Tracing the Essay

The essay, as a notably hard form of writing to pin down, has inspired some unflattering descriptions: It is a ""greased pig,"" for example, or a ""pair of baggy pants into which nearly anything and everything can fit."" In Tracing the Essay, G. Douglas Atkins embraces the very qualities that have moved others to accord the essay second-class citizenship in the world of letters.

Drawing from the wo...