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Late Essays

2006-2017

Author J. M. Coetzee
Ebook (EPUB)
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
On sale Jan 02, 2018 | 304 Pages | 9780735223936
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A new collection of twenty-three literary essays from the Nobel Prize–winning author. J. M. Coetzee’s latest novel, The Schooldays of Jesus, is now available from Viking.

J. M. Coetzee is not only one of the most acclaimed fiction writers in the world, he is also an accomplished and insightful literary critic. In Late Essays: 2006–2016, a thought-provoking collection of twenty-three pieces, he examines the work of some of the world’s greatest writers, from Daniel Defoe in the early eighteenth century to Goethe and Irène Némirovsky to Coetzee’s contemporary Philip Roth. Challenging yet accessible, literary master Coetzee writes these essays with great clarity and precision, offering readers an illuminating and wise analysis of a remarkable list of works of international literature that span three centuries.
“Coetzee is as perspicacious and erudite a guide as on could hope for. His biographical sketches of the life and times of the authors he addresses are excellent, concretely informative while also marbled with interesting tidbits . . . What can’t be found anywhere else, where Coetzee is unparalleled, is his ability to capture the psychology of individual characters, to lay bare the inner working of their minds, and in doing so bring to light the source of their enduring interest to readers.”—New York Times Book Review

“Coetzee’s many strong and provocative essays, along with the clarity of his writing and the literary biographies he weaves into his analyses, make this in general a worthwhile work of literary criticism.”—Publishers Weekly

"Coetzee again demonstrates his range and precision as a literary critic and his gift for rendering challenging material accessible."—Booklist (starred)

"As pages turn, one becomes increasingly drawn in by Coetzee’s insights–subtly interconnected, ever elucidating.”—BookPage

“With wondering intelligence and a deep understanding of history, Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee (Disgrace) tackles literary classics and lesser-known works in Late Essays . . . By focusing the mysterious inspirations of so many luminary authors, Coetzee has made his Late Essays into a vibrant and inquisitive work of literary criticism.”—Shelf Awareness

“His critiques are constructive and instructive. Above all they do what all good literary essays should do: They encourage us to read and reread, to appreciate anew and newly discover.”—The Weekly Standard

"Coetzee is unparalleled in his ability to penetrate the philosophical and psychological mysteries in a work of art. This will appeal to scholars and readers of serious fiction."—Library Journal

“Nobel and Booker Prize winner Coetzee (The Schooldays of Jesus, 2017, etc.) offers another collection of reflective and erudite essays on a variety of poets and novelists . . . Thought-provoking essays that offer more than mere opinion, as the author plumbs the writers' philosophical and psychological depths.”—Kirkus Review

Praise for J. M. Coetzee

‟Coetzee is that rare breed, an academic who is also a world-class writer, and this latest collection is informed as much by the novelist’s keen eye as it is by the theorists obsessions.” —The New York Times Book Review

‟[Coetzee] is probably the only Nobel laureate to write so extensively about his peers . . . and he is happily unrestrained by mere collegiality.” —New York Sun
© Alejandro Guyot
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 9, 1940, J. M. Coetzee studied first at Cape Town and later at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a PhD degree in literature. In 1972, he returned to South Africa and joined the faculty of the University of Cape Town. His works of fiction include Dusklands; Waiting for the Barbarians, which won South Africa’s highest literary honor, the Central News Agency Literary Award; and the Life and Times of Michael K., for which Coetzee was awarded his first Booker Prize in 1983. He has also published a memoir, Boyhood: Scenes From a Provincial Life, and several essay collections. He has won many other literary prizes, including the Lannan Award for Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. In 1999, he again won Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for Disgrace, becoming the first author to win the award twice in its 31-year history. In 2003, Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. View titles by J. M. Coetzee

About

A new collection of twenty-three literary essays from the Nobel Prize–winning author. J. M. Coetzee’s latest novel, The Schooldays of Jesus, is now available from Viking.

J. M. Coetzee is not only one of the most acclaimed fiction writers in the world, he is also an accomplished and insightful literary critic. In Late Essays: 2006–2016, a thought-provoking collection of twenty-three pieces, he examines the work of some of the world’s greatest writers, from Daniel Defoe in the early eighteenth century to Goethe and Irène Némirovsky to Coetzee’s contemporary Philip Roth. Challenging yet accessible, literary master Coetzee writes these essays with great clarity and precision, offering readers an illuminating and wise analysis of a remarkable list of works of international literature that span three centuries.

Reviews

“Coetzee is as perspicacious and erudite a guide as on could hope for. His biographical sketches of the life and times of the authors he addresses are excellent, concretely informative while also marbled with interesting tidbits . . . What can’t be found anywhere else, where Coetzee is unparalleled, is his ability to capture the psychology of individual characters, to lay bare the inner working of their minds, and in doing so bring to light the source of their enduring interest to readers.”—New York Times Book Review

“Coetzee’s many strong and provocative essays, along with the clarity of his writing and the literary biographies he weaves into his analyses, make this in general a worthwhile work of literary criticism.”—Publishers Weekly

"Coetzee again demonstrates his range and precision as a literary critic and his gift for rendering challenging material accessible."—Booklist (starred)

"As pages turn, one becomes increasingly drawn in by Coetzee’s insights–subtly interconnected, ever elucidating.”—BookPage

“With wondering intelligence and a deep understanding of history, Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee (Disgrace) tackles literary classics and lesser-known works in Late Essays . . . By focusing the mysterious inspirations of so many luminary authors, Coetzee has made his Late Essays into a vibrant and inquisitive work of literary criticism.”—Shelf Awareness

“His critiques are constructive and instructive. Above all they do what all good literary essays should do: They encourage us to read and reread, to appreciate anew and newly discover.”—The Weekly Standard

"Coetzee is unparalleled in his ability to penetrate the philosophical and psychological mysteries in a work of art. This will appeal to scholars and readers of serious fiction."—Library Journal

“Nobel and Booker Prize winner Coetzee (The Schooldays of Jesus, 2017, etc.) offers another collection of reflective and erudite essays on a variety of poets and novelists . . . Thought-provoking essays that offer more than mere opinion, as the author plumbs the writers' philosophical and psychological depths.”—Kirkus Review

Praise for J. M. Coetzee

‟Coetzee is that rare breed, an academic who is also a world-class writer, and this latest collection is informed as much by the novelist’s keen eye as it is by the theorists obsessions.” —The New York Times Book Review

‟[Coetzee] is probably the only Nobel laureate to write so extensively about his peers . . . and he is happily unrestrained by mere collegiality.” —New York Sun

Author

© Alejandro Guyot
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 9, 1940, J. M. Coetzee studied first at Cape Town and later at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a PhD degree in literature. In 1972, he returned to South Africa and joined the faculty of the University of Cape Town. His works of fiction include Dusklands; Waiting for the Barbarians, which won South Africa’s highest literary honor, the Central News Agency Literary Award; and the Life and Times of Michael K., for which Coetzee was awarded his first Booker Prize in 1983. He has also published a memoir, Boyhood: Scenes From a Provincial Life, and several essay collections. He has won many other literary prizes, including the Lannan Award for Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. In 1999, he again won Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for Disgrace, becoming the first author to win the award twice in its 31-year history. In 2003, Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. View titles by J. M. Coetzee

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