18 books like Modern essays

What to read after Modern essays — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Essays, first series Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1876 · ★ 3.5 · 376p · ≈ 12h · Challenging Emerson, Alfred Kazin observes in his Introduction, "was a great writer who turned the essay into a form all his own." His celebrated essays--the twelve published in Essays: First Series (1841) and eight in Essays: Second Series (1844)--are here presented for the first time in an authoritative one-volume edition, which incorporates all the changes and corrections Emerson made after their initial… Shares: American essays, Essays, American literature

Hey rub-a-dub-dub Theodore Dreiser · 1920 · ★ 4.0 · 312p · ≈ 10h · Challenging This collection contains numerous essays about the idea of the literary American character and several dramatic works from Dreiser. Dreiser held the collection in high regard, but it was panned by critics on its release. Many of Dreiser's unique obsessions, from the political to the scientific, are explored in these essays. Shares: American essays, Essays

Let Me Tell You What I Mean Joan Didion · 2021 · ★ 4.2 · 184p · ≈ 6h · Moderate From one of our most iconic and influential writers: a timeless collection of mostly early pieces that reveal what would become Joan Didion's subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt. Here are six pieces written in 1968 from the "Points West" Saturday Evening Post column Joan Didion shared from 1964 to 1969 with her husband, John Gregory… Shares: American essays, Essays

Shooting an Elephant and other essays George Orwell · 1950 · ★ 4.0 · 206p · ≈ 6h · Moderate 'Shooting an Elephant' is Orwell's searing and painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. The other masterly essays in this collection include classics such as 'My Country Right or Left', 'How the Poor Die' and 'Such, Such were the Joys', his memoir of the horrors of public… Shares: English essays, Essays

The Death of the Moth, and Other Essays Virginia Woolf · 1942 · ★ 4.1 · 243p · ≈ 8h · Challenging A highly acclaimed collection of twenty-eight essays, sketches, and short stories presenting nearly every facet of the author's work. Shares: English essays, Criticism and interpretation, Essays

A coat of many colours Herbert Edward Read · 1945 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Challenging This book, first published in 1947, is collection of critical essays by Herbert Read that had not been previously published in book form. The essays cover several different subject areas, including literature, art, architecture, and film, from a span of twenty years. This title will be of interest to a variety of readers. Shares: English essays, Essays

Changing my mind Zadie Smith · 2009 · ★ 3.8 · 306p · ≈ 10h · Moderate A sparkling collection of Zadie Smith's nonfiction over the past decade.Zadie Smith brings to her essays all of the curiosity, intellectual rigor, and sharp humor that have attracted so many readers to her fiction, and the result is a collection that is nothing short of extraordinary.Split into four sections—"Reading," "Being," "Seeing," and "Feeling"—Changing My Mind invites readers to witness… Shares: English essays, Essays, History and criticism

The undergraduate essay Robin Sutton Harris · 1900 · 104p · ≈ 3h · Challenging Shares: American essays, English essays, Essays

slouching towards bethlehem Joan Didion · 1967 · ★ 4.2 · 238p · ≈ 7h · Moderate American novelist Joan Didion's first volume of nonfiction essays, first published in 1968, consisting of twenty works that reflect the atmosphere in America during the 1960s, especially in California. Shares: American essays, Essays, American literature

Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1910 · 380p · ≈ 12h · Challenging Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the preeminent figures of the American literature. The leading expositor of the transcendentalist movement, he helped shape modern American Philosophy and religion, and his legacy continued through Thoreau, Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson. Shares: American essays, Essays, American literature

The essays of Francis Bacon Francis Bacon · 1900 · ★ 3.8 · 227p · ≈ 7h · Challenging The perfect addition to any literary buff’s library (or even if you’re not!), download and add Sir Francis Bacon's timeless essays to your collection. This humorous collection of essays offers a unique view on the common issues we all face. Sir Francis Bacon discusses Love, Truth, Death, Religion, and many other social problems that have been debated for centuries in these classic essays. This… Shares: English essays, Essays

Works of Thomas de Quincey Grevel Lindop · 2001 · 3024p · ≈ 100h · Moderate Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is considered one of the most important English prose writers of the early-19th century. This is the first part of a 21-volume set presenting De Quincey's work, also including previously unpublished material. Shares: English essays, Criticism and interpretation

The Defendant Gilbert Keith Chesterton · 1901 · ★ 4.1 · 53p · ≈ 1h · Challenging Covering topics ranging from literature to philosophy, history to social criticism, this is a snapshot of thought on 20th-century Europe (and the world) by one of Europe's sharpest wits and ablest pens. With chapter titles ranging from “The Miser and His Friends” to “The Red Reactionary,” from “The Separatist and Sacred Things” to “The New Theologian” and “The Romantic in the Rain,” this volume… Shares: English essays, Essays

Stranger Than Fiction Chuck Palahniuk · 2004 · ★ 3.6 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate From the bestselling author of Fight Club and Diary, a collection of essays and journalistic pieces that prove that real life has imagination beaten cold in the strangeness and wonder departmentsChuck Palahniuk's world has always been, well, different from yours and mine. The pieces that comprise Stranger Than Fiction, his first nonfiction collection, prove just how different, in ways both… Shares: American essays, Essays

Prose works John Milton · 1809 · 462p · ≈ 15h · Challenging Regarded by many as the equal of Shakespeare in poetic imagination and expression, Milton was also a prolific writer of prose, applying his potent genius to major issues of domestic, religious and political liberty.  This superbly annotated new publication is the most authoritative single-volume anthology yet of Milton's major prose works. Uses Milton's original language, spelling and… Shares: English essays, Essays

Chips from a German workshop F. Max Müller · 1867 · 576p · ≈ 19h · Challenging F. Max Müller's Chips from a German Workshop opens as a wide-ranging scholarly collection devoted above all to the science of language, but also to the larger questions language reveals about history, religion, and human thought. Framed by a dedication to Dean Arthur Penrhyn Stanley and essays rich in Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and other linguistic forms, the volume signals Müller's extraordinary… Shares: English essays, Essays, History and criticism

How to Be Alone Jonathan Franzen · 2002 · ★ 3.6 · 306p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Collection of some of Franzen's essays, including the one known as "the Harper's essay". Some are edited or tweaked from their original printings. A mixture of topics but well-written and enjoyable; Franzen is as thoughtful as ever. Shares: American essays, Essays

Twelve types Gilbert Keith Chesterton · 1902 · 57p · ≈ 1h · Challenging The book is a perfect companion for any literature, politics, or history course dealing with European history. It is also an excellent addition to any personal or scholarly library. Shares: English essays, History and criticism

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