Essays

Great minds share their sharpest observations and most compelling arguments through the intimate art of the essay, exploring everything from creativity and culture to philosophy and the peculiarities of modern life. Whether wrestling with life's biggest questions or finding profound meaning in everyday moments, these carefully crafted pieces invite readers to see the world through fresh eyes.

Essays Book Summaries

Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps Summary

Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps

Crafting a Winning Personal Statement

by Alan Gelb 2013 224 pages

12 Bytes Summary

How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next

by Jeanette Winterson 2021 324 pages

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings Summary

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings

by Thomas Paine 1776 416 pages

Novelist as a Vocation Summary

Novelist as a Vocation

by Haruki Murakami 2015 224 pages

The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone Summary

The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone

Reflections on India, the Emerging 21st-Century Power

by Shashi Tharoor 2007 512 pages

The Accidental Universe Summary

The Accidental Universe

The World You Thought You Knew

by Alan Lightman 2013 157 pages

Inciting Joy Summary

by Ross Gay 2022 256 pages

Draft No. 4 Summary

On the Writing Process

by John McPhee 2013 208 pages

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter Summary

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter

by Scaachi Koul 2017 241 pages

Trust Kids! Summary

Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy

by carla joy bergman 2022 240 pages

Traveling Mercies Summary

Traveling Mercies

Some Thoughts on Faith

by Anne Lamott 1999 275 pages

We're Going to Need More Wine Summary

We're Going to Need More Wine

by Gabrielle Union 2017 272 pages

Dear Dolly Summary

by Dolly Alderton 2022 224 pages

Grace (Eventually) Summary

Grace (Eventually)

Thoughts on Faith

by Anne Lamott 2007 255 pages

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work Summary

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

by Alain de Botton 2008 336 pages

Living Beyond Borders Summary

Living Beyond Borders

Stories About Growing Up Mexican in America

by Margarita Longoria 2021 224 pages

Big Questions from Little People Summary

Big Questions from Little People

And Simple Answers from Great Minds

by Gemma Elwin Harris 2012 336 pages

Walking in Wonder Summary

Walking in Wonder

Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World

by John O'Donohue 2018 193 pages

Very Good Lives Summary

Very Good Lives

The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination

by J.K. Rowling 2015 74 pages

Called to Community Summary

Called to Community

The Life Jesus Wants for His People

by Eberhard Arnold 2016 378 pages

Power, Politics and Culture Summary

Power, Politics and Culture

Interviews With Edward W. Said

by Edward W. Said 2001 512 pages

The Mind’s I Summary

Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul

by Douglas R. Hofstadter 1981 512 pages

These Precious Days Summary

These Precious Days

by Ann Patchett 2021 320 pages

Fallen Leaves Summary

Last Words on Life, Love, War, and God

by Will Durant 2014 208 pages

The Undocumented Americans Summary

The Undocumented Americans

by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio 2020 208 pages

Walden & Civil Disobedience Summary

Walden & Civil Disobedience

by Henry David Thoreau 1849 320 pages

Strangers to Ourselves Summary

Strangers to Ourselves

Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us

by Rachel Aviv 2022 288 pages

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again Summary

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Essays and Arguments

by David Foster Wallace 1996 353 pages

Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects Summary

Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects

by Bertrand Russell 1957 266 pages

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 Summary

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

by Harold Bloom 2000 147 pages

Science Fiction

I'm a Stranger Here Myself Summary

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away

by Bill Bryson 1998 304 pages

How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read Summary

How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read

by Pierre Bayard 2007 185 pages

Books About Books

So Sad Today Summary

Personal Essays

by Melissa Broder 2016 206 pages

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference Summary

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference

by Greta Thunberg 2019 112 pages

Sick in the Head Summary

Sick in the Head

Conversations About Life and Comedy

by Judd Apatow 2015 489 pages

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays Summary

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

by Albert Camus 1942 212 pages

The Fire Next Time Summary

The Fire Next Time

by James Baldwin 1963 106 pages

Free and Equal Summary

A Manifesto for a Just Society

by Daniel Chandler 2024 432 pages

Men Explain Things to Me Summary

Men Explain Things to Me

by Rebecca Solnit 2014 130 pages

Personality, Character, and Intelligence Summary

Personality, Character, and Intelligence

Part Three from What the Dog Saw

by Malcolm Gladwell 2009 100 pages

Our Culture, What's Left of It Summary

Our Culture, What's Left of It

The Mandarins and the Masses

by Theodore Dalrymple 2005 356 pages

Freedom is a Constant Struggle Summary

Freedom is a Constant Struggle

Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement

by Angela Y. Davis 2015 158 pages

Obsessives, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius Summary

Obsessives, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius

Part One from What the Dog Saw

by Malcolm Gladwell 2009 130 pages

“You Just Need to Lose Weight” Summary

“You Just Need to Lose Weight”

And 19 Other Myths About Fat People

by Aubrey Gordon 2023 205 pages

Steering the Craft Summary

Steering the Craft

Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew

by Ursula K. Le Guin 1998 173 pages

The Faraway Nearby Summary

The Faraway Nearby

by Rebecca Solnit 2013 259 pages

The Conquest of Happiness Summary

The Conquest of Happiness

by Bertrand Russell 1930 183 pages

Preface to Shakespeare Summary

Preface to Shakespeare

by Samuel Johnson 1778 68 pages

Literary Criticism

On Kindness Summary

by Adam Phillips 2009 128 pages

Everything in Its Place Summary

Everything in Its Place

First Loves and Last Tales

by Oliver Sacks 2019 288 pages

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