Unknown Masterpieces: Writers Rediscover Literature's Hidden Classics

Publisher Marketing: In this original collection, several of today's finest writers introduce little-known treasures of literature that they count among their favorite books. Here Toni Morrison celebrates a great Guinean storyteller whose novel of mystical adventure and surprising revelation transforms our image of Africa, while Susan Sontag raises the curtain on a distant summer when three of the greatest poets of the twentieth century exchanged love letters like no others. Here too John Updike analyzes the rare art of an English comic genius, Jonathan Lethem considers a hard-boiled and heartbreaking story of prison life, and Michael Cunningham uncovers the secrets of what may well be the finest short novel in modern American literature. Other contributors include such noted authors as Arthur C. Danto, Lydia Davis, Elizabeth Hardwick, Francine Prose, Luc Sante, Colm Toibin, Eliot Weinberger, and James Wood. Lucid, polished, provocative, inspiring, these essays are models of critical appreciation, offering personal, impassioned, thoughtful responses to a wide range of wonderful books. Unknown Masterpieces is a treat for all lovers of great writing and a useful and stimulating guidebook for readers eager to venture off literature's beaten tracks. Eliot Weinberger on "Hindoo Holiday" by J. R. AckerleyArthur C. Danto on "The Unknown Masterpiece" by Honore de BalzacJohn Updike on "Seven Men" by Max BeerbohmJonathan Lethem on "On the Yard" by Malcolm BralyToni Morrison on "The Radiance of the King" by Camara LayeColm Toibin on "The Go-Between" by L. P. HartleyFrancine Prose on "A High Wind in Jamaica" by Richard HughesSusan Sontag on "Letters: Summer 1926" by Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetayeva, and Rainer Maria RilkeLuc Sante on "Classic Crimes" by William RougheadJames Wood on "The Golovlyov Family" by ShchedrinElizabeth Hardwick on "The Unpossessed" by Tess SlesingerLydia Davis on "The Life of Henry Brulard" by StendhalMichael Cunningham on "The Pilgrim Hawk" by Glenway Wescott Review Citations: Library Journal 09/01/2003 pg. 168 (EAN 9781590170779, Paperback) Library Journal 08/01/2003 (EAN 9781590170779, Paperback) Contributor Bio:  Frank, Edwin Edwin Frank was born in 1960 in Boulder, Colorado and educated at Harvard and Columbia universities. He is the editor of the NYRB Classics series.