The subtitle of Anne Fadiman's collection of essays is *Confessions of a Common Reader*, but she is anything but common. In her previous work, she explored clashing cultures with skill and empathy. Here, the subject matter is lighter yet infused with the same fine prose and warmth. This collection serves as a love letter to language and its wonders. Fadiman's passion for words is evident; in "The Joy of Sesquipedalians," she describes her family's fondness for long words and intellectual competition. From there, she joyfully discusses books, book collecting, and ownership, claiming that "nineteen pounds of old books are at least nineteen times as delicious as one pound of fresh caviar." In "Marrying Libraries," she reflects on the emotional challenge of merging her collection with her husband's, using it as a metaphor for their relationship's depth. Across 18 charming essays, Fadiman explores topics ranging from the "odd shelf" that reveals much about its owner to the nature of plagiarism and the joys of reading aloud. She invites readers to share her love for literature and the power of language, likely evoking warm memories of their own favorite books and prompting a desire to revisit their own "odd shelf."
Anne Fadiman Bücher
Anne Fadiman schafft fesselnde Erzählungen, die die tiefen Verbindungen zwischen Menschen und dem geschriebenen Wort erforschen. Ihre Essays tauchen in die Natur des Lesens und die komplexen Wege ein, wie Bücher unser Verständnis der Welt und voneinander prägen. Fadimans unverwechselbare Stimme bringt scharfen Intellekt und eine tiefe Empathie in ihre Erkundungen komplexer menschlicher Erfahrungen ein. Ihre Arbeit feiert die Kraft der Literatur und ihren anhaltenden Einfluss auf unser Leben.
In "Ex Libris" teilt Anne Fadiman humorvolle Anekdoten über Schriftsteller*innen und persönliche Erlebnisse ihrer bibliophilen Familie. Sie reflektiert über das Zusammenziehen mit einem Partner, das Vererben von Leseleidenschaft und die Faszination für Antiquariate. Eine unterhaltsame Liebeserklärung an Bücher und das Lesen.
Der Geist packt dich und du stürzt zu Boden
Ein Hmong-Kind, seine westlichen Ärzte und der Zusammenprall zweier Kulturen
- 310 Seiten
- 11 Lesestunden
2000 448 Seiten hardcover Berlin Verlag, Mit Schutzumschlag
Lia Lee was born in 1982 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, over-medication, and culture clash: "What the doctors viewed as clinical efficiency the Hmong viewed as frosty arrogance." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, written with the deepest of human feeling. Sherwin Nuland said of the account, "There are no villains in Fadiman's tale, just as there are no heroes. People are presented as she saw them, in their humility and their frailty—and their nobility.
The Wine Lover's Daughter
- 272 Seiten
- 10 Lesestunden
A new memoir by the celebrated essayist that explores her relationship with her father, a lover of wine
Marina Keegan's star was on the rise when she graduated from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at the New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. As her family, friends and classmates, deep in grief, joined to create a memorial service for Marina, her unforgettable last essay for the Yale Daily News, 'The Opposite of Loneliness', went viral, receiving more than 1.4 million hits. She had struck a chord. Even though she was just 22 when she died, Marina left behind a rich, expansive trove of prose that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty and possibility of her generation. The Opposite of Loneliness is an assemblage of Marina's essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle we all face as we work out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to make an impact on the world.