A fascinating collection of essays that carries forward the omnidirectional momentum of the master. After Montaigne gives us grand examples of the essay as it lives today.--Ian Frazier "author of Great Plains"
Imagine the dinner party: not just Montaigne but many Montaignes, resurrected in these brilliant essays by twenty-eight of today's most inventive writers. The table is crowded, enlivened by the paradoxical warmth of Montaigne's detachment and by the parry and thrust of ideas, often tantamount to a kind of quiet eros. It's a dinner full of random appetites, the kind of party we leave knowing ourselves a little less, which might mean a little better. What a feast this collection is. It satisfies a hunger--intellect meeting empathy--that enlarges us.--Barbara Hurd "author of Listening to the Savage: River Notes and Half-Heard Melodies"
The collection is accessible and invites readers to dip in anywhere, to read all or only a few. Reading these 'covers' alongside Montaigne's originals would make an engaging activity for aspiring essayists or composition students.--P. J. Kurtz "Choice"
Though Montaigne wrote more than 400 years ago, he feels ageless to these writers, who celebrate his 'drily mellifluous voice, ' discursive style, and relentless curiosity. With flair, wit, and imagination, these writers embrace and often challenge their mentor, with results that will inspire readers to also seek out the originals.-- "Publishers Weekly"