The Essential Writings of Jonathan Swift: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton Critical Editions)

For the more casual reader, Gulliver's Travels and a couple of the shorter work--Tale of a Tub; Modest Proposal--would have sufficed; this present collection is a bit heavy. But it is well put together and annotated, and a great resource for those who want more of this great Swiftian satire.

Swift's poetry gets less attention than his prose, but his poetry is better than that might imply. We know what to expect of Gulliver's Travels or of his bitterly ironic essays such as "A Modest Proposal", but this edition includes much of Swift's poetic works as well, and that makes it of special value.

Classic literature is timeless.

I bought it to reread "A Modest Proposal" (read it in college) and enjoyed reading the rest of the book very much.

Jonathan Swift is best known for having written that great satirical look at humans and their various beliefs, cultures, wars, religions and history: Gulliver's Travels. It's an often scorching look at the way we - a species Swift claimed was not a rational one but only capable of reason - engage the worst elements of our nature whenever our self interest is at stake. Gulliver's Travels is bitterly funny and funnily bitter, with its Lilliputians, giants and intelligent horses who are horrified at the way human beings behave. It is one of the greatest of all satires and a must read for every thinking person. Because of its fairy tale cast of characters, this adult satire has become a revered children's book. However, Gulliver is for everyone, with its multiple layers of meaning providing satisfaction for all ages.Swift's other satires are less universal. Tale of a Tub, The Battle of the Books and the disturbing A Modest Proposal - advocating that the Irish poor eat their children, thus killing two birds with one stone - are decidedly mature works written for adults. Swift's poetry, with its unflinching look at human behavior, is also predominantly written for more mature readers. Swift's savage wit enlivens everything he wrote. This Norton Critical Edition contains all of his significant prose (including the complete Gulliver's Travels) and a healthy selection of his poetry. It is distinguished by two hundred pages of superlative critical analysis and contextual information. The annotation that appears unobtrusively on each page is helpful and the headnotes are quite good at introducing each work. For an excellent introduction to Swift's savage wit and the satirical hammer that he always wields effectively, this Norton Critical Edition is a solid and reasonably comprehensive choice.

This book is an excellent collection of Swift's various writings, including poetry. My only complaintis that the size of type is too small.

a pretty great collection with all his major works, as well as some more obscure stuff (letters, poems). Maybe if you're just looking to read his stuff all casual the kwazy kwantity of notes will give you a hard time, but unless you've read a lot of period stuff with its dense grammar and that you won't have such an easy time anyhow.

Excellent notes

a book of high quality and elegance. I appreciate much and i decide to take it back with me to China.