After Montaigne: Contemporary Essayists Cover the Essays

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Review Quotes: "With the originality of its approach, its impressive assortment of contributors, and the editors' experience and knowledge of the form, After Montaigne is a significant contribution to the study, teaching, and writing of the contemporary essay."--Michael Steinberg, founding editor, "Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction"Review Quotes: "Imagine the dinner party: not just Montaigne but many Montaignes resurrected in these brilliant essays by twenty-eight of today's most inventive writers. The table is crowded, enlivened by the paradoxical warmth of Montaigne's detachment and by the parry and thrust of ideas, often tantamount to a kind of quiet eros. It's a dinner full of random appetites, the kind of party we leave knowing ourselves a little less, which might mean a little better. What a feast this collection is. It satisfies a hunger--intellect meeting empathy--that enlarges us."--Barbara Hurd, author of "Walking the Wrack Line: On Tidal Shifts and What Remains"Biographical Note: David Lazar is a professor in the Nonfiction Program at Columbia College Chicago and the editor of the journal "Hotel Amerika." His books include "Occasional Desire," "The Body of Brooklyn," and "Truth in Nonfiction." Patrick Madden is an associate professor of English at Brigham Young University and author of "Quotidiana" and "Sublime Physick." His work has appeared in the "Iowa Review," "Portland Magazine," "Fourth Genre," and the "Best Creative Nonfiction" and "Best American Spiritual Writing" anthologies. Review Quotes: "Though Montaigne wrote more than 400 years ago, he feels ageless to these writers, who celebrate his 'drily mellifluous voice, ' discursive style, and relentless curiosity. With flair, wit, and imagination, these writers embrace and often challenge their mentor, with results that will inspire readers to also seek out the originals." "Publishers Weekly""Review Quotes: "A fascinating collection of essays that carries forward the omnidirectional momentum of the master. "After Montaigne" gives us grand examples of the essay as it lives today." Ian Frazier, author of "Great Plains""Review Quotes: Imagine the dinner party: not just Montaigne but many Montaignes resurrected in these brilliant essays by twenty-eight of today s most inventive writers. The table is crowded, enlivened by the paradoxical warmth of Montaigne s detachment and by the parry and thrust of ideas, often tantamount to a kind of quiet eros. It s a dinner full of random appetites, the kind of party we leave knowing ourselves a little less, which might mean a little better. What a feast this collection is. It satisfies a hunger intellect meeting empathy that enlarges us. Barbara Hurd, author of "Listening to the Savage: River Notes and Half-Heard Melodies""Publisher Marketing: 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 a startling engagement with Montaigne and the essay form while also pointing the way to the genre s potential new directions. Contributors: Marcia Aldrich, Chris Arthur, Robert Atwan, Barrie Jean Borich, Mary Cappello, Steven Church, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Danielle Cadena Deulen, Brian Doyle, Lina M. Ferreira C. V., Vivian Gornick, Robin Hemley, Wayne Koestenbaum, Shannon Lakanen, David Lazar, E. J. Levy, Phillip Lopate, Bret Lott, Patrick Madden, Desirae Matherly, Maggie Nelson, Jose Orduna, Elena Passarello, Lia Purpura, Kristen Radtke, Amy Lee Scott, Jerald Walker, Nicole Walker" Review Citations:

Publishers Weekly 07/06/2015 (EAN 9780820348155, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Montaigne, Michel Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance and the originator of the genre of the essay.