Nobody's Looking at You: Essays - Hardcover

"Seeing things differently is the essence of what sets Malcolm apart. Few writers pay attention with the precision, acuity and patience she has exhibited during her career . . . Taking no particular issue with the work of her colleagues, I wish nonetheless to say that Malcolm, line to line, is a more revealing writer, one whose presence in her pieces isn’t meant to advertise the self so much as complicate the subject. And also, line to line, she is a better writer . . . We are fortunate to have Malcolm’s kind of authority, one founded as much on her failures as on her successes at seeing." --Wyatt Mason, The New York Times Book Review

"There are few writers who command the respect of their fellows more than Janet Malcolm . . . Malcolm is always worth reading; it can be instructive to see how much satisfying craft she brings to even the most trivial article . . . a collection that veers between tenderness and asperity." --Phillip Lopate, The TLS

"Malcolm is a master of nonfiction . . . In their range and verve, [the essays] confirm Malcolm’s ability as a literary journalist to connect her work to the cultural moment." --Joumana Khatib, The New York Times

"The latest collection of essays from the provocative grande dame of US journalism is spiky and prescient, predictable only in its near-constant ability to surprise: no matter how transparently Malcolm renders her nimble thought processes, each piece winds up somewhere unexpected." --Hephzibah Anderson, The Guardian

"Nobody's Looking At You is brimful of all the eloquence, erudition and insight a thoughtful reader could want." --Etelka Lechozky, NPR.org

"Malcolm is rarely less than a fierce presence on the page, a relentless interrogator (or is it prosecutor?) of the people and subjects she writes about so well . . . Reading Janet Malcolm is always a pleasure and a challenge. She’ll make you think twice about people and things you thought you were sure about . . . Few writers are as good at making us linger, while at the same time cautioning us about the inherent limitations and deceptions of storytelling." --Paul Baumann, Commonweal

"The same qualities that make [Janet Malcolm] such a fearsome interlocutor also lend her essays an uncommon clarity . . . her calm, brilliant essays are the perfect tonic for our troubled times." --Ann Levin, Associated Press

"Malcolm is the undisputed queen of description." --Lucy Scholes, TLS

"Marvelous . . . [Malcolm's] curiosity is boundless, her insights clear and original, but what really elevates her is that while she is present on the page, she resists intrusion or self-reference, keeping her keen gaze ever forward-looking." --The National Book Review (Five Hot Books)

"Reading Janet Malcolm is always a pleasure and a challenge. She'll make you think twice about people and things you thought you were sure about . . . Few writers are as good at making us linger, while at the same time cautioning us about the inherent limitations and deceptions of storytelling." --Paul Baumann, Commonweal

"Every word of Janet Malcolm’s latest nonfiction collection, Nobody’s Looking at You, is a pleasure to read, even if you have no built-in interest in her topics." --Chris Hewitt, The Minneapolis StarTribune

"[Malcolm's] profiles of noted personalities are peerless when it comes to unraveling what makes people tick. She’ll deliver the factual goods with brisk efficiency, while happily leaving mysteries in place." --Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times

"Stylish, erudite essays by a doyenne of literary nonfiction." --O, the Oprah Magazine

"Malcolm is a witty maestro of nonfiction, a wizard at using simple sentences to convey sharp and complex observations, and a doyenne at surprising us with stories that stretch beyond boundaries of the containers that hold them." –Kerri Arsenault, Lit Hub

"Outstanding . . . varied and witty . . . With no weak selections and several strikingly prescient ones, this collection shows its author as a master of narrative nonfiction." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A master of the craft offers up sprightly and fervent essays . . . Intelligent, savvy, and stylish literary journalism." --Kirkus