About this title: The essays here, collected posthumously, were mostly written during the period after Brodsky was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1987. Included is his groundbreaking title essay on Robert Frost, in which Brodsky interprets the terror inherent in Frost's prosody; an inspiring graduation address given at the University of Michigan; and pieces about Thomas Hardy and other poets.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN-13:9780374525095ISBN:0374525099
Description: Good. 0374525099 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Date Published: 1997-04-10
ISBN-13:9780374525095ISBN:0374525099
Description: Very Good- Nice Copy, Mostly Clean and Gently Used, Very Light Water Staining to top edge. ~"Guaranteed quality or your money back" read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Date Published: 1997-04-10
ISBN-13:9780374525095ISBN:0374525099
Description: Very Good. No DJ. As issued. NOT EX-LIB! Paperback, with bumps and rubs to covers and extremities. Light foxing to eps and closed edges. No writing or underlining in text! All text bright and tight! I have a stellar reputation as a bookseller. Please email with any questions. Thank you for looking! "Find it! Buy it! Read it! " Arkansas Bookseller. read more
Edition: Text is Free of Markings
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, New York, NY
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780374525095ISBN:0374525099
Description: Very Good to Near Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 484 pp. Tightly bound. Spine not compromised. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, New York
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780374234157ISBN:0374234159
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. Ex-Library. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. CA4-A first edition ex-library hardcover book in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has label on the spine, inside flaps adhered to the fixed endpapers, and light shelf wear. Book has library markings (labels, stamping, cardholder, etc. ) and light discoloration. 8.5"x5.75", 484 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. read more
Description: Very good; Collectible. 1996 Farrar Strauss and Giroux hard cover 1st edition 2nd printing-minor staining to page edge-slight wear to dust jacket (now in mylar cover) otherwise a clean like new collectible-enjoy. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Slight use wear, SPINE n PAGES CLEAN, CRISP n TIGHT-LIKE NEW. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 504 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Date Published: 1997-04-10
ISBN-13:9780374525095ISBN:0374525099
Description: Very Good. Clean covers with clean and tight pages, with no marks, volume is square: overall a very presentable copy. Tight Spine. Sharp corners. No markings. read more
"This was my first Brodsky and I think we will be good friends. I especially like his writings on Robert Frost and W.H. Auden. It's always interesting to hear what writers think about other writers, and his essays prompted me to add those two to my reading list."
""A substantial part of what lies ahead of you is going to be claimed by boredom."
Imagine starting a commencement address with this line? This is what Brodsky did at Dartmouth, 1989, with his essay "In Praise of Boredom," just one of the brilliant pieces included in his collection On Grief and Reason. (I'd gladly attend more commencement ceremonies at our own campus if we got to hear brutally frank but entertaining and existential addresses like Brodsky's!)
In a nutshell, he argues that college does not prepare students for the inescapable fact of a working career: "Everything that displays a pattern is pregnant with boredom." But Brodsky is no wicked scold out to mock parents for having dropped a hundred grand or more on an education that apparently will prove existentially irrelevant (oh well, it's only money, Mom and Dad) or to terrify newborn grads into a life of escapist drink and drugs. Rather, he argues, with great panache and insight, that boredom is means to attaining genuine passion by forcing us to recognize our insignificance: "That inferior in significance, we best it in sensitivity. This is what it means -- to be insignificant. If it takes will-paralyzing to bring this home, then hail the boredom. You are insignificant because you are finite. Yet the more finite a thing is, the more charged with life, emotions, joy, compassion." This should be required reading for every college grad -- actually, for anyone wracked by boredom. Brodsky must've anticipated that a somewhat less than traditional address filled with cliches and platitudes might need leavening with a dash of wit here and there, and he delivers with deadpan lines such as "All one can suggest is to be a bit more apprehensive of money, for the zeros in your accounts may usher in their mental equivalents." (this line may be too subtle for Last Comic Standing, but that just makes its cut all the more surgical!)
This piece contains all of the trademarks of a typical Brodsky essay: erudition worn lightly, wit and wry tone, droll delivery, compassion, and enthusiasm for the endlessly fascinating and infinite foibles of the human condition. Though there isn't a dull piece in the collection, I would especially recommend "An Immodest Proposal" (plan for increasing reading of poetry); "Homage to Marcus Aurelius," and "Letter to Horace," which contains the most daring opening to an essay I've ever read!
Though Brodsky won the Nobel Prize in 1987, primarily on the basis of his poetry and on his reputation as a Soviet dissident (who so rankled the Politburo Boys that they threw him out of the country), I think his essays may well prove to be his more enduring achievement. His other collection, Less Than One, is also very strong, but I find On Grief and Reason has a bit more range in topics."
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