Essays

Paul Johnson, writing in The Spectator last week, refers to a book of essays he read when he was about 12 years old. It might be the same book we in grammar school read, indeed were forced to read since we were, come examination time, expected to produe a fairly competent essay on something or other ourselves.
A subject would be given and you then had to write about it. Sometimes you were asked to write a story on the given subject.
I don't know if this is done in today's schools but somehow I very much doubt it.
The essays in the book I mentioned were all written by famous writers. What famous writer today writes essays (except perhaps Paul Johnson himself who is very good at it)?
He mentions a famous essay, though it is more of a story, by Charles Lamb: "Dissertation on Roast Pork" - saying how marvellous it is and urging his readers to read it themselves.
I read it when I was in school at the age of about 12 or 13 and I have never forgotten it.
A couple of years ago I set about finding the essay but with no success for a long time until one day I came across it in a book by Frank Muir called "Humorous Prose". I immediately bought the book and devoured Charles Lamb's essay/story as ravenously as the two Chinese characters in the story do the accidentally roasted piglets. For by this firey accident they had discovered the pleasure of eating roast pork.
Hah! Those wonderful essays! The art has practically disappeared to be replaced by journalese, opinionated features, reviews and, yes, you have it - Blogs!