After Montaigne: Contemporary Essayists Cover the Essays

Synopsis

Writers Of The Modern Essay Can Trace Their Chosen Genre All The Way Back To Michel De Montaigne (1533–92). But Save For The Recent Notable Best Seller How To Live: A Life Of Montaigne By Sarah Bakewell, Montaigne Is Largely Ignored. After Montaigne―a Collection Of Twenty-four New Personal Essays Intended As Tribute―aims To Correct This Collective Lapse Of Memory And Introduce Modern Readers And Writers To Their Stylistic Forebear. Though It’s Been Over Four Hundred Years Since He Began Writing His Essays, Montaigne’s Writing Is Still Fresh, And His Use Of The Form As A Means Of Self-exploration In The World Around Him Reads As Innovative―even By Modern Standards. He Is, Simply Put, The Writer To Whom All Essayists Are Indebted. Each Contributor Has Chosen One Of Montaigne’s 107 Essays And Has Written His/her Own Essay Of The Same Title And On The Same Theme, Using A Quote From Montaigne’s Essay As An Epigraph. The Overall Effect Is Akin To A Covers Album, With Each Writer Offering His Or Her Own Interpretation And Stylistic Verve To Montaigne’s Themes In Ways That Both Reinforce And Challenge The French Writer’s Prose, Ideas, And Forms. Featuring A Who’s Who Of Contemporary Essayists, After Montaigne Offers Astartling Engagement With Montaigne And The Essay Form While Also Pointing The Way To The Genre’s Potential New Directions.--publisher Description. To The Reader, Sincerely / David Lazar -- Of Liars / E.j. Levy -- Of The Education Of Children / Brian J. Doyle -- Of Prayers / Lia Purpura -- Of Thumbs / Mary Cappello -- Of Smells / Wayne Koestenbaum -- Of Cannibals / Lina M. Ferreira C.-v. -- How The Soul Discharges Its Emotions Against False Objects When Lacking Real Ones / Danielle Cadena Deulen -- Of Constancy / Nicole Walker -- Of Giving The Lie / Bret Lott -- Of Friendship / Vivian Gornick -- Of Idleness / Steven Church -- Against Idleness / Kristen Radtke -- Of The Affection Of Fathers For Their Children / Robin Hemley -- Of Wearing My Read Dress (after Of The Custom Of Wearing Clothes) / Barrie Jean Borich -- Of The Power Of The Imagination / Desirae Matherly -- That Our Mind Hinders Itself / José Orduña -- Of Books And Huecos / Judith Ortiz Cofer -- Of Diversion / Shannon Lakanen -- Of Sex, Embarrassment, And The Miseries Of Old Age (after On Some Verses Of Virgil) / Robert Atwan -- Of Sleep / Jerald Walker -- Of The Inconvenience Of Greatness / Amy Lee Scott -- Of Solitude / Chris Arthur -- Of Age / Chris Aldrich -- Of Practice / Patrick Madden -- The Ceremony Of The Interview Of Princes / Elena Passarello -- We Can Savour Nothing Pure / Maggie Nelson -- Experience Necessary / Phillip Lopate. Edited By David Lazar And Patrick Madden. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.