Lost in Translation [Hardcover]

Steven Harvey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

From the author of A Geometry of Lilies comes a new collection of essays focusing on the exotic in the ordinary of everyday life. Steven Harvey's words illuminate and entertain as he ruminates on such topics as love of family, of students and teaching, of place and tradition, and of how language itself can transform experience.

Separate as the essays are, they all tell the same story, and though they bear different titles, they all could be called "Lost in Translation." In each essay, the self is brought against a new world or two worlds into conflict, the soul shedding a husk of its former life in the encounter. Such losses, the essays say, are the leavings of our changes and the price we pay for becoming. Some part of our true selves, Harvey notes, finds voice only in such translations--in engagement with others on others' terms--and this is the part we cannot live without.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Harvey (English, Young Harris Coll.; A Geometry of Lilies, LJ 9/1/93) celebrates everyday, ordinary experiences and objects in this collection of essays. For example, he explores the significance of activities like making apple juice with friends in autumn, fathers and sons playing touch football, and playing guitar in a folk choir. Even the lowly college blue book, that repository of student hopes, comes under scrutiny and provides the opportunity for musing about students, poets, and college life. One particularly entertaining essay opens by describing Helen, a town in Georgia that has been reborn into an alpine village tourist attraction; Harvey then moves on to an account of the town's Cherokee population. The appeal of these personal essays lies in the eclectic choice of topics and the intriguing directions Harvey pursues. His skill with language brings a poetic sensibility to the insights that are revealed. His book will appeal to readers who enjoy the unexpected in an essay.?Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Harvey breathes lyricism and beauty into ordinary hours. He rummages time and place and arranges knick-knacks so that the pages exhilarate."--Samuel Pickering Jr., author of The Blue Caterpillar and Other Essays

"Harvey established himself with his first collection, A Geometry of Lilies, as a master of the personal essay. Lost in Translation surpasses the achievement of the first."--James Kilgo, author of Inheritance of Horses

"The appeal of these personal essays lies in the eclectic choice of topics and the intriguing directions Harvey pursues. His skill with language brings a poetic sensibility to the insights that are revealed. His book will appeal to readers who enjoy the unexpected in an essay.”--Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press; First edition (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820318906
• ISBN-13: 978-0820318905
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,159,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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