Gallimaufry (book)

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Gallimaufry: A Collection of Essays, Reviews, Bits
Gallimaufry book cover.jpg
Author Joseph Epstein
LanguageEnglish
SubjectCollection of essays
PublisherAxios Press
Publication date
October 7, 2020
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint, hardback
Pages505
ISBN 978-1-604-19128-8

Gallimaufry, A Collection of Essays, Reviews, Bits, is a 2020 collection of 57 essays, book reviews, and shorter pieces all by Joseph Epstein. Essay topics in this collection include authors, literature, biographies, writing, language (its use and misuse), universities, culture, Chicago and humor. The collection is organized into three sections: (i) Essays and Reviews, longer pieces, #1-39 below, (ii) Bits and Pieces, shorter pieces, #40-56 below and (iii) Edward Redux, an essay on his friend and mentor Edward Shils. All of these essays were previously published in journals and anthologies including The Weekly Standard, Commentary (magazine), Claremont Review of Books, Wall Street Journal and others.

Contents

Essays collected

List of essays in Gallimaufry
#TitleDateTopic(s)
1The Bookish Life2018
2Body without Soul2020book by Bill Bryson
3Chicago, Then and Now2018
4Jewish Jokes2018also Jeremy Dauber's book "Jewish Comedy"
5Short Attention Span2017
6Intellectual Marines in Little Magazines2008journalism, also Partisan Review, Kenyon Review and others
7The American Language2018 H. L. Mencken and his book The American Language
8University of Chicago Days2017
9Frittering Prizes1997literature prizes
10The Tzaddick of the Intellectuals2017 Leon Wieseltier, Tzadik
11The Menace of Political Correctness2019
12Hail, Mommsen2018 Theodore Mommsen
13Big Julie2019 Julius Caesar
14Our Gladiators2018 Tiger Woods and professional athletes
15Diamonds Are Forever2016baseball
16What’s the Story?2017the case for conservatism
17University Presidents2019
18Immaturity on Campus2020
19 Heinrich Heine 2018
20 Joseph Roth 2018
21 Stefan Zweig 2019
22 Vasily Grossman 2011
23 Evelyn Waugh 2017also biography by Philip Eade
24 P. G. Wodehouse 2018
25 Tom Wolfe 2018
26Susan Sontag, Savant-Idiot2019 Susan Sontag and biography by Benjamin Moser
27 Lionel Trilling 2019
28Proust’s Duchesses2018biography by Caroline Weber
29 Denis Diderot 2019also biography by Robert Zaretzsky
30 Isaiah Berlin 2016collection of his letters by Henry Hardy
31Johnson-Boswell2019book by Leo Damrosch about Samuel Johnson
32Stop Your Blubbering2019book by Jonathan Ree about philosophy
33 George Gershwin 2009biography by Walter Rimler
34 Nelson Algren 2019biography by Colin Asher
35Essayism2018book by Brian Dillon
36 Alcibiades 2019biography by David Stuttard
37Big Bill Tilden2016 Bill Tilden and biography by Allen Hornblum
38The Semicolon2019book by Cecilia Watson
39The Meritocracy2019book by Daniel Markovits
40Close Shaves2018shaving
41Location, Location, Location2018Evanston, Illinois neighborhood
42 Milt Rosenberg 2018radio interview program in Chicago
43Only a Hobby2018 Anne Fadiman memoir of Clifton Fadiman and wine
44Hello, Dolly2018pet cat
45Dirty Words2018profanity
46See Me Out2018aging and possessions
47Shabby Chic2017casual attire
48Thoughts and Prayers2018condolences and cliches
49Table It2018word use and changing meanings
50Don’t Hide Your Eyes, Weaponize2019word use and misuse
51Does Not Hug2017not embracing
52In Bad Taste or Not, I’ll Keep My Comic Sans2019font
53Yidiosyncrasies2018quirks
54Sinfood2017
55A Nobel Prize for Marriage2018famous married couples
56Hold the Memorial2018funerals, memorial speeches
57Edward Remembered2019 Edward Shils -- professor and sociologist

Reception

In The American Spectator Larry Thornberry said "I consider Epstein to be the finest essayist and columnist on active duty today." [1] Thornberry appreciated the wide variety of topics taken up in this collection. He concluded with: "(Epstein's) work is a kind of literary palate cleansing." [1]

At Anecdotal Evidence Patrick Kurp said: "At age eighty-three, Epstein remains our most entertaining, wide-ranging, industrious, learned practitioner of both familiar and critical essays." [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Thornberry, Larry (October 13, 2020). "The Best Way to Take a Break From the Current Chaos". The American Spectator. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  2. ↑ Kurp, Patrick (August 26, 2020). "A Chance of Becoming a Bit Smarter". Anecdotal Evidence. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
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