{"product_id":"what-good-are-the-arts-9780199735976","title":"What Good Are the Arts?","description":"Hailed as \"exhilarating and suggestive\" (\u003cem\u003eSpectator\u003c\/em\u003e), \"thought-provoking and entertaining\" (David Lodge, \u003cem\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e), and \"incisive and inspirational\" (\u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e), \u003cem\u003eWhat Good are the Arts?\u003c\/em\u003e offers a delightfully skeptical look at the nature of art. John Carey--one of Britain's most respected literary critics--here cuts through the cant surrounding the fine arts, debunking claims that the arts make us better people or that judgments about art are anything more than personal opinion. But Carey does argue strongly for the value of art as an activity and for the superiority of one art in particular: literature. Literature, he contends, is the only art capable of reasoning, and the only art that can criticize. Literature has the ability to inspire the mind and the heart towards practical ends far better than any work of conceptual art. Here then is a lively and stimulating invitation to debate the value of art, a provocative book that \"anyone seriously interested in the arts should read\" (Michael Dirda, \u003cem\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Carey\u003c\/strong\u003e is the Chief Book Reviewer for \u003cem\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e (London).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52033942159634,"sku":"9780199735976","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d2eb841c-2cbe-4bdd-a576-f391b2878dbe.jpg?v=1770980444","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/what-good-are-the-arts-9780199735976","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}