How Beautiful It Is And How Easily It Can Be Broken

The New York Times–bestselling critic uses his training as a classicist to tackle contemporary films, theater, literature, and more in 30 elegant essays.Whether he''s on Broadway or at the movies, considering a new bestseller or revisiting a literary classic, Daniel Mendelsohn''s judgments over the past fifteen years have provoked and dazzled with their deep erudition, disarming emotionality, and tart wit. Now How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken reveals all at once the enormous stature of Mendelsohn''s achievement and demonstrates why he is considered one of our greatest critics. Writing with a lively intelligence and arresting originality, he brings his distinctive combination of scholarly rigor and conversational ease to bear across eras, cultures, and genres, from Roman games to video games.His interpretations of our most talked-about films—from the work of Pedro Almodóvar to Brokeback Mountain, from United 93 and World Trade Center to 300, Marie Antoinette, and The