{"product_id":"on-writers-and-writing-selected-essays-paperback","title":"On Writers and Writing: Selected Essays - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eHenry James\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eMichael Gorra\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor), \u003cb\u003eMichael Gorra\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA new selection of Henry James's essays on the art of writing, from his famous essay \"The Art of Fiction\" to pieces on George Eliot, Ivan Turgenev, Honor? de Balzac, and others. Witty, erudite, and passionate, James's essays are a delight for any lover of the written word.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"James knew how to be generous without sacrificing the truth. What lends dignity and breadth to [his essays] above their directness and simplicity... is the exploratory reach of James's mind.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Leon Edel \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHenry James, the master novelist, started his literary career as a brash, often blistering reviewer, unafraid to skewer eminences like Charles Dickens and George Eliot, and continued to be a working critic for the rest of his life, driven by an unflagging desire to know what makes fiction work. James's critical essays represent an ongoing appreciation of the difficult art of the novel, searching in their consideration of story, character, and style. They also stand out as splendid contributions to the art of the essay, brilliantly argued, rich with metaphor, witty, unfailingly personal. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this new selection of James's critical essays, Michael Gorra--the author of \u003ci\u003ePortrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece--\u003c\/i\u003edraws on all the different periods of James's writing life, from his fledgling reviews in \u003ci\u003eThe Nation \u003c\/i\u003eto his mature considerations of Gustave Flaubert, Honor? de Balzac, and William Shakespeare's \u003ci\u003eThe Tempest. \u003c\/i\u003eAs an overture, there is \"The Art of Fiction,\" in which James insists that the key ingredient of fiction is not to be moral or otherwise improving but simply \"to be interesting\"; for a coda, \"Mr. and Mrs. James T. Fields,\" a memoir of the literary New England of his boyhood. Overall, \u003ci\u003eOn Writers and Writing \u003c\/i\u003ecan be read as an artistic autobiography. Here we see James revisiting and revising his opinions on fiction, that exercise of heart and mind whose very meaning, he insists throughout, is freedom.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHenry James \u003c\/b\u003e(1843-1916), the younger brother of the psychologist William James and one of the greatest of American writers, was born in New York but lived for most of his life in England. Among the best known of his many stories and novels are \u003ci\u003eThe Portrait of a Lady\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Turn of the Screw\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Wings of the Dove\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eMichael Gorra\u003c\/b\u003e is a writer and scholar. His book \u003ci\u003ePortrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece\u003c\/i\u003e was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography. He teaches at Smith College.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 408\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 7.9 x 4.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 15, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53283943416115,"sku":"9781681379234","price":31.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/ZFfEzdh7jU9781681379234.webp?v=1777024607","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/on-writers-and-writing-selected-essays-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}