Browsings($16.00Value)

Description

Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda has been hailed as "the best-read person in America" (The Paris Review) and "the best book critic in America" (The New York Observer). His latest volume collects fifty of his witty and wide-ranging reflections on a life in literature. Reaching from the classics to the post-moderns, his allusions dance from Samuel Johnson, Ralph Waldo Emerson and M. F. K. Fisher to Marilynne Robinson, Hunter S. Thompson, and David Foster Wallace. Dirda's topics are equally diverse: literary pets, the lost art of cursive writing, book inscriptions, the pleasures of science fiction conventions, author photographs, novelists in old age, Oberlin College, a year in Marseille, writer's block, and much more. As admirers of his earlier books will expect, there are annotated lists galore—of perfect book titles, great adventure novels, favorite words, books about books, and beloved children's classics, as well as a revealing peek at the titles Michael keeps on his own nightstand.Funny and erudite, Browsings is a celebration of the reading life, a fan's notes, and the perfect gift for any booklover. “This joy-filled, reflective collection makes perfect bedside reading. Literate but never snobby, this collection of essays surely will entertain and enlighten book lovers of all stripes.” - Booklist “ Browsings is as much about living with books, about serendipitous discovery, as about the boundless pleasures of reading. Dirda's comradely essays are unfailingly informative and amusing, punctuated with poignant asides on the aging artist and paeans to great literary scholars. His almost single-minded passion, the exhilaration of a life in literature, glows on every page. ” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Beyond bibliophilism, this is a work about how reading stories builds relationships―between readers and writers and between readers and readers―and how these relationships change and shape one’s life. Dirda’s exuberance is infectious, and the book is hard to put down. Clearly this author recognizes that the most important quality of a book is the pleasure it gives.” - Library Journal “A rambunctious personality wanders the aisles of rare-book stores; musing about language, aging and traffic; and catching up with fellow aficionados of the weird and the obscure. The innumerable forgotten books he catalogs are captivating.” - The New York Times “A set of appealingly conversational meditations on the life of the mind. The author’s personality is so vivid and immediate that a readerly rapport is established almost instantly. The hallmarks of the Dirdanian sensibility includes a wry, slightly avuncular tone that wears its erudition slightly, a pronounced interest in genre fiction, and a sturdy sort of common-sense approach to critical theory, all with a light dusting of loveable curmudgeon and a sprinkle of raffish boulevardier. Cheerfully eccentric, Dirda eschews the lofty pronouncement of Olympian judgment, preferring instead a hale and friendly exploration of shared enthusiasm.” - The Washington Post “Dirda's enthusiasm is manifest, and his knowledge is often impressive. Dirda's first-person voice and confessional zeal make him an easy author to like.” - Times Literary Supplement “Michael Dirda is one of the great book reviewers of our age. It is not merely that his writing is so lucid and intelligent or that his taste is so inclusive but discerning. The key to his particular magic is that he is always alert to the complex pleasures that animate literature. His engaging essays are those of a restless, omnivorous reader and a true bookman.” - Dana Gioia, poet and former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts “If we were all to write about reading as Dirda does, if we taught children to write from joy rather than to form arguments, then the world would have many more serious readers and far better books.” - Bookforum “Elegantly written musings about calligraphy, writer’s block, genre conferences, the books on a given critic’s nightstand, with the odd personal reminiscence thrown in.” - Los Angele Review of Books “The 52 pieces collected in Browsings shine with Dirda's passion for books, both as a reader and a collector, and are certain to delight any bibliophile. They reveal the mind of a critic with an astonishing breadth of literary knowledge and a talent for sharing that learning in accessible, often humorous, prose.” - Shelf Awareness “Smart but not stuffy, critical but not carping, self-engaged but not self-absorbed. Dirda’s intellect is a brightly populated curio cabinet, containing topics as varied as Samuel Johnson’s cat, the art of the perfect book title, the decline of penmanship and the distress of writer’s block.” - Wall Street Journal “Michael Dirda, bookman extraordinaire, has elevated the indulgent pleasures of browsing to the quality of high art. A marvelous collection for serious book lovers, common readers and all of us who take