About This Project

A good book thickens the air, can curve a flat horizon, and at its best will raise fresh shudders and shocks beneath the skin. A good book lets dammed river run.

In 2005, I inherited a stack of leather-bound instant collectibles published by the Easton Press, and which had been sitting on my childhood home’s old bookshelf for years. Books like War and Peace and The Divine Comedy. Books so ponderous and intimidating I don’t think anyone in the house had bothered to open them. I decided to read each of those books in memory of my mother, who died too young but not before passing on to me her great love for literature. It took four years. And even though I would occasionally cringe at the thought of spending a month boring through yet another 19^th century doorstop, I realized as I was finishing the last one that I didn’t want to stop. Many of these books had been fantastic! Their characters breathed, and their ideas crackled. Where could I find more?

It turned out many people – publishers, newspaper editors, college profs – had tried forming a list of the Greatest Books of All Time. I found twenty-four lists, though there are plenty more. The problem was that none of the lists agreed with each other. There was overlap, but plenty of disagreement. Literally thousands of books only appeared on one of the twenty-four. I decided to combine everything that I’d found and build a master list where only books appearing on more than one list made the cut. This blog is the end result. 1055 works, from Aesop to Zadie Smith. It is a good working draft of the literary canon. Here you will find mythology, philosophy, science fiction, magical realism, biography, poetry, plays, graphic novels, and (ugh) a few, very old, science textbooks. Don’t get angry if your favorite didn’t make the list – a bunch of mine didn’t either. Take a look at the “Orphans” list for books recommended by only one of the twenty-four lists. Good chance is you’ll find your beloved there.