LEWIS HYDE is a poet, essayist, translator, and cultural critic
with a particular interest in the public life of the imagination.
In addition to The Gift, he is the author of Trickster Makes This
World; Common as Air; A Primer on Forgetting; and a book of poems,
This Error is the Sign of Love. He has also published two volumes
of translations of Nobel laureate Vicente Aleixandre’s poetry and
is the editor of On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg and The Essays of
Henry D. Thoreau. A MacArthur Fellow and former director of
creative writing at Harvard University, Hyde was the Richard L.
Thomas Professor in Creative Writing at Kenyon College until his
retirement in 2018. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his
wife, the writer Patricia Vigderman.
“A classic.... If you want to write, paint, sing, compose, act, or
make films, read The Gift.” —from the Introduction by Margaret
Atwood
“Brilliant.... If you care about art buy this book and let it give
itself to you.” —The Boston Globe
“Fascinating and compelling.... Seems to light up everything it
touches, including the reader’s mind.” —The New Republic
“Inspiring.... Reckons with the act of creation.... Suggests how to
keep art sacred.” —The New York Times Book Review
“In a climate where we know the price of everything and the value
of nothing, Lewis Hyde offers us an account of those few, essential
aspects of human experience that transcend commodity.... A
manifesto of sorts for anyone who makes art, cares for it and
understands that our most precious possessions are not for sale.”
—Zadie Smith
“No one who is invested in any kind of art can read The Gift and
remain unchanged.” —David Foster Wallace
“Few books are such life-changers as The Gift: epiphany, in
sculpted prose.” —Jonathan Lethem
“Brave and startling.... Lewis Hyde is one of the finest essayists
of his generation.” —Robert Bly
“Absolutely interesting and original.... An exciting book for
anyone interested in the place of creativity in our culture.”
—Annie Dillard
“This long-awaited new edition of Lewis Hyde's groundbreaking and
influential study of creativity is a cause for across-the-board
celebration.” —Geoff Dyer
“Exhilarating.... Explores its subject in a thoroughly original
manner.” —Los Angeles Times
“Intriguing.... An original and provocative critique of capitalist
culture.” —The Nation
“The Gift is fascinating on the power of art to take us beyond
ourselves.... I would share The Gift not only with anyone grappling
with the question of how to balance a creative passion with making
a living, anyone interested in life and literature, but also with
‘all thinking humans’ (Lewis’s original intended audience).” —Anita
Sethi, The Guardian
“Wise [and] charming.... A glimpse from the realm of necessity into
the realm of freedom, it is, like the best gifts, good beyond
expectation.” —The Village Voice
“A source of inspiration and affirmation in my artistic practice
for over twenty years. It is the best book I have read on what it
means to be an artist in today’s economic world. It has shown me
why we still use the word gift to describe artistic talent, and
that self lessness, not self-expression, lies at the root of all
creative acts.” —Bill Viola
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