Episode 48: Giving Essays A Try

The Book XChange Podcast

In the 16th century, Michel de Montaigne created a new form of literary self-expression. He called these short pieces "essays," from the French verb "essayer" - "to try." In Episode 48 of everyone's favorite literary podcast hosted by genetic duplicates, Jude and John "try" to explain the appeal of essays to them, and why they find it to be one of the most satisfying and thought-provoking of all literary forms. We then go on to recommend some of our personal favorite collections and writers of essays, which ones we badly want to read and just haven't gotten to, and which writers are regarded as masters of the craft. Essays can be about anyone or anything, and that's why this is such a rich literary rabbit hole to get lost in. We hope you enjoy this all non-fiction episode of the Book XChange podcast!

Website: anchor.fm/book-change

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MUSIC BY YOUNG WOLF, VOIDZ PANDA

BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE:

What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next:

'Orphans: Essays,' Charles D'Ambrosio -

'The Wake,' Paul Kingsnorth -

What John is currently reading/plans to read next:

'The Shepherd's Hut,' Tim Winton -

'A Visit to the Goon Squad,' Jennifer Egan -

Books/Writers discussed in this episode:

'Essays,' Michel de Montaigne -

'Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose,' Flannery O'Connor -

'A Stay Against Confusion,' Ron Hansen -

'Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher,' Lewis Thomas -

'Orphans: Essays,' Charles D'Ambrosio -

'Pulphead: Essays,' John Jeremiah Sullivan -

'Interior States: Essays,' Meghan O'Gieblyn -

'Faith and Violence: Christian Teaching and Christian Practice,' Thomas Merton -

'This is The Story of a Happy Marriage,' Ann Patchett -

'The Best American Essays of the Century,' Ed. Joyce Carol Oates -

'The Cathedral of Imagination: Essays and Reviews,' Jude Joseph Lovell (FORTHCOMING) -

'Seek: Reports from the Edges of America & Beyond,' Denis Johnson -

'The Tunnel at the End of the Light: Essays on Movies and Politics,' Jim Shepard -

'What's Wrong With the World,' G. K. Chesterton -

The Essays of E. B. White -

'The Solace of Open Spaces,' Gretel Ehrlich -

'Upstream,' Mary Oliver -

'Playing in the Dark,' 'Mouth Full of Blood,' 'The Source of Self-Regard,' Toni Morrison -

'How to Travel with a Salmon,' 'Kant and the Platypus,' - Umberto Eco -

'God in the Dock,' C. S. Lewis -

'The Memory Chalet,' Tony Judt -

Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast:

"The Fate of the Planet" will be the title of Episode 49, and will feature books that relate in some fundamental way to the environment and the consequences of not taking care of our home.