Tag Archives: essays

The Books: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, ‘The His’er Problem’, by Anne Fadiman

On the essays shelf: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman This essay, charming and funny as it is (it has the funniest line in the entire collection), is an important discussion about gender parity in language, … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

The Books: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, ‘You Are There’, by Anne Fadiman

On the essays shelf: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman Ex Libris, by Anne Fadiman, is a book about reading, for readers. Serious readers. People who have an opinion about whether or not is morally correct … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The Books: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, ‘Words On a Flyleaf’, by Anne Fadiman

On the essays shelf: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman Along with marginalia, I am also a bit obsessed with book inscriptions. (No surprise then that this is one of my favorite sites on the net.) … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Books: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, ‘Scorn Not the Sonnet’, by Anne Fadiman

On the essays shelf: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman I haven’t read Anne Fadiman’s book in a long time. It’s a bit radio-active with my father, and so I am glad that I own it … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Books: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, ‘My Odd Shelf’, by Anne Fadiman

On the essays shelf: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman I have an “Odd Shelf” too. Or I have a couple of “Odd Shelves”: books on topics that seem to have nothing to do with the … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The Books: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, ‘Marrying Libraries’, by Anne Fadiman

On the essays shelf: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman This slim volume has great sentimental value to me, and to my family. My father introduced us to it, and gave it to us all as … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

The Books: Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, ‘Perfectly Frank’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. Unlike a lot of poets, I feel that I know everything I need to know about Frank O’Hara by reading his work. He emerges, there, on the … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Books: Twenty-Eight Artist and Two Saints, ‘Finding Augie March’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. I have some huge gaps in my reading history – and one of them is mid-late 20th century American authors. I have read Joseph Heller, J.D. Salinger, … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Books: Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, ‘Feasting on Life’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. I’m not that much of a foodie, and so I am not familiar with M.F.K. Fisher’s food writing, although everything I have heard makes me want to … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The Books: Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, ‘After the Laughs’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. Known for her wit, one-liners, and caustic attitude, Dorothy Parker is one of those rare writers who didn’t write all that much during her lifetime (her last … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments