This Week’s PrePublication Book:
Gossip
by
Joseph
Epstein
A
dishy,
incisive
exploration
of
gossip
—
from
celebrity
rumors
to
literary
romans
à
clef,
personal
sniping
to
political
slander
—
by
one
our
“great
essayists”
(David
Brooks)
To
his
successful
examinations
of
some
of
the
most
powerful
forces
in
modern
life
—
envy,
ambition,
snobbery,
friendship
—
the
keen
observer
and
critic
Joseph
Epstein
now
adds
Gossip.
No
trivial
matter,
despite
its
reputation,
gossip,
he
argues,
is
an
eternal
and
necessary
human
enterprise.
Proving
that
he
himself
is
a
master
of
the
art,
Epstein
serves
up
delightful
mini-biographies
of
the
Great
Gossips
of
the
Western
World
along
with
many
choice
bits
from
his
own
experience.
He
also
makes
a
powerful
case
that
gossip
has
morphed
from
its
old-fashioned
best
—
clever,
mocking,
a
great
private
pleasure
—
to
a
corrosive
new-school
version,
thanks
to
the
reach
of
the
mass
media
and
the
Internet.
Gossip
has
invaded
and
changed
for
the
worse
politics
and
journalism,
causing
unsubstantiated
information
to
be
presented
as
fact.
Contemporary
gossip
claims
to
reveal
truth,
but
as
Epstein
shows,
it’s
our
belief
in
truth
that
gossip
today
threatens
to
undermine
and
destroy.
Written
in
his
trademark
erudite
and
witty
style,
Gossip
captures
the
complexity
of
this
immensely
entertaining
subject.
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