{"product_id":"the-moral-obligation-to-be-intelligent-selected-essays-9780810124882","title":"The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent: Selected Essays","description":"\u003cp\u003eBringing together the thoughts of one of American literature's sharpest cultural critics, this compendium will open the eyes of a whole new audience to the work of Lionel Trilling. Trilling was a strenuous thinker who was proud to think \"too much.\" As an intellectual he did not spare his own kind, and though he did not consider himself a rationalist, he was grounded in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis collection features 32 of Trilling's essays on a range of topics, from Jane Austen to George Orwell and from the Kinsey Report to \u003ci\u003eLolita\u003c\/i\u003e. Also included are Trilling's seminal essays \"Art and Neurosis\" and \"Manners, Morals, and the Novel.\" Many of the pieces made their initial appearances in periodicals such as \u003ci\u003eThe Partisan Review\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCommentary\u003c\/i\u003e; most were later reprinted in essay collections. This new gathering of his writings demonstrates again Trilling's patient, thorough style. Considering \"the problems of life\"--in art, literature, culture, and intellectual life--was, to him, a vital occupation, even if he did not expect to get anything as simple or encouraging as \"answers.\" The intellectual journey was the true goal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo matter the subject, Trilling's arguments come together easily, as if constructing complicated defenses and attacks were singularly simple for his well-honed mind. The more he wrote on a subject and the more intricate his reasoning, the more clear that subject became; his elaboration is all function and no filler. Wrestling with Trilling's challenging work still yields rewards today, his ideas speaking to issues that transcend decades and even centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLionel Trilling\u003c\/b\u003e (1905-75) is the author of the collections \u003ci\u003eBeyond Culture\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Liberal Imagination\u003c\/i\u003e, and the posthumously published \u003ci\u003eSpeaking of Literature and Society\u003c\/i\u003e. He was a professor at Columbia University. \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLeon Wieseltier\u003c\/b\u003e is the editor of \u003ci\u003eThe New Republic \u003c\/i\u003eand lives in New York City.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Northwestern University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50725344837906,"sku":"9780810124882","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_39544c29-dd55-4486-9a4a-f21102f6503c.jpg?v=1734826621","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-moral-obligation-to-be-intelligent-selected-essays-9780810124882","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}