A Primer for Forgetting

Getting Past the Past

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, Anthropology
Cover of the book A Primer for Forgetting by Lewis Hyde, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Lewis Hyde ISBN: 9780374710149
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: June 18, 2019
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Language: English
Author: Lewis Hyde
ISBN: 9780374710149
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: June 18, 2019
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Language: English

“One of our true superstars of nonfiction” (David Foster Wallace), Lewis Hyde offers a playful and inspiring defense of forgetfulness by exploring the healing effect it can have on the human psyche.

We live in a culture that prizes memory—how much we can store, the quality of what’s preserved, how we might better document and retain the moments of our life while fighting off the nightmare of losing all that we have experienced. But what if forgetfulness were seen not as something to fear—be it in the form of illness or simple absentmindedness—but rather as a blessing, a balm, a path to peace and rebirth?

A Primer for Forgetting is a remarkable experiment in scholarship, autobiography, and social criticism by the author of the classics The Gift and Trickster Makes This World. It forges a new vision of forgetfulness by assembling fragments of art and writing from the ancient world to the modern, weighing the potential boons forgetfulness might offer the present moment as a creative and political force. It also turns inward, using the author’s own life and memory as a canvas upon which to extol the virtues of a concept too long taken as an evil.

Drawing material from Hesiod to Jorge Luis Borges to Elizabeth Bishop to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from myths and legends to very real and recent traumas both personal and historical, A Primer for Forgetting is a unique and remarkable synthesis that only Lewis Hyde could have produced.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“One of our true superstars of nonfiction” (David Foster Wallace), Lewis Hyde offers a playful and inspiring defense of forgetfulness by exploring the healing effect it can have on the human psyche.

We live in a culture that prizes memory—how much we can store, the quality of what’s preserved, how we might better document and retain the moments of our life while fighting off the nightmare of losing all that we have experienced. But what if forgetfulness were seen not as something to fear—be it in the form of illness or simple absentmindedness—but rather as a blessing, a balm, a path to peace and rebirth?

A Primer for Forgetting is a remarkable experiment in scholarship, autobiography, and social criticism by the author of the classics The Gift and Trickster Makes This World. It forges a new vision of forgetfulness by assembling fragments of art and writing from the ancient world to the modern, weighing the potential boons forgetfulness might offer the present moment as a creative and political force. It also turns inward, using the author’s own life and memory as a canvas upon which to extol the virtues of a concept too long taken as an evil.

Drawing material from Hesiod to Jorge Luis Borges to Elizabeth Bishop to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from myths and legends to very real and recent traumas both personal and historical, A Primer for Forgetting is a unique and remarkable synthesis that only Lewis Hyde could have produced.

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book The Givenness of Things by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book My Life Undecided by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book The Green Book by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Suitable Accommodations by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book The Smile of the Lamb by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Operation Clean Sweep by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book From the Mouth of the Whale by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Stories of Five Decades by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Metamorphica by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Roughhouse Friday by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Madame Squidley and Beanie by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Mathilda Savitch by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book The New Life by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book The Catherine Wheel by Lewis Hyde
Cover of the book Adventures of a Suburban Boy by Lewis Hyde
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy