{"product_id":"kants-little-prussian-head-and-other-reasons-why-i-write-an-autobiography-through-essays-9780393882483","title":"Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write: An Autobiography Through Essays","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn her fiction, Claire Messud \"has specialized in creating unusual female characters with ferocious, imaginative inner lives\" (Ruth Franklin, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e). \u003cem\u003eKant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write\u003c\/em\u003e opens a window on Messud's own life: a peripatetic upbringing; a warm, complicated family; and, throughout it all, her devotion to art and literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn twenty-six intimate, brilliant, and funny essays, Messud reflects on a childhood move from her Connecticut home to Australia; the complex relationship between her modern Canadian mother and a fiercely single French Catholic aunt; and a trip to Beirut, where her \u003cem\u003epied-noir\u003c\/em\u003e father had once lived, while he was dying. She meditates on contemporary classics from Kazuo Ishiguro, Teju Cole, Rachel Cusk, and Valeria Luiselli; examines three facets of Albert Camus and \u003cem\u003eThe Stranger\u003c\/em\u003e; and tours her favorite paintings at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. In the luminous title essay, she explores her drive to write, born of the magic of sharing language and the transformative powers of \"a single successful sentence.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTogether, these essays show the inner workings of a dazzling literary mind. Crafting a vivid portrait of a life in celebration of the power of literature, Messud proves once again \"an absolute master storyteller\" (Rebecca Carroll, \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMessud, Claire:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eClaire Messud\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of six works of fiction. A recipient of a Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her family.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50448842391826,"sku":"9780393882483","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7711f20d-667d-48a4-9f4e-4f6dc204f13b.jpg?v=1729740103","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/kants-little-prussian-head-and-other-reasons-why-i-write-an-autobiography-through-essays-9780393882483","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}