The Essays of E.B. White
New York: Harper & Row Publishers. 1977.
E.B. White is well-known for his work at the New Yorker magazine. He was a superior stylist in writing. He was also the author of Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, children's books, and co-author with William Strunk of Elements of Style, a thin reference book on writing that is often quoted by people in the field of writing.
EB White believes that what he finds interesting to write about others will find interesting to read. Some topics in this book of essays:
The seasons
Living in New England in winter
Summer sadness
February
The loss of the autonomous small town to state and federal regulations
Frogs
Trying to write clearly
The Communist and free world and unity and liberty and the need for synthesis of the two
The living room of the future (prescient)
New York City--the tempo
The sea, its sound and meaning
Desultory treadmills of afternoons
The railroad, a lingering pain in the heart and predictor of weather
Walden
Humor--dissect it like a frog but it dies in the process
Mark Twain on humor and dialect
The Elements of Style: "Will Strunk loved the clear, the brief, the bold, and his book is clear, brief and bold."
