Graywolf Press 		Graywolf Press

Search by keyword, title, author last name, or ISBN.

Browse and Order Books:

Request a copy of our Spring 2010 catalog

Reviews of Lost Origins of the Essay


“This is an anthology in the service of a wonderful idea: that the essay has been encumbered by its obligation to tell us the facts. It prefers the delicacy of Montaigne’s “What do I know?” to the assertive “I know” of information culture. The essays here border on dreams, visions, explanations of our need for the imaginative process. These essays come equipped in beautiful language, ornate or stripped-down extravagances of syntax: a global array of spectacular choices. For John D’Agata the essay is a maximal form—cumulative and accumulative—taking what it needs from anywhere and everywhere, creating unforgettable artifacts of imagination. By burrowing back to its origins, D’Agata is able to imagine the future of the essay.”
—MICHAEL SILVERBLATT, “Bookworm,” on KCRW (Los Angeles)

“Readers looking for a real aesthetic challenge will find much to puzzle over, and enjoy.”
—BARNES & NOBLE REVIEW

“D’Agata’s enthusiasm is contagious, his commentary is larky and shrewd, and he is blithely daring… D’Agata is fearless.”
—BOOKLIST

“There may be nobody working better or harder to push at perceived notions of what an essay is…. the trait that makes D’Agata a national treasure is his relentlessness….. D’Agata’s Lost Origins of the Essay seems as surprising and encouraging book as I can conceive of…. Every single essay in this book is worth the price of the book itself, but the chief and cohesive magic, I think, is D’Agata’s.”
—CORDUROY BOOKS

 
In your cart:
Your cart is currently empty.