Mortification : Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame
, by Robertson, RobinNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780060750923 | 0060750928
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 3/16/2005
Humiliation is not, of course, unique to writers. However, the world of letters does seem to offer a near-perfect micro-climate for embarrassment and shame. There is something about the conjunction of high-mindedness and low income that is inherently comic; something about the very idea of deeply private thoughts -- carefully worked and honed into art over the years -- being presented to a public audience of dubious strangers, that strays perilously close to tragedy. These seventy contributions prove it is possible to reverse Auden's dictum: that art is born out of humiliation.