Literary Capital: A Washington Reader [Hardback]

Literary Capital is great in concept and even better in execution. Christopher Sten has skillfully selected an assortment of the classic and the contemporary, the literary and the reportorial, the appreciative and the denunciatory, in writings about life and habits in Washington. In a fair world, this collection might slightly raise the esteem of Washington in the publics eyes. In the real world, it makes for wonderful reading. -- James Fallows * National Correspondent for The Atlantic * It would be hard to find another book that so magnificently pays tribute to the two centuries of Washington cultural life than Literary Capital. -- Washington Independent Review of Books All the readers of Literary Capital will be indebted to Christopher Sten for the fine and moving collection of Washington writing he has gathered here. It is full of familiar and surprising entries that offer a good mix of national and local subjects and points of viewforeign, native, power holding, power seeking, and the disempowered. Literary Capital captures the story that makes Washington so interesting as a place. -- Sarah Luria * author of Capital Speculations: Writing and Building Washington, D.C. * As tempting as it might be to question Washingtons significance as a literary capital, Christopher Sten demonstrates not just the presence over time of a rich and varied set of representations. In many instances, such work discloses much about our national character that can be as troubling as it is revealing. Stens selections will surprise readers in the breadth of the views represented and the challenges they pose to values we hold dear as a nation. -- Howard Gillette * author of Between Justice and Beauty: Race, Planning, and the Failure of Urban Policy in Washington, D.C. * Literary Capital is an indispensable guide to the literature, culture, and history of Washington, D.C. Here, finally, is a book that captures the nations capital in all its glory and tawdriness, revealing why it has long been a magnet for writers, as Christopher Sten writes in his superb introduction. With its brilliant selection of writings, it is one of the very best books on the literature of a city. -- John Stauffer * Chair of the History of American Civilization and Professor of English at Harvard University * Literary Capital is a collection of narratives by residents of and visitors to Washington, DC. In other words, a real grab bag. Reach in and pull out goodies from Dickens, Emerson, and Melville, or put them back and retrieve more recent writings by Gore Vidal, Joan Didion, or Allen Drury. . . . This reader is bound to appeal to history buffs as well as anyone with ties to the city or visitors who might want a souvenir of its literary output. -- Trina Carter * Foreword Reviews * One character [ in Literary Capital] thats all over the place, though, is the city itself. One day, its a southern backwater. Another, its a den of crooked cynics. Its a city of great hope and a place of betrayalsometimes all at once. Who knows: A future edition of the anthology could feature characters grappling with a condo bubble or paranoid literary fantasies about a Tea Party takeover. 'Its fabricated anew by each author,' Sten says. -- Michael Schaffer * Washington CityPaper *