A Plea for Eros

Review 'She strides across these pages: a 6ft tall Amazonian New Yorker...by whom we are at once riveted and faintly disconcerted...Hustvedt is a lucid writer, whose spare, elegant prose wears lightly its eclectic reference points.' ― Observer 'Thoughtful, sensuous essays...her enthusiasms are oddly infectious' ― Daily Telegraph 'A luminous collection of mind-expanding pieces on literary and philosophical themes...A book to renew one's faith in the literary essay' ― Robert McCrum, Observer 'An intellectual, emotional and elegantly written collection that leaves the reader with plenty to ponder...Her passion for language and literature makes the prose leap from the page...Hustvedt is, quite simply, an extraordinary literary talent. Read it, ponder it, then go read it again.' ― Image Product Description A stunning collection of essays by the author of WHAT I LOVED, in which she addresses many of the themes explored in her novels - identity, sexual attraction, relationships, family, mental illness, the power of the imagination, a sense of belonging and mortality. In three cases, she focuses on the novels of other writers - Dickens, James and Fitzgerald. She also refers to her own novels, affording an unusual insight into their creation. Whatever her topic, her approach is unaffected, intimate and conversational, inviting us both to share her thoughts and reflect on our own views and ideas. Book Description The critically acclaimed author of the bestselling WHAT I LOVED reflects on life, love and literature About the Author Siri Hustvedt is the author of seven novels including the international bestseller What I Loved, The Blazing World, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, and Memories of the Future, as well as five collections of essays: Yonder, Mysteries of the Rectangle: Essays on Painting, A Plea for Eros, Living, Thinking, Looking and A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women. She has also published a poetry collection, Reading To You, and the memoir The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves. Hustvedt has won the International Gabarron Prize for Thought and Humanities and the European Essay Prize for her essay The Delusions of Certainty. She is a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and has written on art for the New York Times and the Daily Telegraph. Born in Minnesota, Siri Hustvedt lives in Brooklyn, New York.