"In his first book, Agitations: Essays on Life and Literature, Arthur Krystal demonstrated that the literary essay is alive and well. His new book, The Half-Life of an American Essayist, continues to demonstrate that the literary essay in the right hands can itself be a subset of literature. Whether he's examining the evolution of the typewriter, the nature of sin, the cultural implications of physiognomy, the works of Paul Valery and Raymond Chandler, or his own ineffable laziness, Krystal's prose always speaks to the common reader."--Jacket.

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