About this item

From one of today's most distinguished critics, a beautifully written exploration of one of the twentieth century's most important literary criticsAre literary critics writers? As Michael Wood says, "Not all critics are writers -- perhaps most of them are not -- and some of them are better when they don't try to be." The British critic and poet William Empson (1906-84) , one of the most important and influential critics of the twentieth century, was an exception -- a critic who was not only a writer but also a great one. In this brief book, Wood, himself one of the most gifted writers among contemporary critics, explores Empson as a writer, a distinguished poet whose criticism is a brilliant literary performance -- and proof that the act of reading can be an unforgettable adventure.



About the Author

Michael Wood

MICHAEL WOOD is one of our most versatile critics, conversant with both modern literature and film. A graduate of Cambridge University, he spent most of his career at Princeton, where he is a professor emeritus of comparative literature. Among his many works are The Magician's Doubts: Nabokov and the Risks of Fiction, Children of Science: On Contemporary Fiction, and America in the Movies, a survey of Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s.



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