{"product_id":"the-art-of-the-personal-essay-9780385422987","title":"The Art of the Personal Essay","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor more than four hundred years  the personal essay has been one of the richest and most vibrant of all literary forms. Distinguished from the detached formal essay by its friendly  conversational tone  its loose structure  and its drive toward candor and self-disclosure  the personal essay seizes on the minutiae of daily life-vanities  fashions  foibles  oddballs  seasonal rituals  love and disappointment  the pleasures of solitude  reading  taking a walk -- to offer insight into the human condition and the great social and political issues of the day. The Art of the Personal Essay is the first anthology to celebrate this fertile genre. By presenting more than seventy-five personal essays  including influential forerunners from ancient Greece  Rome  and the Far East  masterpieces from the dawn of the personal essay in the sixteenth century  and a wealth of the finest personal essays from the last four centuries  editor Phillip Lopate  himself an acclaimed essayist  displays the tradition of the personal essay in all its historical grandeur  depth  and diversity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647344500789,"sku":"ByrdShop_0385422989","price":24.17,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780385422987.jpg?v=1781691888","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-art-of-the-personal-essay-9780385422987","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}