A one-of-a-kind collection of biographical portraits by renowned literature scholar Edward Mendelson that explores the work of eight major authors through the lens of their own personal--religious, economic, intellectual, sexual--lives.
Edward Mendelson is the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University and the literary executor of the estate of W.H. Auden. He is the author of Early Auden, Later Auden, and The Things That Matter, essays on Mary Shelley, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf.
“In Moral Agents Edward Mendelson has written an original
and unsettling group portrait of the literary generation just past.
These essays are rich in quotation, precise in judgment, and
unified by a premise they test in detail: that literature is most
invigorating when it teaches us how to live. Mendelson is rare
among contemporary critics in his treatment of writing as a form of
personal action." —David Bromwich, Yale University
"Edward Mendelson’s observations about literature are among the
best I have read: deeply knowledgeable, appreciate and attentive,
and expressed with the affinity of a scholar and critic who is
himself an excellent writer." —Shirley Hazzard
“Each chapter contains a biographical profile and an assessment of
the writer based on his response to some of the burning issues of
the day, from the rise of communism to the sexual revolution.
Mendelson’s focus on “the conflicts between the inward, intimate
private lives of the eight authors and the lives they led in
public” ties the essays together…Those interested in the role these
writers played as public intellectuals—and in the larger issue of
the relationship of literature to politics—will welcome this
engaging read.” —Library Journal
“Drawing on unique familiarities, Mendelson, like his subjects,
becomes a public intellectual, offering insightful, well-crafted
sketches that will entertain and edify a broad audience.” —R.
Mulligan, CHOICE
Praise for Edward Mendelson's The Things That Matter:
"Filled with sage insights into literature and life…A joy to
read." —The Wall Street Journal
"Thrilling…[Mendelson’s] readings will send you hungrily to these
classics." —Newsday
"Elegant…Enlightening…Mendelson is an ideal companion…[The book]
reminds us that criticism of the sort that Mendelson practices is
one of the things that matter." —Los Angeles Times
"Heartfelt…illuminating." —The New York Review of Books
"Great works of fiction not only tell a story but also reveal how
we are to live our lives. This sympathetic, profound, and very
readable work by one of the finest literary scholars of our time
shows us how seven novels can help us with the stages through which
we all must pass. Edward Mendelson’s insights into the meaning of
the novels he considers are acute. He reveals dimensions to these
works that most of us will never have guessed at, showing, with
grace and courtesy, both their deeper significance and the wisdom
they contain about life’s challenges. Reading this book places one
in the company of an urbane, erudite, and sure-footed
guide." —Alexander McCall Smith
"Written with clarity and grace, these essays serve as an essential
guide to an era when literary powerbrokers set the cultural
agenda.” —Jane Ciabattari, “Ten books to read in March,” BBC
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