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Ongoingness/ 300 Arguments
A combined book of two daring works by Sarah Manguso, presented together in a rare reversible single edition.
300 ARGUMENTS
Think of this as a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages.
300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso is at first glance a group of unrelated aphorisms, but the pieces reveal themselves as a masterful arrangement that steadily gathers power. Manguso’s arguments about writing, desire, ambition, relationships, and failure are pithy, unsentimental, and defiant, and they add up to an unexpected and renegade wisdom literature. Lines you will underline, write in notebooks and read to the person sitting next to you, that will drift back into your mind as you try to get to sleep.
ONGOINGNESS: THE END OF THE DIARY
In Ongoingness, Sarah Manguso continues to define the contours of the contemporary essay. In it, she confronts a meticulous diary that she has kept for twenty-five years. ‘I wanted to end each day with a record of everything that had ever happened,’ she explains. But this simple statement belies a terror that she might forget something, that she might miss something important. Maintaining that diary, now eight hundred thousand words, had become, until recently, a kind of spiritual practice.
Then Manguso became pregnant and had a child, and these two Copernican events generated an amnesia that put her into a different relationship with the need to document herself amid ongoing time.
Ongoingness is a spare, meditative work that stands in stark contrast to the volubility of the diary – it is a haunting account of mortality and impermanence, of how we struggle to find clarity in the chaos of time that rushes around and over and through us.
300 ARGUMENTS
Think of this as a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages.
300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso is at first glance a group of unrelated aphorisms, but the pieces reveal themselves as a masterful arrangement that steadily gathers power. Manguso’s arguments about writing, desire, ambition, relationships, and failure are pithy, unsentimental, and defiant, and they add up to an unexpected and renegade wisdom literature. Lines you will underline, write in notebooks and read to the person sitting next to you, that will drift back into your mind as you try to get to sleep.
ONGOINGNESS: THE END OF THE DIARY
In Ongoingness, Sarah Manguso continues to define the contours of the contemporary essay. In it, she confronts a meticulous diary that she has kept for twenty-five years. ‘I wanted to end each day with a record of everything that had ever happened,’ she explains. But this simple statement belies a terror that she might forget something, that she might miss something important. Maintaining that diary, now eight hundred thousand words, had become, until recently, a kind of spiritual practice.
Then Manguso became pregnant and had a child, and these two Copernican events generated an amnesia that put her into a different relationship with the need to document herself amid ongoing time.
Ongoingness is a spare, meditative work that stands in stark contrast to the volubility of the diary – it is a haunting account of mortality and impermanence, of how we struggle to find clarity in the chaos of time that rushes around and over and through us.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2019
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89 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Manguso
26 books984 followersSarah Manguso is the author of nine books, most recently the novel LIARS.
Her previous novel, VERY COLD PEOPLE, was longlisted for the Wingate Literary Prize, the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award.
Her other books include a story collection, two poetry collections, and four acclaimed works of nonfiction: 300 ARGUMENTS, ONGOINGNESS, THE GUARDIANS, and THE TWO KINDS OF DECAY.
Her work has been recognized by an American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Rome Prize. Her writing has been translated into thirteen languages.
She grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in Los Angeles.
Her previous novel, VERY COLD PEOPLE, was longlisted for the Wingate Literary Prize, the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award.
Her other books include a story collection, two poetry collections, and four acclaimed works of nonfiction: 300 ARGUMENTS, ONGOINGNESS, THE GUARDIANS, and THE TWO KINDS OF DECAY.
Her work has been recognized by an American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Rome Prize. Her writing has been translated into thirteen languages.
She grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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June 23, 2019Plucked this tiny book from a bookstore shelf on a whim because its format and design intrigued me. Didn't quite enjoy it as much as I had hoped (fell a little flat for me), but would still recommend.
June 6, 2019
300 arguments: 2 stars
ongoingness: the end of a diary: 3.5 stars ? a little disappointing but i did really enjoy some parts of it! especially stuff relating to motherhood [duh at this point lol]
ongoingness: the end of a diary: 3.5 stars ? a little disappointing but i did really enjoy some parts of it! especially stuff relating to motherhood [duh at this point lol]
April 26, 2020
I dipped in and out of this while reading other books, as it’s not really the kind of thing to read in one sitting. A few memorable lines, but not as many as the author is hoping for.
I enjoyed Ongoingness more than 300 Arguments, which felt too pretentious for my liking. Honestly, I didn’t find anything very original in it. Many people probably have similar thoughts in their heads or private journals - the only difference being that this writer chose to share them.
On its own, Ongoingness would be a strong 3 stars, but 300 Arguments bumped the combined books to a 2. Maybe I’m missing something but it just didn’t move me.
I enjoyed Ongoingness more than 300 Arguments, which felt too pretentious for my liking. Honestly, I didn’t find anything very original in it. Many people probably have similar thoughts in their heads or private journals - the only difference being that this writer chose to share them.
On its own, Ongoingness would be a strong 3 stars, but 300 Arguments bumped the combined books to a 2. Maybe I’m missing something but it just didn’t move me.
June 25, 2021
Meditations on time, memory and mortality and their intersection with motherhood. Sarah Manguso offers a fresh perspective on motherhood that contains philosophical sensibilities, that is grounded in a sturdy understanding of the inner workings of the mind and that is seen through the lenses of a poetic disposition. Heart wrenching, hopeful, insightful and deeply meaningful. An account of one’s life “against the background of eternity”.
If you love Maggie Nelson’s work, you will adore this.
If you love Maggie Nelson’s work, you will adore this.
October 16, 2019
Loved it. Two books in one. To borrow from the book (and paraphrase) it is a short book (not that short :)) composed entirely of what she hoped to be long book quotable passages. Every passage is a gem. Very relatable and raw.
October 16, 2019
Love her writing, her thoughts, her way of interpreting the world and her own world. Brilliant.
December 31, 2021
REALLY GOOD. im on the high that youtuber dudebros are on when they read seneca and marcus aurelius rn ... dont touch me
November 21, 2023
"And then I think I don't need to write anything down ever again. Nothing's gone, not really. Everything that's ever happened has left its little wound."
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews