In Defense of the Essay
Christopher Orlet,
ButterfliesandWheels.com,
Oct 07, 2003
Given that I write essays almost exclusively, it feels odd to read this item about the genre as being second-rate, under-valued, and dismissed. Though I have dabbled with fiction, it is the essay that has always attracted me (these days it is the 100 word essay, but I digress). My first excursion into Montaigne was an opening of the eyes, a realization that my art did, indeed, have a home. I have no real desire to write anything else (save, perhaps, Haiku error messages). If you have ever felt the energy of a thought half-expressed, free flight on the wings of a turn of the phrase, you will know that the personal essay needs no defense, wants no defense.
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