“Some writers shame and immobilize me with their brilliance, while others, like Twain, de Vries and Spark dwarf my own efforts but inspire me to keep on.
It’s hard to pinpoint what separates the two groups; if pressed I’d say it’s an affinity of perspective — a morbid fixation on the absurdities of human existence — combined with precision, bluntness, and humor.”
Maud Newton praises the essays of E.B. White who, I’ve always been told is the best essayist that most essay writers have never read.