Ebook: Mudrick Transcribed: Classes and Talks

Mudrick Transcribed: Classes and Talks exists only because of the diligence and ingenuity of a student, Lance Kaplan, who recorded some of Marvin Mudrick’s classes on cassette tapes. After Mudrick’s untimely death in 1986, Kaplan began to transcribe and edit the recordings. “Transcribe” and “edit” are, however, inadequate words to describe the creation of this extraordinary book, which is a kind of miracle of attention. It is entertaining, freakishly smart, and full of love—a love of life, books, music, and people. The transcriptions include a class on eighteenth-century English prose, a class on the writing of narrative prose, two interviews about the College of Creative Studies, and talks on literary criticism, artistic response, genius, and the craft of teaching. The only volume that has never been commercially published, this may well be the gem of the Berkshire Classics Mudrick collection.