Trying and Essaying

The wonderful thing about essays is that, well, they're essays - with roots in the French for 'trying', it's as if they were meant for experimentation: for trying new things out and seeing where they go.

We decided to put together a list of essays - in collections and long-form - which our booksellers think really live up to their name. These are pieces of writing which really are trying something new, playing with form and content, pieces of which you might say 'I have no idea how to describe this but it's brilliant'. Some of them look more like poetry than prose, some of them have a second home in the philosophy section of the shop, or in politics.

Try any one out, and we promise you're in for something entirely new.