- Hardcover: 144 pages
- Publisher: Harvard University Press (6 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0674004612
- ISBN-13: 978-0674004610
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 13.3 x 1.9 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,923,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Financial Times Magazine 21 June 2003
Doctorow's essays... start as a personal memoir, and craftily unfurl into a sharp look at the state of America, its soul and its literature…
Product Description
"The writer", according to Emerson, "believes all that can be thought can be written...In his eyes a man is the faculty of reporting, and the universe is the possibility of being reported". And what writer worth his name, E.L. Doctorow asks, will not seriously however furtively, take on the universe? Human consciousness, personal history, American literature, religion and politics - these are the far-flung coordinates of the universe that Doctorow reports here, a universe that uniquely and brilliantly reflects our contemporary science. Rich with philosophical asides, historical speculations, personal observations and literary judgements, "Reporting the Universe" ranges from the circumstances of Doctorow's own boyhood and early work to the state of modern society. An account of the "Childhood of a Writer", along with pieces on Kenyon College and the author's first novel, comprise a pocket-sized memoir. In reflections on Emerson, on "texts that are sacred, texts that are not", and on literature and religion Doctorow concerns himself with the status and fate of literature. And in "Why We Are Infidels" and "The Politics of God" he engages some of the most pressing anxieties and ideologies of our day. This series of reflections comes together as an artfully sustained meditation on American consciousness and experience, discrete episodes converging, as in the author's fiction, to form a luminous whole - a "report" by turns touching and funny, ironic and exalted, and, in its unique way, universally to the point.
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3 reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Inside the mind of EL Doctorow
12 Jun 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
For those who have loved the delicious novels of this inordinately talented writer (eg 'Ragtime', 'The City of God', etc) here is the opportunity to read some illuminating thoughts by a man who is as fine a philosopher and thinker as he is a novelist. This collection of fourteen short essays range in topics from memoirs about what inspired Doctorow to become a writer, to probing and challenging forays into religion, to the sad state of our US government with suggestions on how we can regain control of a government no longer "of, by, and for the people". He frequently quotes Walt Whitman and Emerson and the Age of Enlightment, and embraces the idea of a God who is ever-changing as our society and world evolve. At times humorous, at times fearful of our direction as a country, Doctorow continues to reveal a fine mind as well as a consistly fine gift for writing. Recommended for the reader who wants to face universal questions.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Too much in too little
10 Jan 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
E.L. Doctorow shoehorns a lot into this slim book, including snippets of memoir, thoughts on writing and storytelling, and ruminations (lectures, even) on how to live in a country with a secular religion in which ever-decreasing numbers of its citizens believe and in a world with ever-increasing fanaticism and fundamentalism.
Doctorow is somewhat of a polymath, with an impressive depth of knowledge in fields like physics, history, religion, and philosophy, as well as literature. He also is a serious and original thinker. Thus, regardless of what you think of his fiction, reading his essays is not a waste of time. But in REPORTING THE UNIVERSE (a title derived from an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson) Doctorow tries to cover too much in too little space. When he goes beyond memoir, his ideas need more development and explication. In addition, at times the author's voice becomes cranky or curmudgeonly, and on a couple of occasions his lecturing tone comes too close to becoming a hectoring tone.
Doctorow is somewhat of a polymath, with an impressive depth of knowledge in fields like physics, history, religion, and philosophy, as well as literature. He also is a serious and original thinker. Thus, regardless of what you think of his fiction, reading his essays is not a waste of time. But in REPORTING THE UNIVERSE (a title derived from an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson) Doctorow tries to cover too much in too little space. When he goes beyond memoir, his ideas need more development and explication. In addition, at times the author's voice becomes cranky or curmudgeonly, and on a couple of occasions his lecturing tone comes too close to becoming a hectoring tone.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Parts are very good
12 Nov 2005
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
but parts are tedious. He makes some good points and the writing is rather entertaining in parts, but as a whole it seems to keep bogging down and becomes a difficult read. It starts with his early life which is rather fun to read but progresses to a series of lectures on the relationship between reality and theology. Although some of his points are good, others seem to get lost on tangents. I am glad I read it, but doubt I will pick it up again or recommend it to a friend.
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