Read Hundreds of the Greatest Essays Ever Written by Famous Authors for Free

Treat essays as an alternative platform for authors to express their thoughts, arguments, additional information, literary criticism, political manifestos, observations of daily life and basically anything about the author himself. Not getting too deep into the rabbit-hole behind the definition and history of essays, this post marks the subtle beginning of research and compilation of free works by famous authors which are readily available online for everyone to read. Without a doubt, complete novels and literatures are not sufficient on their own if you really want to know all the works behind an author. Essays, short-stories, maybe even poetries and illustrations could come into the picture.

Few common names do come around when we talk about essays, and some of them include Joan Didion, Susan Sontag, John Cheever, John Jeremiah Sullivan and many more. Some of these talented authors have left us but some are still here with us, giving us access to their work to establish a better understanding of their lives when they were busy writing and expressing their creative thoughts.

Other authors covered in this compilation include Albert Camus, Arthur Schopenhauer, Brian Phillips, Carlyle, Charles Siebertoct, Clifford Geertz , David Foster Wallace, Dr. Jonathan Swift , Friedrich Nietzsche, George Orwell, George Woodcock , Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Henry David Thoreau, Horace Mitchell Miner , Hunter S. Thompson and many more.

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” – Joan Didion

The list below is by no means a comprehensive and complete, as there are literally hundreds more free essays out there, just waiting to be consumed. Perhaps we can approach that in a more systematic manner in our future posts, categorized through authors and type of essays, so please stay tuned! Besides that, do expect lots of online articles from the long compilation below, some of which may provide a downloadable PDF and some would just list a full compilation of that author. Regardless, we hope you’ll enjoy this group of essays and happy reading!

1. The Myth Of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
2. The Essays Of Arthur Schopenhauer: Religion: A Dialogue, Etc. by Arthur Schopenhauer
3. Pelé As A Comedian by Brian Phillips
4. A Mechanical Age by Carlyle
5. An Elephant Crackup? by Charles Siebertoct
6. Notes On The Balinese Cockfight by Clifford Geertz
7. E Unibus Pluram by David Foster Wallace
8. This Is Water by David Foster Wallace
9. Shipping Out: On The (nearly Lethal) Comforts Of A Luxury Cruise by David Foster Wallace
10. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace
11. Consider The Lobster by David Foster Wallace
12. Big Red Son by David Foster Wallace
13. Ticket To The Fair by David Foster Wallace
14. Roger Federer As Religious Experience by David Foster Wallace
15. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
16. A Modest Proposal by Dr. Jonathan Swift
17. Beyond Good And Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
18. 50 Essays by George Orwell
19. The Tyranny Of The Clock by George Woodcock
20. What’s Wrong With The World by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
21. Dozens Of Essays & Ebooks by Henry David Thoreau
22. Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
23. Walking by Henry David Thoreau
24. Body Ritual Among The Nacirema by Horace Mitchell Miner
25. The Song Of The Sausage Creature by Hunter S. Thompson
26. The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent And Depraved by Hunter Thompson
27. Essays & Works by Immanuel Kant
28. The Relativity Of Wrong by Isaac Asimov
29. The Relativity Of Wrong by Isaac Asimov
30. Quickness by Italo Calvino
31. Don’t Mourn For Us by Jim Sinclair
32. Goodbye To All That by Joan Didion
33. On Keeping A Notebook by Joan Didion
34. Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion
35. On Self Respect by Joan Didion
36. Revolutionary Writings by John Adams
37. Why I Write Short Stories by John Cheever
38. Mr. Lytle by John Jeremiah Sullivan
39. 15 Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan
40. Mr. Lytle, An Essay by John Jeremiah Sullivan
41. You Blow My Mind. Hey, Mickey! by John Jeremiah Sullivan
42. Where Is Cuba Going? by John Jeremiah Sullivan
43. My Debt To Ireland by John Jeremiah Sullivan
44. Feet In Smoke: A Story About Electrified Near-Death by John Jeremiah Sullivan
45. Mr. Difficult by Jonathan Franzen
46. The Ecstasy Of Influence: A Plagiarism by Jonathan Lethem
47. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
48. Our America by José Martí
49. Eat, Pray, Spend by Joshunda Sanders
50. King’s Letter From A Birmingham Jail by King, Martin Luther Jr.
51. How I Edited An Agricultural Paper by Mark Twain
52. All Books Have Genders by Meil Gaiman
53. 107 Essays by Michel De Montaigne
54. The Soul Of Man Under Socialism (1891) by Oscar Wilde
55. The Age Of The Essay by Paul Graham
56. Writing American Fiction by Philip Roth
57. Essays: First Series (1841) – 12 Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson
58. Essays: Second Series (1844) – 9 Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson
59. The Gift Of Fire by Richard Mitchell
60. I Do Not Fear Death by Roger Ebert
61. Consolation In The Face Of Death by Samuel Johnson
62. On Procrastination by Samuel Johnson
63. 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write by Sarah Ruhl
64. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
65. The Garden Of Cyrus by Sir Thomas Browne
66. War Is A Racket by Smedley D. Butler
67. Letter To My Grandchildren by Stewart Udall
68. The Aesthetics Of Silence by Susan Sontag
69. Notes On “Camp” by Susan Sontag
70. The Essay As Form by T.W. Adorno
71. Minima Moralia by T.W. Adorno
72. Twirling At ‘OLE Miss by Terry Southern
73. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment As Mass Deception (1944) by Theodor Adorno And Max Horkheimer
74. What Is It Like To Be A Bat? by Thomas Nagel
75. Rights Of Man by Thomas Paine
76. Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco
77. A Room Of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
78. The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin
79. Examsmanship And The Liberal Arts by William G. Perry

If you think we’ve missed out any, don’t forget to leave your comment below and do recommend to us on what topic of free ebooks or any reading resources you wish to see next.