{"product_id":"criticism-and-truth-on-method-in-literary-studies-9780226830537","title":"Criticism and Truth: On Method in Literary Studies","description":"\u003cb\u003eA defense and celebration of the discipline of literary studies and its most distinctive practice--close reading.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Does literary criticism offer truths about the world? In \u003ci\u003eCriticism and Truth\u003c\/i\u003e, Jonathan Kramnick offers a new and surprising account of criticism's power by zeroing in on its singular method: close reading. Long recognized as the distinctive technique of literary studies, close reading is the critic's way of pursuing arguments and advancing knowledge, as well as the primary skill taught in the English major. But it is also more than that--a creative, immersive, and transformative writing practice that fosters a unique kind of engagement with the world. Drawing on the rich and varied landscape of contemporary criticism, Kramnick changes how we think about the basic tools of literary analysis, including the art of in-text quotation, summary, and other reading methods, helping us to see them as an invaluable form of humanistic expertise. \u003ci\u003eCriticism and Truth\u003c\/i\u003e is a call to arms, making a powerful case for the necessity of both literature and criticism within a multidisciplinary university. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As the humanities fight for survival in contemporary higher education, the study of literature doesn't need more plans for reform. Rather, it needs a defense of the work already being done and an account of why it should flourish. This is what \u003ci\u003eCriticism and Truth\u003c\/i\u003e offers, in vivid and portable form.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJonathan Kramnick\u003c\/b\u003e is the Maynard Mack Professor of English and director of the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eMaking the English Canon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eActions and Objects from Hobbes to Richardson\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePaper Minds\u003c\/i\u003e, the latter also published by the University of Chicago Press.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50708131184914,"sku":"9780226830537","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_184c0ea3-f112-4204-838a-f8f398579169.jpg?v=1734505751","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/criticism-and-truth-on-method-in-literary-studies-9780226830537","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}