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The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present Paperback – January 15, 1995

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 324 ratings

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For more than four hundred years, the personal  essay has been one of the richest and most vibrant  of all literary forms. Distinguished from the  detached formal essay by its friendly, conversational  tone, its loose structure, and its drive toward  candor and self-disclosure, the personal essay  seizes on the minutiae of daily life-vanities,  fashions, foibles, oddballs, seasonal rituals, love and  disappointment, the pleasures of solitude,  reading, taking a walk -- to offer insight into the  human condition and the great social and political  issues of the day. The Art of the Personal Essay is  the first anthology to celebrate this fertile  genre. By presenting more than seventy-five personal  essays, including influential forerunners from  ancient Greece, Rome, and the Far East,  masterpieces from the dawn of the personal essay in the  sixteenth century, and a wealth of the finest  personal essays from the last four centuries, editor  Phillip Lopate, himself an acclaimed essayist,  displays the tradition of the personal essay in all  its historical grandeur, depth, and  diversity.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderful book. The most charming smorgasbord  imaginable of essays from around the world."  -- Diane Cole, USA Today.  

"Without a doubt, this is the most  nourishing essay collection I've read in years."  -- Susan Burmeister-Brown,
Portland  Oregonian.

"A labor of deeply  felt love and keenly honed scholarship by an  essay authority who knows his territory down to his  bones." --
Christian Science  Monitor.

"The best available [essay  anthology] no matter how crowded the field."  --
Chicago Tribune.  

"The striking thing is how much Lopate has managed  to pack in, and how high a standard he has  managed to maintain." -- John Gross,
New  York Newsday.

"Packed with  personality and beguiling first-person prose... of  reminders of the perils and pleasures of the  craft." --
The Wall Street  Journal.

From the Publisher

For more than four hundred years, the personal essay has been one of the richest and most vibrant of all literary forms. Distinguished from the detached formal essay by its friendly, conversational tone, its loose structure, and its drive toward candor and self-disclosure, the personal essay seizes on the minutiae of daily life-vanities, fashions, foibles, oddballs, seasonal rituals, love and disappointment, the pleasures of solitude, reading, taking a walk -- to offer insight into the human condition and the great social and political issues of the day. The Art of the Personal Essay is the first anthology to celebrate this fertile genre. By presenting more than seventy-five personal essays, including influential forerunners from ancient Greece, Rome, and the Far East, masterpieces from the dawn of the personal essay in the sixteenth century, and a wealth of the finest personal essays from the last four centuries, editor Phillip Lopate, himself an acclaimed essayist, displays the tradition of the personal essay in all its historical grandeur, depth, and diversity.

"A wonderful book. The most charming smorgasbord imaginable of essays from around the world." -- Diane Cole, USA Today.

"Without a doubt, this is the most nourishing essay collection I've read in years." -- Susan Burmeister-Brown, Portland Oregonian.

"A labor of deeply felt love and keenly honed scholarship by an essay authority who knows his territory down to his bones." -- Christian Science Monitor.

"The best available [essay anthology] no matter how crowded the field." -- Chicago Tribune.

"The striking thing is how much Lopate has managed to pack in, and how high a standard he has managed to maintain." -- John Gross, New York Newsday.

"Packed with personality and beguiling first-person prose... of reminders of the perils and pleasures of the craft." -- The Wall Street Journal.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; First Edition (January 15, 1995)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 777 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 038542339X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385423397
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 1 year and up
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1180L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.2 x 2 x 9.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 324 ratings

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Phillip Lopate
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
324 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's essays interesting and helpful for personal essayists. They praise the writing quality as excellent, wonderful, and a great resource for those studying writing. The stories are organized by author, theme, or subject and found entertaining.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

29 customers mention "Essay variety"29 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's variety of essays interesting and helpful. They say it's a great resource for personal essayists, with fine-to-excellent American essays from Seneca to Thurber. The format is a lovely way to teach food addicts about how to recover. Readers praise the book as informative, instructive, and entertaining.

"This is a nice, thick books of essays, dating back centuries up through contemporaries." Read more

"...The editor, Philip Lopate, is one of the most well-respected authors of the personal essay and he has compiled this anthology of pieces from the..." Read more

"...The author gives an excellent overview of the personal essay as a genre -- how the essay is put together, why it works, what makes it so charming..." Read more

"...assigned it for a class in personal essay it city contains many fine examples of the genre but lacks any significant aid in " how to." For..." Read more

21 customers mention "Readability"17 positive4 negative

Customers find the book easy to read with excellent writing and stories. They say it's an excellent resource for studying writing, with clear print that makes it easy to use as examples for beginning writers. The book works well for readers and writers alike, providing great examples and clear instructions.

"...The book works well for readers and writers alike...." Read more

"...-- how the essay is put together, why it works, what makes it so charming and interesting...." Read more

"...I didn't read the whole thing, only some selections, but it was a good read." Read more

"Wonderful writing in the personal essay format by writers from Seneca to Thurber, from Montaigne to Orwell, on subjects that are all over the map...." Read more

5 customers mention "Story quality"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the stories in the book. They find the writing excellent and the collection of contemporary nonfiction writers interesting. The stories are organized by author, theme, or subject for easy reading. Readers also appreciate the entertaining essays.

"...essay is put together, why it works, what makes it so charming and interesting...." Read more

"...Stories are also organized in beginning by author, theme or subject." Read more

"...Lots of big names in here. Excellent writing, wonderful stories." Read more

"...I love the essays they are very entertaining!" Read more

Kindle edition is impossible to read
1 out of 5 stars
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On my kindle and in the kindle app, the text is a jumble of symbols, font sizes and poorly formatted text. Impossible to read.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2024
    This is a nice, thick books of essays, dating back centuries up through contemporaries.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2004
    Laurie Stone, the essayist and creative writing teacher, recommended this book to me as the most essential volume on the personal essay. I could not agree more. The editor, Philip Lopate, is one of the most well-respected authors of the personal essay and he has compiled this anthology of pieces from the classical era to the present. The book works well for readers and writers alike. Lopate, in his lengthy introduction, gives an overview of the personal essay, and instructions on how to use this book as a learning tool. It is divided into several sections, beginning with the essay's forerunners in the classical period. Michel De Montaigne, the father of the personal essay, gets his own section. Personally, I did not find it useful to read the book cover-to-cover - I read it in reverse. I started out with the most recent, contemporary essays - those most accessible to me - and went backwards in order to see the devolution of the essay, as it were.

    The essay is fast becoming one of my favorite forms - it is short, funny, and insightful. I highly recommend this book to ANYONE.
    65 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2012
    The introduction itself is invaluable. The author gives an excellent overview of the personal essay as a genre -- how the essay is put together, why it works, what makes it so charming and interesting. I've studied this intro closely and have strongly recommended it to my writer friends. In fact, I loaned my original copy of this book to someone in April but soon bought another because I didn't want to be without it until I see the person again in July. A reading treat, all the way through.
    14 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2010
    I bought this for summer reading assignments for my high school. I thought it was going to be a boring collection of essays but it surprised me. I didn't read the whole thing, only some selections, but it was a good read.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2010
    The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present is a teachers and writers collaborative book expounding the personal essay. Lopate believes intimacy is the hallmark of the personal essay, with "the writer seemingly speaking directly into the reader's ear, confiding everything from gossip to wisdom." This intimacy invites the reader into a relationship of shared thoughts, memories, desires, complaints, and whimsy. This relationship is based on a belief that at our core we have a common experience of what it means to be human; a common anxiety, a common drive for understanding and companionship. This definition gives me fresh cause to study personal essay as a form for story and to try my hand at it. I believe our commonness is what draws us into relationship with one another, our understanding of the divine, and our own souls. Personal essay can be the vehicle to help us tell all, argue all, and laugh along the way. I like this. I like this very much. Lopate gives each an invitation to write our own personal essay.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2023
    This review is for the seller Chestnut Hill Books. The book was packaged very nicely. Unlike Amazon nowadays, this book was wrapped and put in a box to prevent from damage. Item received in top shape. However, it will take a while to read this book as it is a pretty thick book.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2015
    Emily Gordon assigned it for a class in personal essay it city contains many fine examples of the genre but lacks any significant aid in " how to." For some, you k know it when you see it may be sufficient but not me.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2019
    Wonderful writing in the personal essay format by writers from Seneca to Thurber, from Montaigne to Orwell, on subjects that are all over the map. I skipped around during a week at the beach and couldn't have been more inspired and eager to keep reading.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Subho Deep
    5.0 out of 5 stars Go-to reference book for Essayists
    Reviewed in India on September 28, 2022
    A wonderful compilation of classic essays. If anyone is trying to hone their essay writing skills, this book is the go-to reference. I am thoroughly enjoying reading this book.
  • David H
    5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive anthology of essays!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2019
    This book is the definitive collection of essays that will prove a valuable read to students of literature and the wider public alike. It includes essays from antiquity through to modernity, and serves as an interesting means of assessing the ebbs and flows of various cultures over time.

    The editor, Phillip Lopate, is known as both a teacher and author of the personal essays, and has compiled some of the best examples of the form throughout history. A particular joy is his lengthy introduction, which sets out to describe the nature of the essay and provide some preliminary guidance on how to use the book as a learning resource.

    This book has proven interesting to read in its own right – including topics as diverse as food, sex, nature and illness – and as a means of developing myself as an essayist. The selected essays, diverse as they are, are unfailing in the joy they bring to read and the insights they deliver. This anthology deserves a place on everyone’s bookshelf and I could not recommend it enough.

    If you found this review useful in any way I’d be super grateful if you clicked the “helpful” button below to let me know :)
    Customer image
    David H
    5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive anthology of essays!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2019
    This book is the definitive collection of essays that will prove a valuable read to students of literature and the wider public alike. It includes essays from antiquity through to modernity, and serves as an interesting means of assessing the ebbs and flows of various cultures over time.

    The editor, Phillip Lopate, is known as both a teacher and author of the personal essays, and has compiled some of the best examples of the form throughout history. A particular joy is his lengthy introduction, which sets out to describe the nature of the essay and provide some preliminary guidance on how to use the book as a learning resource.

    This book has proven interesting to read in its own right – including topics as diverse as food, sex, nature and illness – and as a means of developing myself as an essayist. The selected essays, diverse as they are, are unfailing in the joy they bring to read and the insights they deliver. This anthology deserves a place on everyone’s bookshelf and I could not recommend it enough.

    If you found this review useful in any way I’d be super grateful if you clicked the “helpful” button below to let me know :)
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  • Quique
    5.0 out of 5 stars A genre of its own
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2015
    This book really makes the personal essay stand as a genre, a very fruitful one. To witness the free and surprising development of the mind of each writer is a joy of the personal essays compiled and introduced by Lopate.
  • T. Gow
    5.0 out of 5 stars A keeper!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2018
    What's not to love. A well curated smorgasbord of personal essays from old to new. A book to dip into and enjoy.
  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Hefty tome!
    Reviewed in Canada on May 29, 2024
    The book was recommended to me because I am interested in the topic “The Art of the Personal Essay” by Phillip Lopate. Did not realize the size. Fine with a used copy.