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The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel
by James Wood

The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel Cover

Review-a-Day   (What is Review-a-Day?)

"Wood employs a remarkable understanding of how fiction works, and how it works on us the readers. The depth of his reading and the acuity of his observations make this a tough, enlightening book. (Which is not to say that Wood himself is never amusing; he has his Dale Peck moments. He writes, for instance, of Tom Wolfe's books and their 'immense twisted colons of plot.') In this, his second book of criticism, Wood approaches literature with such absolute passion that in the end you forgive him anything." Anna Godbersen, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Following the collection The Broken Estate — which established James Wood as the leading critic of his generation — The Irresponsible Self confirms Wood's preeminence, not only as a discerning judge but also as an appreciator of contemporary novels.

In twenty-three passionate, sparkling dispatches, he effortlessly connects his encyclopedic, passionate understanding of the literary canon with an equally earnest and appreciative view of the most discussed authors writing today, including Franzen, Pynchon, Rushdie, DeLillo, Naipaul, David Foster Wallace, and Zadie Smith.

This collection includes Wood's famous and controversial attack on "hysterical realism", and his sensitive but unsparing examinations of White Teeth and Brick Lane. The Irresponsible Self is indispensable reading for anyone who cares about modern fiction.

Review:

"[S]terling essays as voluptuous in style as they are clarion in thought." Booklist

Review:

"[Wood writes] with magisterial sweep and terrific intensity....Most compelling is the way his own style swells and contracts with his subject matter..." Publishers Weekly

Review:

"James Wood has been called our best young critic. This is not true. He is our best critic; he thinks with a sublime ferocity." Cynthia Ozick

Review:

"Inimitable....He has not only a well-tuned ear for prose but a remarkable ability to convey how novelistic language transubstantiates life into literature....Wood's essays...vibrate with the difficult, serious pleasure that literature uniquely provides." A.O. Scott, New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Wood writes with such felicity and zeal that one feels neither the inclination nor the possibility of disagreeing with him....[His] enthusiasm provides such an attractive alternative to the truculence of Dale Peck, and the bloodlessness of 'in-house' academic criticism." Robert McFarlane, The Times Literary Supplement

Review:

"[A] provocative gathering of 21 recent (1999-2003) reviews....A miscellany...and an unusually rich and satisfying one." Kirkus Reviews
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About the Author

James Wood was the chief literary critic of The Guardian and was a senior editor at The New Republic. His previous work includes The Book Against God.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780312424602
Subtitle:
On Laughter and the Novel
Author:
Wood, James
Publisher:
Picador USA
Subject:
General
Publication Date:
April 2005
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
8.32x5.48x.85 in. .65 lbs.
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