A Lifetime Burning in Every Moment - by Alfred Kazin (Paperback)

About the Book

Alfred Kazin, one of our most distinguished critics culls half a century from his journals. Russell Baker describes Kazin's work best: "A lovely book about 20th-century life lived gracefully on the New York literary battleground, and about the universal torments of growing up, of loving too much, and of growing old and wrestling with God".

Book Synopsis

From the journals of one of our most distinguished critics comes an extraordinary panorama of the intellectual, social and political culture of the last half century. Written with the vividness and power of first-rate fiction, it brings to life the great artists and thinkers who shaped the times, including Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud and Hannah Arendt, and shares Kazin's insights on politics, literature, Jewish life after the Holocaust and American society. It is an immensely rich and resonant memoir from an observer whose eloquence can imbue each moment lived with a lifetime of thought and passion.

From the Back Cover

From the journals of one of our most distinguished critics comes an extraordinary panorama of the intellectual, social and political culture of the last half century. Written with the vividness and power of first-rate fiction, it brings to life the great artists and thinkers who shaped the times, including Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud and Hannah Arendt, and shares Kazin's insights on politics, literature, Jewish life after the Holocaust and American society. It is an immensely rich and resonant memoir from an observer whose eloquence can imbue each moment lived with a lifetime of thought and passion.

Review Quotes

"An impassioned, mentally charged, gorgeously written, splendidly astute historical journal by the most comprehending American reader of the last fifty years."--Philip RothA"Whether describing a literary style or a physical appearance, Mr. Kazin can compress life within a turn of phrase."--Edward Rothstein, "New York Times Book Review""Kazin writes to possess in these journal entries...some understanding of the God who could have allowed the Holocaust to happen."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "New York Times"