Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write

In this moving and evocative essay collection, novelist Messud reflects on family, art, and why she writes … These intimate, contemplative and probing essays reveal Messud’s rich inner life and generosity of spirit * Publishers Weekly (Starred review) *Powerful and inspirational: Messud is as fine a critic as she is a novelist * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *All writing is autobiographical, but almost never in the ways we presume. This is a profound book about the intrication of literature and life, about the modest, miraculous ways art helps us to live. Claire Messud, with her lapidary intelligence and dizzying sense of history, is among the most luminous writers at work today – Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness and What Belongs to YouClaire Messud’s essays are generous visions of the world, informed by her razor-sharp intellect and uncompromising honesty – Maaza Mengiste * Observer (Best books of 2020) *Claire Messud’s collection of essays and reviews from the past 20 years - titled Kant’s Little Prussian Head & Other Reasons Why I Write - is an uplifting work: complex, precise and bracing … The family section is rendered vividly, in sentences beautifully formed and built to last. Some of the scenes Messud conjures feel unforgettable … The strength and delicacy of these chapters leave you trusting Messud’s taste and judgment before you sample her criticism, which doesn’t disappoint – Susie Boyt * Financial Times *

Claire Messud is a recipient of Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The author of five other works of fiction including, most recently, The Burning Girl, she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her family.

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