This book contains edited essays of Emerson written in the 1800's. They seem to me like the sermons of a minister, which he was. They are often incomprehensible -- maybe 10% inspirational, using words as ministers did at that time. I had to push myself to finish it; however, the later essays were better (more understandable, showed common sense at times).

This is the first book by Emerson that I've read, but hope to read more of his essays later. The book really is inspirational. Emerson is an excellent writer and his words flow together like nothing I've ever read. The essays in this book are pure poetry.... really beautiful. Even if you don't believe in the Transcendalist/Idealist view, you can still read this book and feel like you've gotten something out of it. I would recommend this for anyone who has a liking for beautiful writing.

I cannot pick up this book without feeling encouraged and inspired. The editor has gone through and picked out some of the best passages from Emerson's works, thus saving us the trouble of wading through hundreds of pages of prose for the really good stuff. Everyone needs a copy of this book.

this is one of my favorite Emerson works. It opens itself up to so much, talking about his theories of influence, precursing everything from queer theory and gender transitivity to Harold Bloom, and it is a poem, too. It's beautiful. It offers his thoughts on the most diverse materials, gets into the most detail on his Hindu readings, gets very brave in "Swedenborg." But ... for a 165-page book? Delbanco's intro is boring and useless. Don't even READ it before you read the book. It'll be like watching an educational video on yeast infections before watching a porno. The index is a kind of neat feature; it's cool to see how many men are mentioned how many times. For example, the most obvious 'omission' in the book, JESUS, is mentioned only 5 times in the book, but he lurks throughout in so many ways. I love the book, but think the edition is a huge ripoff. However, it is difficult to find all these essays in one volume without buying a "complete works" or something, and they are ALL good and work together as a complete 'book,' one essay building off the prior in subject and time, going from B.C. to the nineteenth century, from Plato to Napoleon and Goethe.