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13+ Works 1,274 Membros 62 Críticas 1 Favorited

About the Author

William Deresiewicz was an associate professor of English at Yale University from 1998 to 2008. He is a contributing writer for The Nation and a contributing editor for The New Republic and The American Scholar. His work has also appeared in several publications including The New York Times, The mostrar mais Atlantic, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He has won the Hiett Prize in the Humanities and the Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. He is the author of several books including A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter and Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
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Obras por William Deresiewicz

Associated Works

Êxtase da transformação (2008) — Posfácio, algumas edições1,127 exemplares
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 (2011) — Contribuidor — 237 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Data de nascimento
1964
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
USA
Local de nascimento
Englewood, New Jersey, USA
Locais de residência
New York, New York, USA
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Portland, Oregon, USA
Educação
Columbia University (PhD)
Ocupações
professor
book reviewer
Literary critic
Organizações
Yale University
Prémios e menções honrosas
National Magazine Award. Nominee (2008)
National Magazine Award. Nominee (2009)
National Book Critics Circle. Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. Nominee (2010)
Agente
Elyse Cheney

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William Deresiewicz was an associate professor of English at Yale University until 2008 and is a widely published literary critic. His reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation, Bookforum, and The American Scholar. He was nominated for National Magazine Award in 2008 and 2009 and the National Book Critics Circle's Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing in 2010. [from A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter (2011)]

Membros

Discussions

A Jane Austen Education em Tattered but still lovely (Março 2015)

Críticas

A very interesting and enjoyable (despite being slightly too academic) discussion of the influence of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott and Byron on Jane Austen. Taking a closer look at "Mansfield Park", "Emma", and "Persuasion" - the hidden layers, themes, and historical context will enrich my future re-readings...

P.S. Literary criticism is a wonderful genre and often a great intellectual exercise. But I sometimes wonder whether there are any authors out there who consciously think: "If I use this particular word in this particular way in this particular chapter, then my future readers and critics will know that this is a symbol of..."??? But even if critics sometimes go too far in their digging for hidden meanings, watching them dig is always entertaining ;-)… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Alexandra_book_life | Dec 15, 2023 |
Never have I read a book where I was so fascinated by the author's perspective and thinking while still disagreeing with him on so many points. Deresiewicz was an English professor at Yale, and this book basically rips on Yale (and Harvard and Princeton and well, you get the idea).

My goodness this guy can write. He puts forth many arguments about how our meritocratic educational system merely serves as a way to keep the upper middle class in power. He blasts all education except for the strict definition of liberal arts. He dismisses elite schools while elevating (what I consider to be) elitist educational objectives.

You can read an encapsulation of his perspectives here:
https://theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/#.VWsU9s-...

His book expands on the topic.

I found myself highlighting again and again. Even things I didn't agree with, I was highlighting - - that's how well he puts forth his case. He made me really think, and I couldn't just dismiss his thinking out of hand. He totally gets a hat tip from me on that front.

Here are some insights that grabbed me.

On parenting:

"Both kinds of parenting, finally, are forms of overidentification. The helicopter parent turns the child into an instrument of her will. The overindulgent parent projects his own need for limitless freedom and security. In either case, the child is made to function as an extension of somebody else."

On Amy Chua (author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother):

"The needs that drive her reign of terror (the term is not too strong) are a compound of panicked perfectionism and an infantile sense of entitlement."

On perfectionism:

"Perfectionism, Levine explains, is a desperate attempt to stave off criticism - which, as practiced in ambitious households, is not the disapproval of a child's actions, but the condemnation of her very self."

On learning:

"It doesn't simply mean developing the mental skills particular to individual disciplines - how to solve an equation or construct a study or analyze a text - or even acquiring the ability to work across the disciplines. It means developing the habit of skepticism and the capacity to put it into practice. It means learning not to take things for granted, so you can reach your own conclusions."

Some things he says are not new, but he says them so well. And yet, the pragmatic part of me didn't really agree with many things he said. His idealism just struck me as a tad too ivory tower to me - - which was ironic because in the end he totally condemns elite educational institutions, like Yale, as perpetuating income inequality and creating mediocre leaders. There seemed to be some inconsistencies in his argument, but the individual components are rendered beautifully.

Definitely well worth reading if you are interested in education, or even if you are just concerned with the state of our country.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Anita_Pomerantz | 4 outras críticas | Mar 23, 2023 |
Deresiewicz cites two popular stories about earning a living as an artist in the digital age: there has never been a better time to be an artist; and sure, I can create, but who will pay me for it? Artists are surrounded by affordable, accessible digital tools and platforms but these same platforms devalue and demonetize art, he noted, as legacy investment channels disappear.
 
Assinalado
DellaWanna | 1 outra crítica | Mar 12, 2023 |
Esta crítica foi escrita no âmbito dos Primeiros Críticos do LibraryThing.
The End of Solitude is a collection of over 40 essays written over a number of years by William Deresiewicz. The author is a Columbia University graduate and former professor at Yale University. Several of the most engaging essays are about social media and its effects on modern society. The essays on art were also interesting.

Some of this book was a struggle to read. I lost count of the number of times the author used the word elite (and also the number of times I rolled my eyes.) His tone was often off-putting. Perhaps he “reads” better in a classroom where you might have an opportunity to discuss or argue certain points. I also did not have the needed context for some of his brief passing references to philosophers and works of literature. While this book was difficult for me to stick with as a cover to cover read, there was much food for further thought.… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
bethnv | 6 outras críticas | Nov 15, 2022 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
13
Also by
2
Membros
1,274
Popularidade
#20,133
Avaliação
4.0
Críticas
62
ISBN
29
Línguas
2
Marcado como favorito
1

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