{"product_id":"the-bloodied-nightgown-and-other-essays-9781250338075","title":"The Bloodied Nightgown and Other Essays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA collection of the \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003ecritic's finest essays, which\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eexamine the books that reveal and record our world.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJoan 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 \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \"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?\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bloodied Nightgown and Other Essays\u003c\/i\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/i\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIncludes 25 black-and-white images\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joan Acocella\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Picador USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/18\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.89lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.60h x 5.81w x 0.98d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250338075","brand":"Picador USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43349303263369,"sku":"9781250338075","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_53f2ff55-c33a-4c82-8e69-1f1984c522ef.jpg?v=1739259660","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/the-bloodied-nightgown-and-other-essays-9781250338075","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}