{"product_id":"abominations-selected-essays-from-a-career-of-courting-selfdestruction-isbn-9780063094291","title":"Abominations: Selected Essays from a Career of Courting Self-Destruction","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“A rare voice, someone who challenges orthodoxies in the way that many journalists and public intellectuals claim to do but don’t. It is bracing to spend time in the company of such a smart, plain-spoken and unpredictable person.”—\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA striking collection of essays from the prize-winning, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eShould We Stay or Should We Go, So Much for That, \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovelist, cultural observer, and social satirist Lionel Shriver is among the sharpest talents of our age. A writer who embraces “under-expressed, unpopular or downright dangerous” points of view, she filets cherished shibboleths and the conformity of thought and attitude that has overtaken us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBringing together thirty-five works curated from her many columns, features, essays, and op-eds for the likes of the \u003cem\u003eSpectator\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eGuardian,\u003c\/em\u003e the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times, Harper’s Magazine,\u003c\/em\u003e the \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal,\u003c\/em\u003e speeches and reviews, and some unpublished pieces, \u003cem\u003eAbominations \u003c\/em\u003ereveals Shriver at her most iconoclastic and personal. Relentlessly skeptical, cutting, and contrarian, this collection showcases Shriver’s piquant opinions on a wide range of topics, including religion, politics, illness, mortality, family and friends, tennis, gender, immigration, consumerism, health care, and taxes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn her characteristically frank manner, Shriver shrewdly skewers the concept of language “crimes,” while chafing at arbitrary limitations on speech and literature that crimp artistic expression and threaten intellectual freedom. Many an essay in \u003cem\u003eAbominations\u003c\/em\u003e reflects sentiments that have “brought hell and damnation down on my head,” as she cheerfully explains, and have threatened her with “cancellation” more than once.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout, Shriver offers insights on her novels and explores the perks and pitfalls of becoming a successful artist. In revisiting old pieces and rejected essays, Shriver updates and expands her thinking. “Enlightened” progressive readers will find plenty to challenge here. But they may find, to their surprise, insights with which they agree.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA timely synthesis of Shriver's expansive work, \u003cem\u003eAbominations\u003c\/em\u003e reveals this provocative, talented writer at her most assured.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Shriver has always been constitutionally inclined toward defiance.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAriel Levy, The New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver is an incisive social satirist with a clear grip on the ironies of our contemporary age.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Shriver is a master of the misanthrope.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver has always seemed to be at least a few steps ahead of the rest of us.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Spirited, incendiary, entertaining, and sure to ruffle some feathers.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A razor-sharp observer of contemporary life who brings an acutely personal viewpoint to global issues in ways that feel both intimate and universal.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Shriver's fans . . . will make room on their shelves for it.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Should be mandatory reading for college freshmen.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBret Stephens, New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Lionel Shriver is oddly unpredictable—and that’s what keeps her interesting. She seems to actively resist satisfying expectations.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver’s roving curiosity, her libertarian inclinations and her trans-Atlantic orientation (she resides mostly in England and lived for more than a decade in Northern Ireland) make her a rare voice, someone who challenges orthodoxies in the way that many journalists and public intellectuals claim to do but don’t. It is bracing to spend time in the company of such a smart, plain-spoken and unpredictable person.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889799033061,"sku":"NP9780063094291","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063094291.jpg?v=1730231927","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/abominations-selected-essays-from-a-career-of-courting-selfdestruction-isbn-9780063094291","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}