Godina izdanja: Ostalo
ISBN: Ostalo
Jezik: Engleski
Vrsta: Eseji i kritike
Autor: Strani

U dobrom stanju

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf; First Edition (April 1, 1989)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds


The Outermost Dream brings together essays and reviews by William Maxwell, one of America`s foremost writers and editors. Maxwell chose deliberately to focus on biography, memoir, diaries, and correspondence when reviewing books: `what people said and did and wore and ate and hoped for and were afraid of, and in detail after often unimaginable detail they refresh our idea of existence and hold oblivion at arm`s length.` In reading his reviews, we are struck by Maxwell`s skill in choosing the one particular, the haunting moment, that further illuminates our understanding of the power of an individual life. His discernment is equally telling whether writing about literary luminaries such as Virginia Woolf, Lord Byron, E.B. White, Isak Dinesen, or delving into the diaries of an unknown Victorian curate with vivid dreams of murder and mayhem.

About William Maxwell
“By the time his second novel, They Came Like Swallows, appeared in 1937, it was clear that William Maxwell was a special and wonderful gift to American fiction. It may be the definitive American novel about a child’s relationship to his mother—a subject so obvious, and crucial, that it is rarely handled. Similarly, The Folded Leaf became a classic study of adolescent relationships— two boys, and then a girl—the web so delicately and truthfully examined that the book continues to be a revelation for succeeding generations. The Chateau harked back to James in its subject of Americans abroad, and in its probing of moral inscrutabilities it can stand comparison to The Master. Best of all, probably, is Maxwell’s most recent novel, So Long, See You Tomorrow, the story of a murder in the Twenties and its effect on the friendship of two thirteen-year-old boys. The Middle West, especially in Time Will Darken It, is Maxwell’s particular territory, but he is as knowing and skillful about life in New York and France as well. As for life in general, one need merely read him. The least flashy of writers, a writer’s writer, he is controlled and reserved, and yet magical at the same time. He has been a master of fiction for almost fifty years.”

HOWARD MOSS

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From Publishers Weekly
Maxwell is noted both for his 40 years as a fiction editor at the New Yorker and for his own short stories and novels (including the American Book Award-winning So Long, See You Tomorrow ). However, as a reviewer, he has preferred nonfiction books that `tell what happened--what people said and did and wore and ate and hoped for and were afraid of, and in detail after often unimaginable detail . . . refresh our idea of existence and hold oblivion at arm`s length.` His 19 essays collected here discuss biographies, autobiographies, letters, diaries and memoirs, singling out such subjects as Colette`s intense curiosity about the world and Byron`s character as revealed in his financial accounts; Virginia Woolf`s malicious tongue; and Giacometti`s creative gloom. The `outermost dream` of the title refers to the published diary selections of the Reverend Francis Kilvert, an obscure 19th century English clergyman whose quiet life belied his startling dreams. Maxwell`s scrupulously fair and gracefully written considerations of books offer a wealth of concise detail and an unerring sense of the influence of shaping events, patterns and character in life and literature.


From Library Journal
Most of these 20 articles respond in some way to recently published biographies or collections of correspondence. But they seldom read like book reviews. As a practiced novelist, Maxwell finds an animating theme and telling quotes in each life story, creating rich, focused biographical essays. Although most of his subjects were writers themselves, he views them in their private words and deeds, not in their works. Whether he explores Lord Byron`s debts, or the differences between Virginia Woolf`s letters and her diary, or the success of Colette`s last marriage, he shows his respect for the inner person. That is why his prose--so quietly informative--is also so full of drama.
- Donald Ray, Mercy Coll. Lib., Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.