Essay Essays

In this definitive collection of essays, including the poignant title essay "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson expounds on the importance of trusting your soul, as well as divine providence, to carve out a life. A firm believer in nonconformity, Emerson celebrates the individual and stresses the value of listening to the inner voice unique to each of us—even when it defies society's expectations.

One of the greatest minds in American writing, Kurt Vonnegut shares his often hilarious and always insightful reflections on America, art, politics and life in general. No matter the subject, Vonnegut will have you considering perspectives you may never have regarded. On the creative process: "If you want to really hurt your parents...the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding."

Among the men and women prominent in the public life of early 20th-century America there are but few whose names are mentioned as often as that of Emma Goldman. Yet the real Emma Goldman is almost quite unknown. Here are powerful, penetrating, prophetic essays on direct action, the role of minorities, prison reform, puritan hypocrisy, and violence.

Sucker Punch is about what happens when the life you thought you’d be living radically changes course, everything you thought you knew about the world and yourself has tilted on its axis, and you have to start forging a new path forward. Scaachi employs her biting wit to interrogate her previous belief that fighting is the most effective tool for progress.

The Best American series, launched in 1915, is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction, and it is the most respected—and most popular—of its kind. Jia Tolentino, critically acclaimed essayist, editor, and New Yorker staff writer, selects twenty essays out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.

Escape Essay Hell! is the definitive, fast-and-easy guide among college-bound students on writing narrative-style essays for college application essays. For years, college admissions essay experts advised students to "Tell a story" or "Make the essay about you!" or "Stand out!" That's great advice, however, no one ever explained and taught exactly HOW they could do this. Escape Essay Hell! changed all that. In her best-selling guide, renowned writing coach Janine Robinson takes students through 10 simple steps to brainstorm engaging topics, and then craft compelling "slice-of-life" essays ...

Designed to aid the serious player beat the games in today's modern casino environment. The days when you could simply master a count and expect to be a winner are gone forever. As a result, winning at blackjack requires not only numerous skills, but also a lot of thinking about the game. Unlike most blackjack books, this text assumes that you already know how to count cards, and it introduces techniques that should be useful to the successful player. The topics covered are card domination (more commonly known as shuffle tracking), theoretical concepts, blackjack biases, current blackjack, ...

Robert Barron is one of the Catholic Church's premier theologians and author of the influential The Priority of Christ. In this volume, Barron sets forth a thoroughgoing vision for an evangelical catholic theology that is steeped in the tradition and engaged with the contemporary world. Striking a balance between academic rigor and accessibility, the book covers issues of perennial interest in the twenty-first-century church: who God is, how to rightly worship him, and how his followers engage contemporary culture.

The Ultimate Essays Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 24 classic essays analysing everything from war to love, journalism to race, travel to nature, and much more, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are essays by some of the greatest writers of all time, including Thomas Paine; Fyodor Dostoyevsky; Henry David Thoreau; Virigina Woolf; Sigmund Freud; Zora Neale Hurston; Langston Hughes; Jack London, and more.

St. Benedict was the "Father of many nations." He has been styled "the Patriarch of the West," a title which there are many reasons for ascribing to him. Not only was he the first to establish a perpetual monastic order in Western Christendom; but his Rule is the monastic norm of the first thousand years of the Church, and gave foundational shape to the whole of Western Christianity. Newly published as a standalone volume, the Benedictine Essays of St. John Henry Newman was previously only available as part of the Historical Sketches appended to The Rise and Progress of Universities. Now ...

As former tutor and adviser to Emperor Nero, philosopher and statesman Seneca was acutely aware of how short life can be - his own life was cut short when the emperor ordered him to commit suicide (for alleged involvement in a conspiracy). And Seneca proved true to his words - his lifelong avowal to Stoicism enabled him to conduct himself with dignity to the end. During his rich and busy life, Seneca wrote a series of essays that have advised and enriched the lives of generations down to the present day.

Ralph Waldo Emerson's Spiritual Laws is more than an essay—it's an invitation to align with the rhythm of the universe. With clarity and poetic force, Emerson strips away illusions of control, urging us to trust the quiet power within. For him, law isn't rigid or imposed; it's a natural flow, always present, waiting to be recognized. True self-reliance isn't defiance but harmony with this deeper order. The world moves for those who walk with conviction. The awakened soul follows a path beyond logic, yet never loses its way. Emerson doesn't instruct; he sparks something.

Few books on software project management have been as influential and timeless as The Mythical Man-Month. With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project manager for the IBM System/360 computer family and then for OS/360, its massive software system.

The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, best-selling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale - from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar.

"The chief end I propose to myself in all my labors is to vex the world rather than divert it," wrote Jonathan Swift in a letter to his friend Alexander Pope. Vexing works collected here are "A Modest Proposal," "Directions to Servants," "The Art of Political Lying," "A Digression Concerning the Critics," and "Sweetness and Light."

As the Enlightenment movement was gathering strength in the early 18th century, various challenges to established religious faith were launched. In response, a number of celebrated commentators produced defences of religion and morality, and among these was Alexander Pope, who was inspired to write "some pieces on Human Life and Manners." The result was a collection of poems in rhyming couplets, designated "Epistles", which were published in instalments.

Time is short and college bound students need their applications to make an impact on the overworked admissions officers who guard the gates at prestigious universities. To succeed in this mission, they need a book that will get read! In The 1-Hour College Admissions Essay, screenwriter and Hollywood story consultant, Craig Machen, offers a simple set of story telling tools to give personal statements the emotional impact they need to stand out. These concepts are not complex, but without them it’s almost impossible to write anything moving or memorable. In this concise but all ...

Ross Gay’s essays have been called “exquisite” (Tracy K. Smith), “imperative” (the New York Times Book Review), and “brilliant” (Ada Limón). Now, in this new collection of genre-defying pieces, again written over the course of a year, one of America’s most original voices continues his ongoing investigation of delight.

Legendary author and essayist E. B. White writes, "The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest." Covering a large number of subjects, this classic collection features 31 of White's most memorable essays.

In this exuberantly praised book - a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary theory to the supposed fun of traveling aboard a Caribbean luxury cruiseliner - David Foster Wallace brings to nonfiction the same curiosity, hilarity, and exhilarating verbal facility that has delighted readers of his fiction.