{"product_id":"the-bloodied-nightgown-and-other-essays","title":"The Bloodied Nightgown and Other Essays","description":"A collection of the New Yorkercritic’s finest essays, which examine the books that reveal and record our world.\n\nJoan Acocella was “one of our finest cultural critics” (Edward Hirsch), and she had the rare ability to examine literature and unearth the lives contained within it―its authors, its subjects, and the communities from which it springs. In her hands, arts criticism was a celebration and an investigation, and her essays pulse with unadulterated enthusiasm. As Kathryn Harrison wrote in The New York Times Book Review, “Hers is a vision that allows art its mystery but not its pretensions, to which she is acutely sensitive. What better instincts could a critic have?”\n\nThe Bloodied Nightgown and Other Essays gathers twenty-four essays from the final decade and a half of Acocella’s career, as well as an introduction that frames her simple preoccupations: “life and art.” In agile, inspired prose, she moves from J. R. R. Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf to the life of Richard Pryor, from surveying profanity to untangling the book of Job. Her appetite (and reading list) knew no bounds. This collection is a joy and a revelation, a library in itself, and Acocella is our dream companion among its shelves.\n\nIncludes 25 black-and-white images\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0374608091\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.0374608091.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Acocella, Joan\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41505824342074,"sku":"DBV.0374608091.G","price":5.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/0374608091-0.jpg?v=1783213055","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/the-bloodied-nightgown-and-other-essays","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}