Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Disparates: Essays

Disparates: Essays

Madden, Patrick

Paperback

HumorLetters & EssaysFiction Anthologies

Publisher Price: $22.95

ISBN10: 1496202449
ISBN13: 9781496202444
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: Apr 1 2020
Pages: 186
Weight: 0.62
Height: 0.43 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

15 Bytes Book Award
2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Gold Medal Winner

In English disparate means different or miscellaneous--apt descriptors of these essays by Patrick Madden. In Spanish, however, disparate means nonsense, folly, or absurdity,--words appropriate to Madden's goal of undercutting any notion that essays must be serious business. Thus, in this collection, the essays are frivolous and lively, aiming to make readers laugh while they think about such abstract subjects as happiness and memory and unpredictability.

In this vein, Madden takes sidelong swipes at weighty topics via form, with wildly meandering essays, abandoned essays in honor of the long tradition of essayists disparaging their own efforts, and guerrilla essays--which slip in quietly under the guise of a borrowed form, abruptly attack, and promptly escape, leaving laughter and contemplation in their wake. Madden also incorporates cameos from guest essayists, including Mary Cappello, Matthew Gavin Frank, David Lazar, Michael Martone, Jericho Parms, and Wendy S. Walters, much like a musician features other performers.

Disparates reflects the current zeitgeist by taking on important issues with a touch of cleverness, a dash of humor, and a little help from one's friends.

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