THE DISCIPLINED SOUL
The essays in The Story About the Story differ from traditional literary criticism in many ways. They contemplate rather than argue. They do not artificially sublimate subjectivity. They preserve mystery instead of dissecting it. And often they expand the scope of what they are willing to address so as to speak to the basics—the history, [...]
“KAFKA? I LOVE KAFKA. HE’S VERY – KAFKAESQUE.”
Anthologies are notorious for a number of reasons. The books have too many words on each page. They’re way too expensive because they’re intended as textbooks. And they’re never quite as comprehensive as they’re meant to be.
The Story About the Story is an attempt to correct all that.
One of the reasons anthologies prove problematic is [...]
HEAL THE LUNG
The essays collected in The Story About the Story assault the institution of literary criticism.
The problem with literary criticism is not that critical actions conducted on literary texts do them damage—the problem is the way in which critical actions tend to be conducted. There’s a basic contradiction built into the system: dry, soul-deadening, derivative, entirely [...]
Driving The Stake
The whole question of beginnings is tricky—a point Geoff Dyer makes about D.H. Lawrence’s poetry in the excerpt of Out of Sheer Rage reprinted in The Story About the Story:
“Who can say when a poem begins to stir, to germinate, in the soil of the writer’s mind? There are certain experiences waiting to happen: like [...]
