Jean-François Lyotard once wrote that the essay is postmodern inasmuch as it denies itself the solace of good form.
At the Risk of Sounding is a wide-ranging collection of essays on writers such as Alice Munro, bpNichol and Antonin Artaud; on artists such as Barbara Caruso and Kim Ondaatje; and on fillm directors such as Margarethe von Trotta and Robert Lepage.
The essays are personal, yet not "subjective." Their loyalty to the search for truth and the rigour of the writing have a strength of examination that is fearless, the hallmark of the essay form at its best.
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Lola Lemire Tostevin, poet, novelist and essayist, is presently preparing a biography of the artist, filmmaker, photographer and master gardener, Kim Ondaatje.
