Goose-Quill Papers

A collection of twenty witty, discursive essays from a poet who wrote as if in conversation with the ghosts of English literature. Guiney turns the ordinary into the luminous: an apple becomes a meditation on simplicity, the moon an excuse for reverie, mathematics a meditation on elegance. Her voice is learned without being pedantic, whimsical without being slight. There is satire here, but gentle, the kind that loves its targets. The famous 'On Teaching One's Grandmother how to Suck Eggs' demonstrates her playful command of paradox. These are essays written in a garret, for readers who believe a essay should wander, wonder, and reward attention. They belong to a vanished era of literary leisure, and they preserve it perfectly.