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

Self-Reliance and Other Essays Summary

Self-Reliance and Other Essays

by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1844 117 pages

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 Summary

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

by Harold Bloom 2000 147 pages

Science Fiction

The Outsider Summary

by Colin Wilson 1956 320 pages

The Conspiracy Against the Human Race Summary

The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

by Thomas Ligotti 2011 240 pages

Aging Thoughtfully Summary

Aging Thoughtfully

Conversations about Retirement, Romance, Wrinkles, and Regret

by Martha C. Nussbaum 2017 264 pages

Books v. Cigarettes Summary

Books v. Cigarettes

by George Orwell 1946 126 pages

What to Think About Machines That Think Summary

What to Think About Machines That Think

Today's Leading Thinkers on the Age of Machine Intelligence

by John Brockman 2015 576 pages

Artificial Intelligence

Old Age Summary

A Beginner's Guide

by Michael Kinsley 2016 160 pages

The Old is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born Summary

The Old is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born

From Progressive Neoliberalism to Trump and Beyond

by Nancy Fraser 2019 63 pages

Life in Code Summary

A Personal History of Technology

by Ellen Ullman 2017 320 pages

Thinking In Numbers Summary

Thinking In Numbers

On Life, Love, Meaning, and Math

by Daniel Tammet 2012 288 pages

Letters from Burma Summary

Letters from Burma

by Aung San Suu Kyi 1995 209 pages

More Baths, Less Talking Summary

More Baths, Less Talking

by Nick Hornby 2012 135 pages

Books About Books

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays Summary

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

by Albert Camus 1942 212 pages

I'd Rather Be Reading Summary

I'd Rather Be Reading

The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life

by Anne Bogel 2018 156 pages

Books About Books

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings Summary

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings

by Karl Marx 2005 224 pages

The School of Life Summary

The School of Life

by Alain de Botton 2012 464 pages

Civil Disobedience and Other Essays Summary

Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

by Henry David Thoreau 1866 188 pages

Letters on Cézanne Summary

Letters on Cézanne

by Rainer Maria Rilke 1907 112 pages

It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It Summary

It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It

by Robert Fulghum 1989 218 pages

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls Summary

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls

by T Kira Madden 2019 336 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

How to Reform Capitalism Summary

How to Reform Capitalism

by The School of Life 2019 112 pages

Context Summary

Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting, and Politics in the 21st Century

by Cory Doctorow 2011 238 pages

The Rant Zone Summary

An All-Out Blitz Against Soul-Sucking Jobs, Twisted Child Stars, Holistic Loons, and People Who Eat Their Dogs!

by Dennis Miller 2001 208 pages

Q is for Quantum Summary

Q is for Quantum

by Terry Rudolph 2017 166 pages

The Unsettling of America Summary

The Unsettling of America

Culture and Agriculture

by Wendell Berry 1977 246 pages

And Here's the Kicker Summary

And Here's the Kicker

Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on their Craft and the Industry

by Mike Sacks 2009 337 pages

Welcome to the United States of Anxiety Summary

Welcome to the United States of Anxiety

Observations from a Reforming Neurotic

by Jen Lancaster 2020 288 pages

Find the Good Summary

Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer

by Heather Lende 2015 176 pages

The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings Summary

The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings

by Octavio Paz 1950 398 pages

How to Be a Person in the World Summary

How to Be a Person in the World

Ask Polly's Guide Through the Paradoxes of Modern Life

by Heather Havrilesky 2016 254 pages

Best American Essays 2018 Summary

Best American Essays 2018

by Hilton Als 2018 336 pages

This Is How Summary

Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.

by Augusten Burroughs 2012 230 pages

Small Pleasures Summary

Small Pleasures

by The School of Life 2016 248 pages

Magical Thinking Summary

Magical Thinking

by Augusten Burroughs 2004 304 pages

Breaking Bread with the Dead Summary

Breaking Bread with the Dead

A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind

by Alan Jacobs 2020 192 pages

Books About Books

Don't Worry, It Gets Worse Summary

Don't Worry, It Gets Worse

One Twentysomething's (Mostly Failed) Attempts at Adulthood

by Alida Nugent 2013 208 pages

For the New Intellectual Summary

For the New Intellectual

The Philosophy of Ayn Rand

by Ayn Rand 1961 224 pages

Soccer in Sun and Shadow Summary

Soccer in Sun and Shadow

by Eduardo Galeano 1995 256 pages

Living Beyond Borders Summary

Living Beyond Borders

Stories About Growing Up Mexican in America

by Margarita Longoria 2021 224 pages

Lyrical and Critical Essays Summary

Lyrical and Critical Essays

by Albert Camus 1970 384 pages

Manhood for Amateurs Summary

Manhood for Amateurs

by Michael Chabon 2009 306 pages

Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door

by Robert Fulghum 1991 244 pages

Our Noise Summary

The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small

by Laura Ballance 2009 289 pages

Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays Summary

Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays

by Stephen Hawking 1993 182 pages

Superheroes and Philosophy Summary

Superheroes and Philosophy

Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way

by Tom Morris 2001 300 pages

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. Summary

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

by Samantha Irby 2017 275 pages

Sounds Fake But Okay Summary

Sounds Fake But Okay

by Sarah Costello 2023 160 pages

Eminent Hipsters Summary

Eminent Hipsters

by Donald Fagen 2013 176 pages

Previous 6 7 8 9 Next

SoBrief

Create a free account to unlock:

Requests: Request new book summaries

Bookmarks: Save your favorite books

History: Revisit books later

Recommendations: Personalized for you

Ratings: Rate books & see your ratings

Try Full Access for 7 Days

Listen, bookmark, and more

What's part of Pro?

Compare Features	Free	Pro
📖 Read Summaries All summaries are free to read in 40 languages
🎧 Listen to Summaries Listen to unlimited summaries in 40 languages	—
❤️ Unlimited Bookmarks Free users are limited to 4	—
📜 Unlimited History Free users are limited to 4	—
📥 Unlimited Downloads Free users are limited to 1	—

Risk-Free Timeline

Today: Get Instant Access

Listen to full summaries of 73,530 books. That's 12,000+ hours of audio!

Day 4: Trial Reminder

We'll send you a notification that your trial is ending soon.

Day 7: Your subscription begins

You'll be charged on Jun 27,
cancel anytime before.

Consume 2.8x More Books

Our users love us

"...I can 10x the number of books I can read..."

"...exceptionally accurate, engaging, and beautifully presented..."

"...better than any amazon review when I'm making a book-buying decision..."

Save 62%

Yearly

~~$119.88~~ $44.99/year

$3.75/mo

Monthly

$9.99/mo

Try Free & Unlock

7 days free, then $44.99/year. Cancel anytime.

Scanner

Find a barcode to scan

Settings

General

Widget

Appearance

Loading...