A Plea For Eros Av Siri Hustvedt

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.

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WHAT I LOVED AND A WOMAN LOOKING AT MEN LOOKING AT WOMEN''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''Thoughtful, sensuous essays . . . her enthusiasms are oddly infectious'' Daily TelegraphIn this illuminating and absorbing collection of essays, Siri Hustvedt explores many of the themes that preoccupy her novels: identity and memory, sexuality and mortality, psychology, love and the power of imagination. But here she offers her personal experience - as daughter, sister, mother and wife, student, reader and writer - to illustrate fundamental aspects of our lives as individuals and social beings in the modern world. She draws, too, on the work of Henry James, F Scott Fitzgerald and Charles Dickens, probing their insights into human nature.Wise, honest and luminously intelligent, this is a book that invites us to look afresh at ourselves and the universe we inhabit.''One of the most talented voices in contemporary fiction . . . Hustvedt brings the same visual power, sensuality and intelligence to her collection of essays'' Los Angeles Times Book ReviewPRAISE FOR SIRI HUSTVEDT:''Hustvedt is that rare artist, a writer of high intelligence, profound sensuality and a less easily definable capacity for which the only word I can find is wisdom'' Salman Rushdie''It is Hustvedt''s gift to write with exemplary clarity of what is by necessity unclear'' Hilary Mantel''Her novels have received a deserved acclaim. But to my mind, she is even more to be admired as an essayist . . . in this regard I feel that she resembles Virginia Woolf '' Observer''Few contemporary writers are as satisfying and stimulating to read as Siri Hustvedt'' Washington Post