Gossip - by Joseph Epstein (Paperback)

About the Book

A juicy, incisive exploration of gossip in all its forms--from celebrity rumors to literary romans a clef, from personal sniping to political slander--by one our great essayists (David Brooks)

Book Synopsis

Gossip is no trivial matter; despite its reputation, Epstein argues, it is an eternal and necessary human enterprise. Proving that he himself is a master of the art, Epstein serves up delightful mini-biographies of the Great Gossips of the Western World, along with many choice bits from his own experience. He also makes a powerful case that gossip has morphed from its old-fashioned best--clever, mocking, a great private pleasure--to a corrosive new-school version, thanks to the reach of the mass media and the Internet.

Written in his trademark erudite and witty style, Gossip captures the complexity of this immensely entertaining subject.

From the Back Cover

Epstein brings a journalist s appetite for research and an essayist s talent for reflection to themes that traditionally have been left to novelists. Gossip takes its place as the latest entry in his entertaining and idiosyncratic catalog of human nature. New York Times Book Review
"[Epstein has] a literary tone that makes you think of venerable Manhattan editors with mid-Atlantic accents . . . like a good stand-up comedian (or a discoverer), he inspires confidence [in his writing]." Wall Street Journal
Gossip is no trivial matter; despite its reputation, Epstein argues, it is an eternal and necessary human enterprise. Proving that he himself is a master of the art, Epstein serves up delightful mini-biographies of the Great Gossips of the Western World, along with many choice bits from his own experience. He also makes a powerful case that gossip has morphed from its old-fashioned best clever, mocking, a great private pleasure to a corrosive new-school version, thanks to the reach of the mass media and the Internet.
Written in his trademark erudite and witty style, Gossip captures the complexity of this immensely entertaining subject.
An erudite writer, gifted with rare insight and a wry sense of humor. USA Today
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Review Quotes

"While Epstein's ruminations on how we became a nation of gawkers ring painfully true, it is his willingness to analyze delectable tidbits regarding authors, intellectuals and other luminaries that enlivens the narrative... Amusing and serious in equal measures, Epstein grants readers the pleasurable company of a master observer of humanity's foibles."
-Kirkus, starred "Delectable firsthad anecdotes and portraits...add to the pleasures of this serious appraisal. Readers who share Epstein's concern about gossip's power 'to invade privacy, to wreck lives' and his reluctance to wholly condemn it 'because I enjoy it too much' will find him disquieting and delightful."
-Publishers Weekly "[Epstein has] a literary tone that makes you think of venerable Manhattan editors with mid-Atlantic accents...like a good stand-up comedian (or a discoverer), he inspires confidence [in his writing]." -Wall Street Journal --