It's Personal

Themes & history of the essay form

Welcome to my weekly collection of links from literary and cultural magazines. Each week, I’ll cover a different topic and provide interesting perspectives on it through essays and reviews. I invite you to explore these articles, gain new insights and learn something new. Be sure to check back each week for a new set of articles to read and discuss!

The Illusion of the First Person (NYRB, 2022)

A historical survey of the personal essay shows it to be the purest expression of the lie that individual subjectivity exists prior to the social formations that gave rise to it.

Getting better acquainted (TLS, 2022)

The growth of clarity and honesty in the American Republic of Letters

• THE GLORIOUS AMERICAN ESSAY: One hundred essays from colonial times to the present (book)

The rest of the iceberg (TLS, 2022)

Three guides to writing personal narrative

• WRITE IT ALL DOWN: How to put your life on the page (book)

• YOUR STORY MATTERS: Find your voice, sharpen your skills, tell your story (book)

• BODY WORK: The radical power of personal narrative (book)

The Story of the Story of the Story (NYRB, 2020)

Reading novels can help us understand ourselves and our lives in a way that living cannot, and Benjamin's essay encourages us to look beyond mere righteousness and see that the novel can help us comprehend what it means to live, have lived, and construct a life.

• THE STORYTELLER ESSAYS (book)