NEW BOOK: What Is It Like to be Alive? Fourteen Attempts at an Answer

By Chris Arthur | Eastover Press

In this collection, Arthur looks into life’s mirror and offers an account of what can be seen in ordinary things. Each of the book’s fourteen essays is an exercise in seeing beyond the obvious, and finding hidden depth in the places and things we might otherwise take for granted. Arthur ranges over subjects as various as a patch of lichen growing on a windowsill, memories of a childhood barber’s shop, the inscriptions on park benches, goldcrests (Europe’s smallest bird), different ways of seeing a statue, and the dimensions of a moment.

Whether he’s writing about the plight of nineteenth century Japanese prostitutes, a ferret’s momentary appearance through a letterbox, a girl’s obsession with the Holocaust, or a black and white photograph of a child holding a horse in a snowy field in Sweden, these unorthodox meditations, with striking lyricism, tap into unexpected seams of mystery in our everyday terrain. The book offers a virtuoso demonstration of the potential of the creative essay.

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Chris Arthur is an Irish essayist currently based in Scotland. He’s author of several essay collections, most recently Hidden Cargoes (2022) and Hummingbirds Between the Pages (2018). In addition to his books, Arthur has published in a wide range of journals. His awards include the Akegarasu Haya International Essay Prize and the Sewanee Review’s Monroe K. Spears Essay Prize. His work has appeared in The Best American Essays and is often included in that series’ ‘Notable Essays’ lists. Further information about his writing can be found at www.chrisarthur.org.