Who are some of ur favorite living essayists or bloggers, on a prose/technical level? I’m interested in potentially improving my craft by reading more high-quality writers of nonfiction, particularly non-rationalist ones.
Not mine but Scott!2011′s, in case it’s also of wider interest:
I’ve gained most from reading Eliezer, Mencius Moldbug, Aleister Crowley, and G.K. Chesterton (links go to writing samples from each I consider particularly good); I’m currently making my way through Chesterton’s collected works pretty much with the sole aim of imprinting his writing style into my brain.
Stepping from the sublime to the ridiculous, I took a lot from reading Dave Barry when I was a child. He has a very observational sense of humor, the sort where instead of going out looking for jokes, he just writes about a topic and it ends up funny. It’s not hard to copy if you’re familiar enough with it.
I think Nicholson Baker is a brilliant contemporary essayist and I would recommend checking out his collection, The Size of Thoughts. Janet Malcolm is almost always worth reading, particularly for the way she layers a journalistically grounded argument with pinpoint observations and prose-poetic flourishes that enhance rather than diminish clarity. Jon Ronson’s essays are so deceptively relaxed and conversationally pitched that it feels like anyone could “write like that,” except, of course, they can’t. The critic James Wood has some great moments, and I would recommend reading his wonderful essay on Keith Moon’s genius. If you want to learn from the greats, consult Orwell, Chesterton, Didion, maybe Christopher Hitchens in small doses.
Who are some of ur favorite living essayists or bloggers, on a prose/technical level? I’m interested in potentially improving my craft by reading more high-quality writers of nonfiction, particularly non-rationalist ones.
Tanner Greer (Scholar’s Stage) and Sam Kriss write really good prose.
Not mine but Scott!2011′s, in case it’s also of wider interest:
I think Nicholson Baker is a brilliant contemporary essayist and I would recommend checking out his collection, The Size of Thoughts. Janet Malcolm is almost always worth reading, particularly for the way she layers a journalistically grounded argument with pinpoint observations and prose-poetic flourishes that enhance rather than diminish clarity. Jon Ronson’s essays are so deceptively relaxed and conversationally pitched that it feels like anyone could “write like that,” except, of course, they can’t. The critic James Wood has some great moments, and I would recommend reading his wonderful essay on Keith Moon’s genius. If you want to learn from the greats, consult Orwell, Chesterton, Didion, maybe Christopher Hitchens in small doses.
I don’t have a prose-favorite and I don’t have a conscious good/bad prose meter while reading things except for the extreme bad end.
You can have my RSS feed [direct download] which mostly contains technical bloggers and analyse if you want.