How Long to Read American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring

How Long Does it Take to Read American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring?

It takes the average reader 5 hours and 44 minutes to read American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring by William Giraldi

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

One of the most gifted literary essayists of his generation defends stylistic boldness and intellectual daring in American letters. Over the last decade William Giraldi has established himself as a charismatic and uncompromising literary essayist, “a literature-besotted Midas of prose” (Cynthia Ozick). Now, American Audacity gathers a selection of his most powerful considerations of American writers and themes—a “gorgeous fury of language and sensibility” (Walter Kirn)—including an introductory call to arms for twenty-first-century American literature, and a new appreciation of James Baldwin’s genius for nonfiction. With potent insights into the storied tradition of American letters, and written with a “commitment to the dynamism and dimensions of language,” American Audacity considers giants from the past (Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Harper Lee, Denis Johnson), some of our most well-known living critics and novelists (Harold Bloom, Stanley Fish, Katie Roiphe, Cormac McCarthy, Allan Gurganus, Elizabeth Spencer), as well as those cultural-literary themes that have concerned Giraldi as an American novelist (bestsellers, the “problem” of Catholic fiction, the art of hate mail, and his viral essay on bibliophilia). Demanding that literature be audacious, and urgent in its convictions, American Audacity is itself an act of intellectual daring, a compendium shot through with Giraldi’s “emboldened and emboldening critical voice” (Sven Birkerts). At a time when literature is threatened by ceaseless electronic bombardment, Giraldi argues that literature “must do what literature has always done: facilitate those silent spaces, remain steadfastly itself in its employment of slowness, interiority, grace, and in its marshaling of aesthetic sophistication and complexity.” American Audacity is ultimately an assertion of intelligence and discernment from a maker of “perfectly paced prose” (The New Yorker), a book that reaffirms the pleasure and wisdom of the deepest literary values.

How long is American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring?

American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring by William Giraldi is 336 pages long, and a total of 86,016 words.

This makes it 113% the length of the average book. It also has 105% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 7 hours and 50 minutes to read American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring aloud.

What Reading Level is American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring?

American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring?

American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring by William Giraldi is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

To buy American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring by William Giraldi on Amazon click the button below.