In this fiercely original and audacious work, George Steiner tells of seven book
s which he did not write. Because intimacies and indiscretions were too threaten
ing. Because the topic brought too much pain.
Because its emotional or intell
ectual challenge proved beyond his capacities. The actual themes range widely an
d defy conventional taboos: the torment of the gifted when they live among, when
they confront, the very great; the experience of sex in different languages; a
love for animals greater than for human beings; the costly privilege of exile; a
theology of emptiness. Yet a unifying perception underlies this diversity.
T
he best we have or can produce is only the tip of the iceberg. Behind every good
book, as in a lit shadow, lies the book which remained unwritten, the one that
would have failed better.
