“A Caul of Ambiguity”

October 10, 2014

“How could we possibly trust any creature that comes into the world wearing such a caul of ambiguity? That’s “essayists.” Four hundred and four years later, they continue to flourish.” John Jeremiah Sullivan offers a loose history of the essay, essayists, and all their many contradictions in a piece for The New Yorker.

is a staff writer for The Millions. She lives in New York and every so often writes things at kaulielewis.wordpress.com.