Mark Edmundson

Mark Edmundson is an American author and professor at the University of Virginia.[1] He received a B.A from Bennington College in 1974 and a Ph.D from Yale University in 1985.[2] Edmundson specializes in Romanticism, Poetry, and 19th-Century English and American Literature.[1] He is the author of sixteen books, and his essays appear in The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The New York Times Magazine. Edmundson was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship[3] and was a National Endowment for the Humanities/Daniels Family Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Virginia.[4]

Major works

Self and Soul: A Defense of Ideals

In Self and Soul: A Defense of Ideals (2015)[5] Edmundson writes, "The profound stories about heroes and saints are passing from our minds."[5] Michael Dirda of The Washington Post describes the book as "an impassioned critique of Western society, a relentless assault on contemporary complacency, shallowness, competitiveness and self-regard."[6] Dirda notes that "Edmundson devotes the first half of 'Self and Soul'[5] to several ancient exemplars of courage, compassion and contemplation, to those who, rejecting a safe and secure passage through life, consecrated themselves to some greater task."[6]

The Heart of the Humanities: Reading, Writing, and Teaching

The Heart of the Humanities: Reading, Writing, and Teaching (2018)[7] is a collection of three earlier books: Why Read? (2004),[8] Why Teach? In Defense of a Real Education (2013)[9] and Why Write: A Master Class on the Art of Writing and Why it Matters (2016).[10] In the Virginia Quarterly Review, Peter Walpole writes that Why Read? "argues passionately for a return, a rediscovery, of the possibilities great literature has to confront, challenge, and change the receptive reader.[11] Edmundson's 1997 article for Harper's Magazine, "On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students," appears in Why Read? and is one of his most controversial pieces.[4] The Washington Post writes that the article "is said to be the most photocopied essay on college campuses over the last five years, presumably because what Edmundson said in it touched a sensitive nerve."[4] Edmundson's 2007 essay, "Poetry Slam,"[12] was also controversial and inspired a response from Ben Lerner, who told The Paris Review that "Poetry Slam" was the reason he wrote his 2016 book, The Hatred of Poetry.[13] Stephen Burt in the Boston Review defended "poets named by Edmundson" in the Harper's Magazine essay.[14] Arthur Krystal defended "Poetry Slam" in his article, "The Missing Music in Today’s Poetry," published in The Chronicle of Higher Education: "I, too, am of Edmundson’s party, but my discontent is more site-specific, tonal rather than dispositive. Simply put: I miss what I used to enjoy."[15] Kirkus Reviews writes that Why Teach?[9] is an examination of "the slow transformation of universities and colleges from being driven by intellectual and cultural betterment to institutions modeled on business, with a complex, and not always successful, emphasis on attracting students and making a profit."[16] Michael S. Roth of The New York Times writes, "If I meet any students heading to the University of Virginia, I will tell them to seek out Mark Edmundson, an English professor and the author of a new collection of essays called 'Why Teach?' For Mr. Edmundson, teaching is a calling, an urgent endeavor in which the lives — he says the souls — of students are at stake."[17]

Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference and The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock and Roll

Edmundson's memoirs, Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference (2002),[18] and The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock and Roll (2010),[2] chronicle his early education at Medford High School (Massachusetts) and Bennington College. Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and describes how "Edmundson's high school philosophy teacher, Franklin Lears, transformed Edmundson in one semester from a teenage thug into the sort of man who could grow up to be an English professor at the University of Virginia."[19] Kirkus Reviews calls The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock and Roll a "near-perfect memoir,"[20] an "erudite, coming-of-age riot,"[20] in which Edmundson describes working as a taxi driver, stage-crew, and a bouncer in New York City. In The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock and Roll, "the author revels in his renaissance-manliness—'how many other bouncers stand at the door of the discotheque and memorize Browning poems?'—and proves to be an honest, poetic and hilariously entertaining narrator."[20]

Books

• The Age of Guilt: The Super-Ego in the Online World. Yale University Press, 2023.[21]
• Song of Ourselves: Walt Whitman and the Fight for Democracy. Harvard University Press, 2021.[22]
• The Heart of the Humanities: Reading, Writing, Teaching. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.[7]
• Why Write? Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.[10]
• Self and Soul: A Defense of Ideals. Harvard University Press, 2015.[5]
• Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game. Penguin Press, 2014[23]
• Why Teach? Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013.[9]
• The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock and Roll. HarperCollins, 2010.[2]
• The Death of Sigmund Freud. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2008.[24]
• The Death of Sigmund Freud. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007. Translations: French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Hebrew, Korean, Turkish, Portuguese (Brazil), Greek.[24]
• Why Read? Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004.[8]
• Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference. Random House, 2002.[18]
• Nightmare on Main Street. Harvard University Press, 1997.[25]
• Literature Against Philosophy, Plato to Derrida. Cambridge University Press, 1995.[26]
• Wild Orchids and Trotsky (Editor). Penguin, 1993.[27]
• Towards Reading Freud. Princeton University Press, 1990.[28]

References

1. "Department of English". english.as.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
2. Edmundson, Mark (2010). The fine wisdom and perfect teachings of the kings of rock and roll : a memoir (1st ed.). New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-171347-7. OCLC 456180257.
3. "Mark Edmundson". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
4. Yardley, Jonathan (2004-08-29). "Seven years ago Mark Edmundson ..." Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
5. Edmundson, Mark (2018). Self and soul : a defense of ideals (First Harvard University Press paperback ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 978-0-674-98400-4. OCLC 1048459428.
6. Dirda, Michael (2015-11-25). "'Self and Soul': Mark Edmundson's biting critique of modern complacency". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
7. Edmundson, Mark (2018). The heart of the humanities : reading, writing, teaching. New York. ISBN 978-1-63286-308-9. OCLC 986951060.
8. Edmundson, Mark (2004). Why read? (1st U.S. ed.). New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1-58234-425-6. OCLC 54374615.
9. Edmundson, Mark (2013). Why teach? : in defense of a real education (First ed.). New York. ISBN 978-1-62040-107-1. OCLC 827852440.
10. Edmundson, Mark (2016). Why write? : a master class on the art of writing and why it matters. New York, NY. ISBN 978-1-63286-305-8. OCLC 944956248.
11. Walpole, Peter (Summer 2005). "Why Read?". The Virginia Quarterly Review. 81 (3): 258–259. ProQuest 205376577.
12. Edmundson, Mark (2013-07-01). "Poetry Slam: Trumpism and the American philosophical tradition". Harper's Magazine. Vol. July 2013. ISSN 0017-789X. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
13. Clune, Michael (2016-06-30). "The Hatred of Poetry: An Interview with Ben Lerner". The Paris Review. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
14. Williams, John (2013-07-12). "Orson's Archives". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
15. "The Missing Music in Today's Poetry". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
16. WHY TEACH? | Kirkus Reviews.
17. Roth, Michael S. (2013-08-20). "How Four Years Can (and Should) Transform You". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
18. Edmundson, Mark (2003). Teacher : the one who made the difference (First Vintage Books ed.). New York. ISBN 0-375-70854-5. OCLC 53032316.
19. "Review: Teacher". mtprof.msun.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
20. THE FINE WISDOM AND PERFECT TEACHINGS OF THE… | Kirkus Reviews.
21. Edmundson, Mark (25 April 2023). The Age of Guilt: The Super-Ego in the Online World (1st ed.). USA: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300265811.
22. Edmundson, Mark (2021). Song of ourselves : Walt Whitman and the fight for democracy. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 978-0-674-25898-3. OCLC 1240460282.
23. Edmundson, Mark (2014). Why football matters : my education in the game. 3M Company. [Place of publication not identified]: Penguin Group US. ISBN 978-1-101-63572-8. OCLC 891695868.
24. Edmundson, Mark (2007). The death of Sigmund Freud : fascism, psychoanalysis and the rise of fundamentalism. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-9298-3. OCLC 277155015.
25. Edmundson, Mark (1999). Nightmare on Main Street : angels, sadomasochism, and the culture of Gothic. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-62463-7. OCLC 47192085.
26. Edmundson, Mark (1995). Literature against philosophy, Plato to Derrida : a defence of poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41093-2. OCLC 30979250.
27. Wild orchids and Trotsky : messages from American universities. Mark Edmundson. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin Books. 1993. ISBN 0-14-017078-2. OCLC 26352645.
28. Cohen, Youssef (1994). Radicals, reformers, and reactionaries : the prisoner's dilemma and the collapse of democracy in Latin America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-11271-3. OCLC 29386545.