The Art of the Personal Essay: by Phillip Lopate

This book was recommended to me by my mentor, Dr. Burton.  Still frustrated that I have not been successful in finding someone in the English department willing to oversee my creative nonfiction course contract, this was a nice source to look through to get myself geared up for it.

What I like about this book is that it has 75 of examples of the personal essay and how it has evolved through time.  I was pleased to see that Walter Benjamin, someone I have been extremely fascinated with for my previous project in Ghana, had a few essays himself in it.  Another great feature is that it contains essays from both the East and the West, which is always good for someone looking at going to India of all places.

I think that this will be most directly beneficial for me not necessarily because of the content, but because of the form.  From my travel writing class I took in the field last year, I learned a lot about using other authors forms and attempting learning exercises and imitations off of those forms.  My mentor described it is as trying on different clothes.  Some will look absolutely ridiculous, some you would never in a million years try on, but it is fun to just try it.  You never know, sometimes you are pleasantly surprised by what you find.  I know that through those writing models I was able to learn much more about my own style.  I definitely integrated some other elements into my writing that I had not before. 

The moral of the story is that I think this is one of those books.  I do not have to agree with all the essays.  I do not have to just merely enjoy them.  I can learn from them and apply them to my own essay writing.  Now I just need to find someone to oversee that contract in literary nonfiction... Any ideas?


Lopate, Phillip.  The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present.  New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print.