Book Self: The Reader as Writer and the Writer as Critic

Author(s): C K Stead

NZ Non-Fiction

For more than 40 years, Karl Stead has been New Zealand's leading literary and cultural critic. Whether writing about Christianity or a trip to Croatia, he always brings a clear personal point of view, a strong analytical bent, and a witty pen to his work. In this latest collection of critical writing, a sequel to his successful books Kin of Place, Answering to the Language and The Writer at Work, Stead takes the reader on a personal journey, from his earliest discovery of poetry as a young man to his experiences on the literary trail over the last few years. And he takes us on a trip through literary history, from Katherine Mansfield and T S Eliot to Michael King and Elizabeth Knox. For the first time, Stead includes in this book a series of journal extracts that allow readers closer to the mind of the writer. "Here the ego is exposed-not quite naked, but now and then with its shirt off," he writes. In Book Self we see a great New Zealand critic at work - a writer with strong personal v iews about other writers and a deep commitment to the role of role of criticism in literary life. First published March 2008.


Product Information

"It is the story of 'love it or hate it' . . . a remarkably interesting New Zealand mind." --"New Zealand Listener"

General Fields

  • : 9781869404123
  • : Auckland University Press
  • : Auckland University Press
  • : March 2008
  • : New Zealand
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : C K Stead
  • : Paperback
  • : 820.9
  • : 329