Five notable books from the 1980s

Wayne Koestenbaum’s 2013 book, My 1980s and Other Essays, explores, among other things, the age of Ronald Reagan and MTV. One of his five favorite books from the decade, as shared at the Daily Beast:

Eros the Bittersweet (1986)By Anne Carson

Soon after publishing this book—her first—Carson transformed herself into a remarkable poet. But she started out as a classics scholar, and Eros is proof of those labors—even as it lavishly turns away from conventional notions of how to write a critical book. Lyrical yet severe, Eros delivers a poetic meditation on love, told (appropriately, in fragments) over Sappho’s dead body.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue