18 h 27 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 18 h 27 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a nation's writers turn books, nature, and everyday manners into questions worth pausing over?
In The Oxford Book of American Essays, Brander Matthews gathers short prose from across the young nation's first century and more. These American writers explore books, nature, social habits, and the public good. Each piece offers a different voice, inviting you to follow a thought rather than a single plot.
The mood shifts from earnest reflection to playful observation. A walk through the countryside sits within the collection's broad world of ideas, alongside the joys of reading and questions of conduct. Matthews, a writer, critic, and literature professor, brings these separate pieces together as a tradition worth exploring, one essay at a time.
What you’ll discover
- Thinking made visible Follow writers as they try out ideas, and ask where your own thoughts lead.
- A gathering of voices Meet American writers of different times and temperaments, each with a voice of their own.
- From sober to playful Enjoy the change of mood between moral reflection and witty sketches of social habits.
- Books, nature, and manners Explore familiar pleasures and everyday conduct through short pieces that invite a closer look.
- Room to pause Read one essay slowly, then consider its claims and whether you agree.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy wit, nature walks, talk of books and theater, and lively arguments about America will find plenty here. It suits anyone who wants to sample Franklin, Emerson, Thoreau and Poe, a few pages at a time.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Franklin teaches wisdom through tiny comic fables
- Franklin's gout lectures him on idle living
- A shoemaker's trip shows marriage's comic troubles
- John Bull shows how a nation sees itself
- Books fade but true poets endure
- Dana praises acting that feels like nature
- Emerson finds meaning in gifts and great men
- Hawthorne's spring and Poe's method differ
- Thoreau asks you to walk toward the wild
- Later essays ask what American writing should be
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Il libro Oxford dei saggi americani
by Brander Matthews (a cura di)
A boy pays all his coppers for a whistle, and Franklin spends a lifetime learning from it.
Challenging10–20 hours to readItaliano
Learn a language with challenging classicsSpagnoloFranceseTedescoItalianoGiapponesePortogheseIngleseHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What would a fly that lives for one day say about fame? Benjamin Franklin imagines exactly that in a short fable, and it opens this collection.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Franklin teaches wisdom through tiny comic fables
Franklin opens the collection with two short pieces written to his friend Madame Brillon in Paris. In The Ephemera, flies live and die within a single day, yet they argue over foreign musicians as if they had a month to spare. One old gray fly counts his long life of four hundred and twenty minutes and wonders what his labor and philosophy are worth, since his world will end in the eighteenth hour. He admits that fame means little to a creature who will no longer exist to enjoy it.
In The Whistle, Franklin recalls himself at seven. He spends all his holiday coppers on a toy whistle and whistles through the house until his family tells him he paid four times its worth. They laugh so hard that he cries, and the shame stings more than the whistle pleased him.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 12 h 0 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Matthews, Brander. The Oxford Book of American Essays. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-american-essays.
Matthews, B. (2026). The Oxford book of American essays. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-american-essays
Matthews, Brander. The Oxford Book of American Essays. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-american-essays.
@book{matthews2026oxford,
author = {Matthews, Brander},
title = {The Oxford Book of American Essays},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-american-essays}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Il libro Oxford dei saggi americani
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Oxford Book of American Essays about?
It is a collection of American essays chosen by Brander Matthews. The pieces range from Franklin's comic fables and Emerson's thoughts on gifts to Thoreau's Walking, Poe on writing The Raven, and later essays about American life and letters.
Who are the writers in The Oxford Book of American Essays?
The selection includes Benjamin Franklin, Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Oliver Wendell Holmes, W. D. Howells, Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt and others.
What is the Whistle in Franklin's essay?
The whistle is a toy that young Franklin overpays for. It stands for any goal, such as fame, wealth or pleasure, that costs more than it is worth. His rule is to ask what a thing truly costs.
The author
Brander Matthews
1852–1929 · American literary critic and professor
Brander Matthews was an American critic, essayist, and story writer — the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at an American university and a fixture of New York literary life; Tales of Fantasy and Fact shows his lighter, inventive side.
More by Brander Matthews (a cura di)
Vedi tutti i suoi libriMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
