the contents of this apartment, trying to persuade hundreds of inanimate objects to scatter and..." (more)
Key Phrases: coon tree, old gander, second steward, New York, New England, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post

"Some of the finest examples of contemporary, genuinely American prose. White's style incorporates eloquence without affection, profundity without pomposity, and wit without frivolity or hostility. Like his predecessors Thoreau and Twain, White's creative, humane, and graceful perceptions are an education for the sensibilities."

Review

"Some of the finest examples of contemporary, genuinely American prose." -- Washington Post

"His voice rumbles with authority through sentences of surpassing grace. In his more than fifty years at The New Yorker, White set a standard of writerly craft for that supremely well-wrought magazine. In genial, perfectly poised essay after essay, he has wielded the English language with as much clarity and control as any Americanof his time." -- Baymond Sokolov, Newsweek

"The abiding spirit of these essays is humane, compassionate, traditionalistic. No matter what his subject, White always keeps his eye on the long view and the larger perspective. There are times when I feel his work is as much a national resource as the Liberty Bell, a call to the best andnoblest in us." -- Jonathan Yardley, San Francisco Examiner

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060932236
• ISBN-13: 978-0060932237
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,053 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of the Essay, February 14, 2002

By	"naia1" (HI, United States) - See all my reviews

Most folks will know E.B. White as the author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, or as the eminently practical voice of reason in The Elements of Style. However, White was also an accomplished essayist, turning out pieces for The New Yorker and Harpers on a regular basis for many years.

What I like about White's essays is that they can be counted on to be insightful, amusing and well-written. White approaches an essay like a pleasant conversation. He's been thinking about New York and its inhabitants, he will tell you, and this what he's come up with. On another occasion it may be the personality quirks of his old dachshund Fred, or the controversy over white versus brown eggs. Anything and everything is food for thought, although you can be sure that White will broaden the scope of his topics to include the world at large. New York, he concludes, is a concentrated version of many worlds, "...bringing to a single arena the gladiator, the evangelist, the promoter, the actor, the trader, and the merchant." Fred, the dachshund, was "...the Cecil B. deMille of dogs. He was a zealot, and I have just been reminded of him by a quote from one of the Democrats..." And the white versus brown egg debate, White concludes, is simply a matter of what you're used to. Personally he prefers brown, and can recommend the egg of the Silver Cross, whose egg is "...so richly brown, so wondrously beautiful as to defy description."

Best of all, White's insightful commentary does not require intense concentration or endless analysis to get the gist of what he is trying to say. You can sit back and relax when you pick up a book of his essays, knowing you won't have to grapple with unfamiliar or awkward language. This is not to imply that you won't find yourself thinking about what he has to say. It's just that his approach is so matter-of- fact, easy going and accessible that you feel you've been invited to tea or are taking a leisurely stroll as the essay unfolds. I read White's essays the way some people read mysteries or romance novels. They are entertaining without being too demanding, and are a great way to set day-to-day concerns aside. Treat yourself to a good read.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MAGNIFICENT ESSAYS, June 9, 2001

By	MOVIE MAVEN (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I never read E.B. White as a child although all of my friends were very much into "Charlotte's Web" and "The Trumpet of the Swan." Perhaps it was because the only other Stuart I'd ever heard of was White's mouse/hero with the last name Little...a fact that my schoolmates teased me with throughout grade school.

....

White has got to be one of the finest writers I've ever read, expressing in 5 graceful words what it takes others paragraphs to do. His descriptions of life in Maine are priceless for anyone, like me, who has longed to let the country boy deep down inside sit back and "smell the roses." And,of course, Maine is still one of the few places in the U.S. that is relatively city poison-free.

Read White's opening sentence in his brilliant "Here Is New York" which is, arguably, the best appreciation of this all-too-crazy city: "On any person who desires such queer prizes, New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy." Where did he write those words? "...in a stifling hotel room in 90-degree heat, halfway down an air shaft, in midtown." At the end of this wonderful, wonderful essay (which, by the way has been re-printed, all by itself, in a beautifully illustrated paperback) White contemplates an old Willow tree in the Turtle Bay area and he writes, "This must be saved,this particular thing, this very tree. If it were to go, all would go--this city, this mischievous and marvelous monument which not to look upon would be like death."

What other essayist expresses his thoughts and ours so unself-consciously, so economically and, yes, so magnificently? None that I have come across. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strunk's student becomes the teacher, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

Wow. This book is a treasure chest; I resorted to folding the corners of dozens of pages so I could easily relocate some of its gems.

You will hate reaching the end of this book, but you will come away with renewed powers to observe life's little treasures of daily experience.

Seeing the world through the eyes of E. B. White is an inspiring privelege, and this book enables that. If books were cookies, this one would win a whopping big prize.