First published 2022
Elizabeth Hardwick examines the cultural landscape of America through thirty-five previously uncollected essays. She turns her critical eye to subjects ranging from Wagner's Parsifal to Leonardo da Vinci's inventions, from actress Faye Dunaway to the simple pleasures of grits soufflé. Hardwick moves between high and popular culture with equal facility, writing about New York City's rhythms and summertime's appeal. Her political observations and thoughts on feminism reveal an engaged public intellectual. Alex Andriesse has assembled these pieces to demonstrate Hardwick's versatility as an essayist beyond her established reputation in literary criticism. The collection shows her passion for people and places while revealing her ability to write compellingly about nearly any subject that caught her attention, particularly from the 1970s forward.
Genres: essays, literary-criticism, 20th-century, american, biography-memoir, criticism, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: engaged-public-intellectual
Setting: America, New York City
Period: 1970s
304 pages · Paperback · NYRB Classics