The Bad Side of Books
Selected Essays of D.H. Lawrence
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
You could describe D.H. Lawrence as the great multi-instrumentalist among the great writers of the twentieth century. He was a brilliant, endlessly controversial novelist who transformed, for better and for worse, the way we write about sex and emotions; he was a wonderful poet; he was an essayist of burning curiosity, expansive lyricism, odd humor, and radical intelligence, equaled, perhaps, only by Virginia Woolf. Here Geoff Dyer, one of the finest essayists of our day, draws on the whole range of Lawrence’s published essays to reintroduce him to a new generation of readers for whom the essay has become an important genre. We get Lawrence the book reviewer, writing about Death in Venice and welcoming Ernest Hemingway; Lawrence the travel writer, in Mexico and New Mexico and Italy; Lawrence the memoirist, depicting his strange sometime-friend Maurice Magnus; Lawrence the restless inquirer into the possibilities of the novel, writing about the novel and morality and addressing the question of why the novel matters; and, finally, the Lawrence who meditates on birdsong or the death of a porcupine in the Rocky Mountains. Dyer’s selection of Lawrence’s essays is a wonderful introduction to a fundamental, dazzling writer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dyer (Broadsword Calling Danny Boy) selects and introduces an uneven but fascinating array of essays by D.H. Lawrence (1885 1930). Comprising 38 selections from the earlier collections Phoenix and Phoenix II, the book demonstrates Lawrence's mastery of multiple genres, from philosophical tract ("Of Being and Not-Being") and book review ("Death in Venice by Thomas Mann"), to memoir ("Myself Revealed") and nature writing ("Flowery Tuscany"). Dyer edits with a light hand, presenting the essays in strict chronological order so readers can "follow the twists and turns of Lawrence's writing and thought over time." Occasionally, his editorial presence proves too recessive, with minimal footnotes. The wide variety of topics one stretch of essays considers, in turn, C zanne, pornography, Christianity, and the mines of Lawrence's home county of Nottingham makes it likely that any reader can find something of interest, but unlikely that the entirety will appeal consistently to those new to Lawrence. Such neophytes will also find that some of Lawrence's thoughts regarding race, ethnicity, and gender jar discordantly against modern norms. Nonetheless, it's an impressive example of a curious mind grappling with big issues, and samples the work of a writer of great intelligence and wit.
