One of the most highly regarded books of its kind, On Photography first appeared in 1977 and is described by its author as “a progress of essays about the meaning and career of photographs.” It begins with the famous “In Plato’s Cave”essay, then offers five other prose meditations on this topic, and concludes with a fascinating and far-reaching “Brief Anthology of Quotations.”
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 15 November 2010
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The Praise of Folly
The Praise of Folly (Greek title: Morias Enkomion, Latin: Stultitiae Laus, sometimes translated as In Praise of More, Dutch title: Lof der Zotheid) is an essay written in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in 1511.
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 13 November 2010
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On the Decay of the Art of Lying
A very short but quite funny examination of the sad state ot that most noble and necessary art: lying. This short essay is in the same vein as Eramus's In Praise of Folly, and just as satisfying. Once again, Mark Twin is the master of essays, this time about lying. It's done in an over the top fashion, making you realize that we're all liars on a daily basis, and we do it reflexively but that it's a dying art. Twain argues that we don't lie for the right reasons, and we need to address that. The essay is a bit short but still poignant even today. Twain's at his best.
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 13 November 2010
4
A Modest Proposal
A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. Swift suggests in his essay that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. By doing this he mocks the authority of the British officials.
Finally, here is the first accurate & beautiful translation of Richard Cantillon’s 1755 masterpiece on economics. This treatise is widely credited with being the first to describe the market process as one driven by entrepreneurship. William Stanley Jevons, in the first blush of discovery, proclaimed Cantillon’s Essai, "the cradle of political economy."
