The 200 Books You Need to Read
You could say I am playing into a stereotype by fretting over what really are the most important books that everyone should read. But these things do matter! Consider this 2008 piece in the New York Times that bemoans poorly-read sexual partners. It probably caused a lot of anxiety among the fairly well-read. “It tells something about … their level of … Continue reading
New Novel: The Human Stain
Philip Roth is an author I never encountered or heard much about until after college. I think back on who I was exposed to during that time, the great authors who rose to prominence between the 60s and 90s: Updike, Garcia Marquez, Le Guin, Barth, Morrison, Doctorow, Eco, Naipaul, McCarthy, DeLillo, Irving, Rushdie… but never … Continue reading
A New Book: Gargantua and Pantagruel
Little Women is completed and so we move on to a new book on the Master List. A quick glance at the Books Left to Read list, and I see there are very few left in the top tier. Nine, to be exact, ranging from St. Augustine in the 4th Century to William Gaddis in the … Continue reading
Writing about kids, for kids in Little Women
The premise of this blog is to read “the greatest works of literature.” Looking at that very long reading assignment, compiled and winnowed by twenty-odd “best of” lists from the last hundred years, there’s something glaringly missing: children’s literature. The idea of children’s lit didn’t exist until the 19th century, so it is no fair … Continue reading
Letters Republic 