The essay is a flexible, accommodating form of writing based in fact. Writer William Deresiewicz takes writer John D’Agata to task for what he believes is D’Agata’s misleading account of the essay’s history, its form and its modern incarnation, and he skillfully dismantles the vague but inaccurate concept of the essay that D’Agata’s three large […]
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
In Defense of Facts: What Is the Essay?
When does fact become fiction? William Deresiewicz on essays, embellishment, and the slippery slope of “truthiness.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Faux Friendship
William Deresiewicz discusses the shaky future of friendship.
Posted inUncategorized
Reexamining Vonnegut’s body of work as an adult: Rereading Slaughterhouse-Five taught me two things about the novel: how great it really is, and what it’s really about. It’s not about time travel and flying saucers, it’s about PTSD. Vonnegut never explicitly negates the former possibility, but the evidence for the latter is overwhelming once you […]
