My (Lucky) Stars | Willard Spiegelman | Essays

Description

My (Lucky) Stars, Willard Spiegelman

$28.00

ISBN: 978-1-968274-11-5

Fine Softcover; 150+ pages; 6″x9″

Publication Date: October 13, 2026

Summary

A lifelong lover of language and performance, Willard Spiegelman weaves an unconventional memoir by recalling the entertainers who shaped his sensibility. From Gilbert & Sullivan operettas that rescued him from summer camp athletics to Ruth Draper’s mesmerizing solo performances, from Mabel Mercer’s intimate cabaret artistry to Patsy Cline’s honky-tonk heartbreak, Spiegelman celebrates the middlebrow culture that thrived mid-century and endures today. With erudition and wit, he defends “the necessity of the superfluous” — arguing that pleasure, beauty, and entertainment aren’t frivolous distractions but essential sustenance. Part cultural criticism, part personal testament, these essays reveal how we come to know ourselves through what delights us.

Author

Willard Spiegelman is the Hughes Professor of English, Emeritus, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and the former longtime editor-in-chief of the Southwest Review. He is the author of many books on English and American poetry, plus two volumes of personal essays. His most recent work is Nothing Stays Put: The Life and Poetry of Amy Clampitt (Alfred A. Knopf). He is a longtime contributor to the arts and books pages of The Wall Street Journal.

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