‘One of the English language’s great essayists

… a book to be thankful for’

The Times

In this richly diverse collection of essays, Joseph Brodsky casts a reflective eye on his experiences of early life in Russia and exile in America. With dazzling erudition, he explores subjects as varied as the dynamic of poetry, the nature of history and the plight of the emigre writer. There is also the humorous tale of a disastrous trip to Brazil, advice to students, a homage to Marcus Aurelius and studies of Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy, Horace and others. The second volume of essays following Less Than One, this collection includes Brodsky’s 1987 Nobel Lecture, ‘Uncommon Visage’.

‘His prose has the energy and precision of a master, and, at times, the moral authority of a prophet’

Washington Post

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature