{"product_id":"except-when-i-write-reflections-of-a-recovering-critic-9780190494360","title":"Except When I Write: Reflections of a Recovering Critic","description":"From Montaigne in the sixteenth century to Orwell, Eliot, and Trilling in the twentieth, the best literary essayists combine a gift for observation with an abiding commitment to books. Although it may seem that books are becoming less essential and that a revolution in sensibility is taking\u003cbr\u003eplace, the essays of Arthur Krystal suggest otherwise. Companionable without being chummy, engaged without being didactic, erudite without being stuffy, he demonstrates that literature, even in the digital age, remains the truest expression of the human condition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCovering subjects as diverse as aphorisms, dueling, the night, and the 1960s, the essays gathered here offer the common reader uncommon pleasure. In prose that is both vibrant and elegant, Krystal negotiates among myriad subjects-from historical writing as exemplified by Jacques Barzun to the art of\u003cbr\u003escreenwriting as not so happily represented by F. Scott Fitzgerald. His cardinal rule as a writer? William Hazlitt's Confound it, man, don't be insipid. No fear of that. \u003cem\u003eExcept When I Write \u003c\/em\u003eis thoughtful in the most joyful sense--brimming with ideas in order to give us the flow and cadence of\u003cbr\u003esomeone actually thinking. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKeenly observant and death on pretension, Krystal examines the world of books without ever losing sight of the world beyond them. Literature may be the bedrock on which these essays rest, but as F. R. Leavis aptly noted, One cannot seriously be interested in literature and remain purely literary in\u003cbr\u003einterests. \u003cem\u003eExcept When I Write \u003c\/em\u003eis a reminder of both the pleasure and the power of a well-tuned essay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Arthur Krystal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/01\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.57lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780190494360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArthur Krystal\u003c\/strong\u003e has written for \u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker, Harpers\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eAmerican Scholar\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e, and other publications. He is the author of \u003cem\u003eThe Half-Life of an American Essayist\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAgitations: Essays on Life and Literature\u003c\/em\u003e. The title essay of \u003cem\u003eExcept When\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eI Write\u003c\/em\u003e was selected for inclusion in the 2010 edition of Best American Essays. He lives in New York City.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":39929203916915,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_d1fbff4e-ec72-4087-9f35-86fc0fa25101.jpg?v=1647611245","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/except-when-i-write-reflections-of-a-recovering-critic-9780190494360","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}