The Essays of E.B. White
E.B. White · 1977
White defined the American personal essay: clear, gentle, quietly devastating. "Once More to the Lake" is the most-anthologized American essay. His New Yorker pieces set the standard for what a short essay could be.
The case against
Charm is the product, and after thirty essays the charm becomes a routine: the Maine saltwater farm, the ailing pig, the gentle sigh at modernity. White perfected a smallness that can look like wisdom or like a comfortable man declining to be disturbed. The stakes rarely rise above the barnyard, by design.
Essays · the Pro canon
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
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