Readings

Readings combines the best of Sven Birkerts's previously published criticism with vital new essays. A dazzling writer whose clarity, rigor, and far-flung intellectual curiosity have been widely praised, Birkerts the literary critic is in top form in these pages. Whether discussing Elizabeth Bishop or Don DeLillo, Rilke or Kerouac, Keats or The Great Gatsby , he brings fresh insight, sharp thinking, and reflective sensitivity to each of his subjects. A brilliant cultural commentator, Birkerts also addresses broader, more associative topics, such as biography and the enigma of poetic inspiration, contemporary nostalgia, our modern sense of time, and the future of the creative spirit. As Jonathan Franzen wrote in The New Yorker , "Birkerts on reading fiction is like M.F.K. Fisher on eating or Norman Maclean on fly casting. He makes you want to go do it." This is writing about reading at its best. A Collection Of Literary Criticism On Topics Such As Biography, The Enigma Of Poetic Inspiration, Contemporary Nostalgia, Our Modern Sense Of Time, The Future Of The Creative Spirit, And More. The Millenial Warp -- American Nostalgias -- Sense And Semblance: The Implications Of Virtuality -- The Idea Of The Internet -- Walking After Midnight -- Only God Can Make A Tree -- Reflections Of A Nonpolitical Man; Or, Why I Can't In Good Conscience Write About Noam Chomsky -- An Open Invitation To Extraterrestrials -- Biography And The Dissolving Self -- The Grasshopper On The Windowsill -- States Of Reading -- Against The Current -- Reading And Depth Of Field -- Docufiction -- Poetry And Politics -- Running Out Of Gas -- Second Thoughts -- This Year's Canon -- When Lightning Strikes -- On A Stanza By John Keats -- Rainer Maria Rilke -- Robert Lowell -- Seamus Heaney -- Atmospheres Of Identity: Elizabeth Bishop -- The Leaning Umbrella: A Reflection On Flaubert -- A Gatsby For Today -- Jack Kerouac -- Destinies Of Character -- Don Delillo's Underworld. Sven Birkerts Includes Bibliographical References. Readings combines the best of Sven Birkerts's dazzling criticism with vital new essays. Here is Birkerts the literary critic in top form discussing authors ranging from Elizabeth Bishop to Don DeLillo, and topics such as biography and the enigma of poetic inspiration. A brilliant cultural commentator, Birkerts also offers important insights into contemporary nostalgia, our modern sense of time, and the future of the creative spirit. One of the pivotal critics of our times champions the creative spirit in an age of intense distraction, tackling such subjects as manufactured nostalgia and commercialism.