The Eye You See With: Selected Nonfiction

(Paperback)

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The definitive collection of nonfictionfrom war reporting to literary criticism to the sharpest political writingfrom the legend of American letters (Vanity Fair)

Robert Stone was a singular American writer, a visionary whose award-winning novelsincluding Dog Soldiers, Outerbridge Reach, and Damascus Gateearned him comparisons to literary lions ranging from Samuel Beckett to Ernest Hemingway to Graham Greene. Stone hadan almost prophetic grasp of the spirit of his age, which he captured with crystalline clarity in each of his novels. Of course, he was also a sharp and brilliant observer of American life, and hisnonfiction writing isrevelatory.

The Eye You See Withthe first and only collection of Robert Stones nonfictionwas carefully selected by award-winning novelist andStone biographer Madison Smartt Bell. Divided into three sections, the collection includes the best of Stones war reporting, his writing on social change, and his reflections on the art of fiction. This is an extraordinary volume that offers upa clear-eyed look at the twentiethcentury and secures Robert Stonesplace as one of the most original figures in all of American letters.

Reviews

One of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 "Essays & Literary Criticism" for Spring 2020"They called [Robert Stone] a prophet in his time. A writer of ideas andcharacter. An American cross of Greene and Conrad, with a dash of ole dead Melville for good measure...A new book of essays collects Stones best and most penetrating political journalism...What unitesThe Eye You See With is Stones staunch, singular vision. Its ironic, sad, hopeful."Matt Gallagher, LitHub, "Robert Stone's Journalism Set New Moral and Artistic High-Water Marks" "Fine pieces...Nonfiction can show [Stone] at his most playful."Joy Williams, Bookforum "Novelist Bellpresents a sterling collection of essays on literature, culture, politics, and war by the late Stone (19372015), best known for his National Book Awardwinning novelDog Soldiers. Spanning the 1970s to the aughts, the essays demonstrates Stones remarkable capacity for capturing an eras ethos while making larger, and still current, points...Throughout, Bell provides useful biographical information, which in combination with the essays provides a vivid portrait of Stones background and guiding philosophy. Fans of Stones novels will especially appreciate the insight, but any reader of narrative nonfiction will find plenty of interest in this fine collection."Publishers Weekly "This first collection of Stone's nonfiction, edited by his biographer, Madison Smartt Bell [...]showcases the same dizzying welter of ideas and passions that defines Stone's landmark fiction...In [Stone's essay] 'What Fiction Is For,'he says that 'art is the only medium we have for removing a moment from the whirl of events and placing it under scrutiny in all its dimensions.'These essays, however, argue persuasively that, for Stone, nonfiction can do the same thing."Booklist "Robert Stone was one of those novelists who try to wrap their arms around America itself...A look back at the writer and his work, especially his earliest novels, turns out to be well timed. In books that deserve to endure, Stone anticipates the present in surprising, unsettling ways...[He was] a novelist who transformed our aspirations and follies into literature."Ernesto Artillo, The Atlantic "In addition to the biography, Child of Light, Bell has skillfully edited The Eye You See With, a broad selection of the novelists articles, essays, and other nonfiction pieces. The subjects Stone wrote about, as in his novels, range from accounts of the ravages of war in Vietnam to richly textured travel pieces set in Havana, Jerusalem, and other hot spots in-between...Stone got it right about the war, of course, and the disastrous effects on a generation of Americans. In both his fiction and nonfiction, he spoke in a uniquely mordant voice, in language that rang true in both high and low registers. Stone looked the heart of darkness in the eye and never flinched...The Eye You See With should drive admirers back to the work that first galvanized Robert Stones readers in the 70s and 80s."Lee Polevoi,Highbrow Magazine

Author Bio

Robert Stone is an Academy Award- and Emmy- nominated producer, director, writer and editor of unique, critically acclaimed feature-documentaries about American history, pop culture, mass media and the environment. His most recent feature documentary, Pandora's Promise, premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2013. Stone's work has been screened and won awards at dozens of international film festivals and he has given talks at dozens of universities throughout the United States, Australia and Europe. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and the Television Academy.