Eros the Bittersweet - (Princeton Classics) by Anne Carson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE

Named one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time by the Modern Library

Anne Carson's remarkable first book about the paradoxical nature of romantic love

Since it was first published, Eros the Bittersweet, Anne Carson's lyrical meditation on love in ancient Greek literature and philosophy, has established itself as a favorite among an unusually broad audience, including classicists, essayists, poets, and general readers. Beginning with the poet Sappho's invention of the word "bittersweet" to describe Eros, Carson's original and beautifully written book is a wide-ranging reflection on the conflicted nature of romantic love, which is both "miserable" and "one of the greatest pleasures we have."

About the Author

Anne Carson was awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. She is a poet, essayist, translator, and classicist, and has won many other awards, including a MacArthur, the PEN/Nabokov Award, the T. S. Eliot Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her books Autobiography of Red and Nox were both finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. She was born in Canada and now lives partly in Iceland.