A Ved Mehta Reader: The Craft of the Essay

A splendid, insightful introduction to the craft of the essay from an acknowledged master of the form.In this special collection of Ved Mehta’s outstanding writing, the distinguished master demonstrates a wide range of possibilities available to the narrative and descriptive writers today. Addressing subjects that range from religion to politics and on to education, Mehta writes with eloquence and high style. He meditates on the long history and diverse purposes of the essay form and on the struggle to write in it himself.In the eight reportorial, autobiographical and reflective essays included here – each a self-contained examination of cultural, intellectual, or personal themes – he writes on his experience of becoming an American citizen; on Christian theology, with a focus on Dietrich Bonhoeffer; on Calcutta and the poorest of the Indian poor; and on the disastrous fates of three of Mehta’s brilliant contemporaries. Spanning four decades of writing, this incisive and masterly collection is testament to Ved Mehta’s status as an unsurpassed prose stylist.