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STANFORD HUMANITIES CENTER EVENTS
Adam Gopnik: Why Write About Writing? or, How Dr. Johnson Can Save Your Life
Wednesday May 13, 2009 | 07:00 -09:00 PM |
Is criticism "good" for anything? Is the relation of the critic to the artist like that of a doctor to a patient, or is it, as the essayist and critic Adam Gopnik has recently suggested, more "like that of the bearded lady to the trapeze artist, a sadder act in the same big show"? Using Samuel Johnson's writing and conversation as a model of what good critical writing ought to be, Gopnik will attempt to define some rough and ready principles to tell good writing about writing from bad writing about writing, and criticism that enlivens readers from the kind that merely deadens books.
Adam Gopnik: Why Write About Writing? or, How Dr. Johnson Can Save Your Life
Wednesday May 13, 2009 | 07:00 -09:00 PM |
Is criticism "good" for anything? Is the relation of the critic to the artist like that of a doctor to a patient, or is it, as the essayist and critic Adam Gopnik has recently suggested, more "like that of the bearded lady to the trapeze artist, a sadder act in the same big show"? Using Samuel Johnson's writing and conversation as a model of what good critical writing ought to be, Gopnik will attempt to define some rough and ready principles to tell good writing about writing from bad writing about writing, and criticism that enlivens readers from the kind that merely deadens books.
All events take place at Stanford University, unless otherwise noted.
The Calendar of Events lists events sponsored and co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center. For a more comprehensive listing of university-wide events, see the Stanford Event Calendar.
The Calendar of Events lists events sponsored and co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center. For a more comprehensive listing of university-wide events, see the Stanford Event Calendar.