"The Word and Beyond is a sampling of the essays of four very different modern (or 'post-modern,' if you can stand that chewed-overword) writers. It will be seen that the essay form has suffered from a very benign neglect -- neglect which has allowed it to thrive without the corruption of excessive popularization; not one of the texts in this volume shows the ear-marks of having been written for journalistic purposes. It is, in the best sense, literature for its own sake. But the thinking of the four writers does not confine itself to purely literary matters...It extends to the other arts and to culture in general." -- publisher's statement. from endflap of book.