We Need Silence To Find Out What We Think: Selected Essays

Multinational citizen Hazzard won the National Book Award in 2003 for her novel, The Great Fire, and is best known for her fiction. These lesser-known essays were penned between the early 1960s and into the 2000s and span topics from writing philosophy to politics. Also included are a number of book reviews and a few speeches. The substance of many of these pieces, such as that of Hazzard's political opinions regarding the uselessness of the UN is fairly interesting. However, the prose, particularly that on her writing philosophy, is quite dry and distractingly laden with quotes from other authors (there are 19 in the titular essay, which takes up a mere eight pages). Additionally, while a handful of Hazzard's political points may be salient, overall, the essays add little new information to the global discussion. Another small note (though this collection is not the only offender); it is vexing when the date and circumstances of an essay are not printed on its title page. For example, the lengthy essay "The Lonely Word" was part of a seminar presentation at a university in 1982, valuable information that can make a difference in understanding the content. The dates and circumstances are located in the notes in the back of the book.