Albert Camus tells about his favorite one. These small moments range from the physical—hugging a stranger, the best essay ever, transplanting fig cuttings—to the spiritual and philosophical, giving the impression of sitting beside Gay in his garden as he thinks out loud in real time. Writer support uk offers the best assignment writing service uk. Going Back To The Roots. This is a heartwarming, coming-of-age story about a young girl who waits for her breasts to finally grow. So enjoy this ultimate and up-to-date!
40 Best Essays Ever Written (With Links And Writing Tips)
Robert Atwan, the founder of The Best American Essays series, picks the 10 best essays of the postwar period. Links to the essays are provided when available. So to make my list of the top ten essays since less impossible, I decided to exclude all the great examples of New Journalism--Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, Michael Herr, and many others can be reserved for another list. I also decided to include only American writers, so such outstanding English-language essayists as Chris Arthur and Tim Robinson are missing, the best essay ever, though they have appeared in The Best American Essays series.
And I selected essaysthe best essay ever, not essayists. A list of the top ten essayists since would feature some different writers. And the best essays show that the name of the genre is also a verb, so they demonstrate a mind in process--reflecting, trying-out, essaying. Against a violent historical background, Baldwin recalls his deeply troubled relationship with his father and explores his growing awareness of himself as a black American. However you view the racial politics, the prose is undeniably hypnotic, beautifully modulated and yet full of urgency. Norman Mailer, "The White Negro" originally appeared in Dissent An essay that packed an enormous wallop at the time may make some of us cringe today with its hyperbolic dialectics and hyperventilated metaphysics.
Odd, how terms can bounce back into life with an entirely different set of connotations. What might Mailer call the new hipsters? Read the essay here. Susan Sontag, "Notes on 'Camp'" originally appeared in Partisan The best essay ever I was familiar with it as an undergraduate, hearing it used often by a set of friends, department store window decorators in Manhattan. But after Sontag unpacked the concept, with the help of Oscar Wilde, the best essay ever, I began to see the cultural world in a different light. John McPhee, "The Search for Marvin Gardens" originally appeared in The New Yorker I roll the dice—a six and a two. Through the air I move my token, the flatiron, to Vermont Avenue, where dog packs range. As the games progress and as properties are rapidly snapped up, McPhee juxtaposes the well-known sites on the board—Atlantic Avenue, Park Place—with actual visits to their crumbling locations.
He goes to jail, not just in the game but in fact, portraying what life has now become in a city that in better days was a Boardwalk Empire. The essay was collected in Pieces the best essay ever the Frame Read the essay here subscription required. Joan Didion, "The White Album" originally appeared in New West Annie Dillard, "Total Eclipse" originally appeared in Antaeus Phillip Lopate, "Against Joie de Vivre" originally appeared in Ploughshares The essay was selected by Gay Talese for The Best American Essays and collected in Against Joie de Vivre in Jo Ann Beard, "The Fourth State of Matter" originally appeared in The New Yorker the best essay ever, A question for nonfiction writing students: When writing a true story based on actual events, how does the narrator create dramatic tension when most readers can be expected to know what happens in the end?
David Foster Wallace, "Consider the Lobster" originally appeared in Gourmet Susan Orlean selected the essay for The Best American Essays and Wallace collected it in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays I wish I could include twenty more essays but the best essay ever ten in themselves comprise a wonderful and wide-ranging mini-anthology, one that showcases some of the most outstanding literary voices of our time. The Millions. SITE LICENSE ACCESS. The Top 10 Essays Since By Robert Atwan. More from pw. A Year In Reading: PW Picks: Books of the Week. New Pub Dates for Forthcoming Books: You Don't Know Zora Neale Hurston. About Us Contact Us Submission Guidelines Subscriber Services Advertising Info Terms of Use Privacy Policy Do Not Sell Calls for Info Editorial Calendar Archives Press FAQ.
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a tale of two cities essay topics
Jo Ann Beard, "The Fourth State of Matter" originally appeared in The New Yorker , A question for nonfiction writing students: When writing a true story based on actual events, how does the narrator create dramatic tension when most readers can be expected to know what happens in the end? David Foster Wallace, "Consider the Lobster" originally appeared in Gourmet , Susan Orlean selected the essay for The Best American Essays and Wallace collected it in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays I wish I could include twenty more essays but these ten in themselves comprise a wonderful and wide-ranging mini-anthology, one that showcases some of the most outstanding literary voices of our time.
The Millions. SITE LICENSE ACCESS. The Top 10 Essays Since By Robert Atwan. More from pw. A Year In Reading: PW Picks: Books of the Week. New Pub Dates for Forthcoming Books: You Don't Know Zora Neale Hurston. About Us Contact Us Submission Guidelines Subscriber Services Advertising Info Terms of Use Privacy Policy Do Not Sell Calls for Info Editorial Calendar Archives Press FAQ. Children's Announcements. Stay ahead with Tip Sheet! Free newsletter: the hottest new books, features and more. Email Address Password Log In Forgot Password. Premium online access is only available to PW subscribers. If you have an active subscription and need to set up or change your password, please click here. New to PW? To set up immediate access, click here.
NOTE: If you had a previous PW subscription, click here to reactivate your immediate access. If working at an office location and you are not "logged in", simply close and relaunch your preferred browser. For off-site access, click here. Thank you for visiting Publishers Weekly. There are 3 possible reasons you were unable to login and get access our premium online pages. You are NOT a current subscriber to Publishers Weekly magazine. You may cancel at any time with no questions asked. You are a subscriber but you have not yet set up your account for premium online access.
Contact customer service see details below to add your preferred email address and password to your account. He recounts the story of his friend, Salman Rushdie, author of Satanic Verses who, for many years had to watch over his shoulder because of the fatwa of Ayatollah Khomeini. With his usual wit, Hitchens shares various examples of people who died because of their opinions and of editors who refuse to publish anything related to Islam because of fear and it was written long before the Charlie Hebdo massacre. After reading the essay, you will realize that freedom of expression is one of the most precious things we have and that we have to fight for it.
Christopher Hitchens — The New Commandments. Watch, as Christopher Hitchens slays one commandment after the other on moral, as well as historical grounds. For example, did you know that there are actually many versions of the divine law dictated by God to Moses which you can find in the Bible? If you approach it with an open mind, this essay may change the way you think about the Bible and religion in general. Phillip Lopate — Against Joie de Vivre. If you want to remain happy, just remain stupid. Personally, I can bear the onus of happiness or joie de vivre for some time.
Philip Larkin — The Pleasure Principle. This piece comes from the Required Writing collection of essays. Well worth a read. Sigmund Freud — Thoughts for the Times on War and Death. How the peaceful, European countries could engage in a war that would eventually cost more than 17 million lives? What stirs people to kill each other? Is it their nature, or are they puppets of imperial forces with agendas of their own? Zadie Smith — Some Notes on Attunement. This one is about the elusiveness of change occurring within you. For Zadie, it was hard to attune to the vibes of Joni Mitchell — especially her Blue album. But eventually, she grew up to appreciate her genius, and all the other things changed as well.
This top essay is all about the relationship between human, and art. We should like it because it has an instantaneous, emotional effect on us. Although, according to Stansfield Gary Oldman in Léon, liking Beethoven is rather mandatory. Annie Dillard — Total Eclipse. My imagination was always stirred by the scene of the solar eclipse in Pharaoh, by Boleslaw Prus. I wondered about the shock of the disoriented crowd when they saw how their ruler was apparently able to switch off the light. Getting immersed in this essay by Annie Dillard has a similar effect. It produces amazement and some kind of primeval fear. After the eclipse, nothing is going to be the same again. Édouard Levé — When I Look at a Strawberry, I Think of a Tongue. This suicidally beautiful essay will teach you a lot about the appreciation of life.
Gloria E. Anzaldúa — How to Tame a Wild Tongue. Anzaldúa, who was born in south Texas, had to struggle to find her true identity. She was American, but her culture was grounded in Mexico. In this way, she and her people were not fully respected in either of the countries. This essay is an account of her journey of becoming the ambassador of the Chicano Mexican-American culture. Kurt Vonnegut — Dispatch From A Man Without a Country. In terms of style, this essay is flawless. Mary Ruefle — On Fear. Most psychologists and gurus agree that fear is the greatest enemy of success or any creative activity. Mary Ruefle takes on this basic human emotion with flair. Susan Sontag — Against Interpretation. In this highly intellectual essay, Sontag fights for art and its interpretation.
Hell if I know! I will judge it through my subjective experience! Nora Ephron — A Few Words About Breasts. This is a heartwarming, coming-of-age story about a young girl who waits for her breasts to finally grow. As it happens, the size of breasts is a big deal for women. Carl Sagan — Does Truth Matter — Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization. Carl Sagan was one of the greatest proponents of skepticism, and an author of numerous books, including one of my all-time favorites — The Demon-Haunted World. He was also a renowned physicist and the host of the fantastic Cosmos: A Personal Voyage series, which inspired a whole generation to uncover the mysteries of the cosmos.
He was also a dedicated weed smoker — clearly ahead of his time. Paul Graham — How To Do What You Love. How To Do What You Love should be read by every college student and young adult. The Internet is flooded with a large number of articles and videos that are supposed to tell you what to do with your lives. Most of them are worthless, but this one is different. Please, read the essay and let it help you gain fulfillment from your work. John Jeremiah Sullivan — Mister Lytle. A young, aspiring writer is about to become a nurse of a fading writer — Mister Lytle Andrew Nelson Lytle , and there will be trouble.
This essay by Sullivan is probably my favorite one from the whole list. The amount of beautiful sentences it contains is just overwhelming. It also takes you to the Old South which has an incredible atmosphere. Joan Didion — On Self Respect. Normally, with that title you would expect some straightforward advice about how to improve your character and get on with your goddamn life — but not from Joan Didion. You can learn more from this essay than from whole books about self-improvement. Susan Sontag — Notes on Camp. After reading this essay, you will know what camp is. You will vastly increase your appreciation for art. All the listicles we usually see on the web simply cannot compare with it. Ralph Waldo Emerson — Self-Reliance. Written in , it still inspires generations of people.
It will let you understand what it means to be self-made. It contains some of the most memorable quotes of all time. Emerson told me and he will tell you to do something amazing with my life. The language it contains is a bit archaic but that just adds to the weight of the argument. You can consider it to be a meeting with a great philosopher who really shaped the ethos of the modern United States. David Foster Wallace — Consider The Lobster. He sees right through the hypocrisy and cruelty behind killing hundreds of thousands of innocent lobsters — by boiling them alive.
This essay uncovers some of the worst traits of modern American peoples. After reading this essay, you may reconsider the whole animal-eating business. David Foster Wallace — The Nature of the Fun. The famous novelist and author of the most powerful commencement speech ever done is going to tell you about the joys and sorrows of writing a work of fiction. But you love that child and you want others to love it too. If you ever plan to write a novel, you should definitely read that one. And the story about the Chinese farmer is just priceless. Margaret Atwood — Attitude. This is not an essay per se, but I included it on the list for the sake of variety. Soon after leaving university, most graduates have to forget about safety, parties, and travel and start a new life — one filled with a painful routine that will last until they drop.
Jo Ann Beard — The Fourth State of Matter. Read that one as soon as possible. To summarize the story would be to spoil it, so I recommend that you just dig in and devour this essay during one sitting. No need for flowery adjectives here. Terence McKenna — Tryptamine Hallucinogens and Consciousness. To me, Terence McKenna was one of the most interesting thinkers of the twentieth century. McKenna consumed psychedelic drugs for most of his life and it shows in a positive way. Many people consider him a looney, and a hippie, but he was so much more than that. He had the courage to go into the abyss of his own psyche, and come back to tell the tale. He also wrote many books most famous being Food Of The Gods , built a huge botanical garden in Hawaii , lived with shamans, and was a connoisseur of all things enigmatic and obscure.
Take a look at this essay, and learn more about the explorations of the subconscious mind. Eudora Welty — The Little Store. By reading this little-known essay, you will be transported into the world of the old American South. There are all these beautiful memories that live inside of us. They lay somewhere deep in our minds, hidden from sight. The work by Eudora Welty is an attempt to uncover some of them and let you get reacquainted with some of the smells and tastes of the past. John McPhee — The Search for Marvin Gardens.
The Search for Marvin Gardens contains many layers of meaning. It also presents a historical perspective on the rise and fall of civilizations, and on Atlantic City which once was a lively place, and then, slowly declined, the streets filled with dirt and broken windows. Maxine Hong Kingston — No Name Woman. A dead body at the bottom of the well makes for a beautiful literary device. Who was this woman? Why did she do it? Read the essay. Joan Didion — On Keeping A Notebook. Slouching Towards Bethlehem is one of the most famous collections of essays of all time. In it, you will find a curious piece called On Keeping A Notebook.
Joan Didion — Goodbye To All That. This one touched me because I also lived in New York City for a while. They are powerful. As the sound of sirens faded, Tony descended into the dark world of hustlers and pimps. Anyway, this essay is amazing in too many ways. You just have to read it. George Orwell — Reflections on Gandhi. George Orwell could see things as they were. No exaggeration, no romanticism — just facts. He recognized totalitarianism and communism for what they were and shared his worries through books like and Animal Farm.
He took the same sober approach when dealing with saints and sages. Today, we regard Gandhi as one of the greatest political leaders of the twentieth century — and rightfully so. But overall he was a good guy. Read the essay and broaden your perspective on the Bapu of the Indian Nation. George Orwell — Politics and the English Language. Let Mr. Orwell give you some writing tips. Written in , this essay is still one of the most helpful documents on writing in English. Orwell was probably the first person who exposed the deliberate vagueness of political language.
He was very serious about it and I admire his efforts to slay all unclear sentences including ones written by distinguished professors. To make this list more comprehensive, below I included twelve more essays you may find interesting.
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