Annie Dillard Summary

Dillard, Annie (1945—) One of the best-known writers of the twentieth century and winner of the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, Annie Dillard developed a following unique among writ... Read more

Annie Dillard has carved a unique niche for herself in the world of American letters. Over the course of her career, Dillard has written essays, a memoir, poetry, literary criticism, and even a wester... Read more

Annie Dillard, a contemporary nature writer of major significance, combines the study of nature with readings in theology, philosophy, and the sciences. Dillard writes primarily narrative nonfiction e... Read more

In the essay below, Reimer argues that Dillard employs a dual dialectic in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, first between nature and religion, then between beauty and horror. When Pilgrim at Tinker Creek appe... Read more

In the following essay, McClintock considers Dillard's work in comparison to the genre of American environmental writing, arguing that her work is uniquely Christian in perspective. "Son... Read more

In the following essay, McConahay compares Henry David Thoreau's Walden to Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, noting that both writers focus on self in their efforts to explain the unive... Read more

In the essay below, Tietjen argues that Dillard focuses too much on individual experience in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and misleads the reader. She stared as if she were about to tell me that she dreame... Read more

In the following essay, Bischoff compares Dillard's American Childhood with Maxine Hong Kingston's autobiography The Woman Warrior, noting that despite different backgrounds the two auth... Read more

In the following review of The Living, Keneally praises Dillard's style and tone. Annie Dillard, a poet and essayist whose nonfiction work has won the Pulitzer Prize, has moved to fiction now w... Read more

John James Audubon and Annie Dillard both describe the flights of the flocks of birds the see, incorporating their feelings about the experience into their observations. Audubon approaches his flock's... Read more