Eros the Bittersweet

by Anne Carson, Sandra Newman (Introduction)

Overview

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

A book about romantic love, Eros the Bittersweet is Anne Carson's exploration of the concept of "eros" in both classical philosophy and literature. Beginning with, "It was Sappho who first called eros 'bittersweet.' No one who has been in love disputes her," Carson examines her subject from numerous points of view, creating a lyrical meditation in the tradition of William Carlos Williams's Spring and All and William H. Gass's On Being Blue.

Epigrammatic, witty, ironic, and endlessly entertaining, Eros is an utterly original book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628973860
Publisher:	Deep Vellum Publishing
Publication date:	08/09/2022
Series:	Dalkey Archive Essentials
Pages:	190
Sales rank:	223,418
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Anne Carson was born in Canada and teaches ancient Greek for a living. Her awards and honors include the Lannan Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Griffin Trust Award for Excellence in Poetry, a Guggenheim fellowship, and the MacArthur “Genius” Award.

Table of Contents

• FrontMatter, pg. i
• Contents, pg. v
• Bittersweet, pg. 3
• Gone, pg. 10
• Ruse, pg. 12
• Tactics, pg. 18
• The Reach, pg. 26
• Finding the Edge, pg. 30
• Logic at the Edge, pg. 32
• Losing the Edge, pg. 39
• Archilochos at the Edge, pg. 46
• Alphabetic Edge, pg. 53
• What Does the Lover Wantjrom Love?, pg. 62
• Symbolon, pg. 70
• A Novel Sense, pg. 77
• Something Paradoxical, pg. 83
• My Page Makes Love, pg. 86
• Letters, Letters, pg. 91
• Folded Meanings, pg. 98
• Bellerophon Is Quite Wrong After All, pg. 102
• Realist, pg. 108
• Ice-pleasure, pg. 111
• Now Then, pg. 117
• Erotikos Logos, pg. 123
• Damage to the Living, pg. 130
• Midas, pg. 134
• Cicadas, pg. 138
• Gardening for Fun and Profit, pg. 141
• Something Serious Is Missing, pg. 145
• Takeover, pg. 147
• Read Me the Bit Again, pg. 151
• Then Ends Where Now Begins, pg. 154
• What a Difference a Wing Makes, pg. 159
• What Is This Dialogue About, pg. 165
• Mythoplokos, pg. 168
• Bibliography, pg. 175
• Index of Passages Discussed, pg. 183
• General Index, pg. 186

Editorial Reviews

"Anne Carson is a rare talent, brilliant and full of wit, passionate and also deeply moving."—Michael Ondaatje

"What we learn from Eros the Bittersweet while being spun alive by its brilliance is that its author is a philosopher of much cunning and an agile reader, a scholar with a mind as fresh as a spring meadow, no dust anywhere on her."—Guy Davenport

From the Publisher

"Highly recommended."

Choice

"Anne Carson is a rare talent, brilliant and full of wit, passionate and also deeply moving."

Michael Ondaatje