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    The Thing Itself

    On the Search for Authenticity

    Author Richard Todd
    Ebook
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Riverhead Books
    On sale Aug 14, 2008 | 272 Pages | 9781440638381
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    The celebrated literary memoir and chronicle of one man's search for the elusive gift of authenticity.

    Troubled by the lack of substance in contemporary life, Richard Todd suspects that much of what we experience is false. In this unique pursuit of the "genuine," Todd examines his search for authenticity in places and objects, in politics and ideas, and in ourselves, and recounts his efforts to understand the desire to be a real person in a real world.
    Richard Todd has spent many years as a magazine and book editor at The Atlantic, New England Monthly, and Houghton Mifflin. His essays and cultural reportage have appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New York Times, Worth, and numerous other magazines. A member of the MFA faculty at Goucher College, he lives in Western Massachusetts. View titles by Richard Todd
    "There is a sweet memoir embedded in this book of cultural criticism, into which Mr. Todd has deftly wrangled the whole gang, from Jean Baudrillard to Lionel Trilling."
    -The New York Times

    "An arch and eloquent meditation."
    -O, the Oprah magazine

    "Dazzling, beautifully crafted...A small masterpiece- and 'small' only because of its brevity, not its scope."
    -Chicago Tribune

    "Provocative and oddly comforting...Refreshing."
    -The Arizona Republic

    "A fully realized, brave, and movingly honest memoir...[Todd] makes a figure in which to contemplate ourselves."
    -Ploughshares

    "A splendid book, brimming with wit and original insights...Most pertinent to the way we live now."
    -Ward Just, author of Forgetfulness

    About

    The celebrated literary memoir and chronicle of one man's search for the elusive gift of authenticity.

    Troubled by the lack of substance in contemporary life, Richard Todd suspects that much of what we experience is false. In this unique pursuit of the "genuine," Todd examines his search for authenticity in places and objects, in politics and ideas, and in ourselves, and recounts his efforts to understand the desire to be a real person in a real world.

    Author

    Richard Todd has spent many years as a magazine and book editor at The Atlantic, New England Monthly, and Houghton Mifflin. His essays and cultural reportage have appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New York Times, Worth, and numerous other magazines. A member of the MFA faculty at Goucher College, he lives in Western Massachusetts. View titles by Richard Todd

    Praise

    "There is a sweet memoir embedded in this book of cultural criticism, into which Mr. Todd has deftly wrangled the whole gang, from Jean Baudrillard to Lionel Trilling."
    -The New York Times

    "An arch and eloquent meditation."
    -O, the Oprah magazine

    "Dazzling, beautifully crafted...A small masterpiece- and 'small' only because of its brevity, not its scope."
    -Chicago Tribune

    "Provocative and oddly comforting...Refreshing."
    -The Arizona Republic

    "A fully realized, brave, and movingly honest memoir...[Todd] makes a figure in which to contemplate ourselves."
    -Ploughshares

    "A splendid book, brimming with wit and original insights...Most pertinent to the way we live now."
    -Ward Just, author of Forgetfulness

    Additional formats

    Other Books by this Author

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