Essays are a difficult genre--so easy to do badly.* I am not sure when I got hooked on them, but think I have to credit EB White [of the New Yorker/ Struck & White /Charlotte's Web]. White is one of the few who cannot write a bad sentence, even when he can write an essay I don't care about. Anne Fadiman, daughter of Clifton, is a scholarly writer who tangle erudition with homely reflections (topics like ice cream, coffee addiction, moving) with a comfortable and easy hand. I particularly liked the piece on Vilhjalmur Stefansson, an Arctic explorer who wrote a booked called The Friendly Arctic. Fadiman marvels that anyone would find tromping across the icy wastes a genuinely enjoyable experience. She marvels at his pleasure in sub zero temperatures, living on seal fat and skipping personal hygiene. She is able to hold on to that admiration while at the same time recognizing that Stefansson may have been responsible for the death of eight crewmen during a failed expedition. This struck me as the fair but difficult task of accepting the whole man, rather than selectively choosing the attractive bits. I found myself staring into space, considering her reactions, wondering if the explorer was merely egocentric and not simply an unconventional spirit.... Any essay that encourages me to stare into space, considering what was said, gets a star or two. Not all of Fadiman's essays are thought provoking. They are not 'casuals' (the pieces written by the heroes of the old New Yorker for pleasure brief, light reading): Fadiman researches her topics (Source Notes are provided). But they are all pleasurable and interesting. They go well with the ritual of reading before you turn out the light at night or immersing yourself in during the commute. They go well with a bowl of ice cream or a cup of coffee. *Essays 'easy to do badly' include book reviews--which is one of the reasons I appreciate Goodreads. Uncommonly high number of really good, pleasurable-to-read reviews on this site!
What do You think about At Large And At Small: Familiar Essays (2007)?
Some of these essays are good enough to be studied as models in essay writing. This collection is definately a worthy follow-up of her first collection of essays, Ex Libris.There are plenty of things that make her essays so wonderful: Her passion for her interests (and some of them are charmingly idiosyncratic), coupled with her skills as a writer, go a long way in making them readable, even if you don't share in those interests particularly. She combines a nostalgia for her childhood that is at once particular and unique to herself but also has a universal quality. She makes a point of analyzing her own feelings and reactions, but also liberally blends in quotes from other sources. She sprinkles her writing with educated references to the sort of writers and cultural icons that a member of the intelligentsia would've used 60 years ago. In content, in structure, and in tone, these essays are very traditional. Two standouts in this collection are "Procrustes and the Culture Wars", an essay on the controversy about the ultimate purpose in reading the classics and "A Piece of Cotton", the reaction and re-evaluation of patriotism after the 9/11 attacks. Both essays are brilliant.
—Mickey
Over the last several years, I must have given close to a dozen copies of Anne Fadiman's previous essay collection, "Ex Libris", to various friends. It's the kind of book you just have to share with others. It didn't seem possible that another collection could match the perfection of the first, but this one comes pretty close.Essays in the first collection focused on topics related to books and reading; the author's lifelong passion for reading shone through on every page and should resonate with any reader sharing her addiction to books. In this new collection, Fadiman demonstrates an ability to write engagingly on a wide variety of topics. Coffee, ice-cream, moving, the life of Coleridge, the essays of Charles Lamb - Fadiman expounds charmingly on these topics, and several others, making it seem easy. Like Malcolm Gladwell, she can make any topic she writes about fascinating.Of course, writing essays so polished they sparkle like gems is anything but easy. It is a testament to Fadiman's skill as a writer that she makes it seem effortless.Though I didn't find it as extraordinary as "Ex Libris", I still don't hesitate to give it 5 stars.
—David
I love Anne Fadiman's writing, and to anyone who reads this, you should, too! Just when the world is getting too depressing for words (enough with the wars and politics), along comes this wonderful book of "familiar essays" (you know, as opposed to the unfamiliar ones...), covering topics as varied as Charles Lamb ("The Unfuzzy Lamb"), the author and her brother's childhood museum of scientific and bizarre curiosities ("Collecting Nature"), ice cream (of the same name), and moving (ditto). All are written in the most elegant and simultaneously accessible writing, much of it really funny (the one exception to "funny" is the last essay in the book, the moving and poignant "Under Water"). Ms. Fadiman is brainy (Harvard) and probably what one would call "over educated," but boy does she put all the brain cells to good use. This book contains many expensive words (if I'd been energetic I would have written down some examples - needless to say, I wasn't energetic...), so the Harvard tuition didn't go to waste. She's also published another book of essays, "Ex Libris," the general theme of which is The Love of Reading, and is the author of the more well known "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down." All three of her books are terrific - now, run don't walk to your nearest book store or library.
—Margaret
