Why I Read
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"An exhilarating volume that will ratchet up the joy for all reading groups "Wendy Lesser's extraordinary alertness, intelligence, and curiosity have made her one of America's most significant cultural critics," writes Stephen Greenblatt. In Why I Read, Lesser draws on a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing one of the most distinguished little magazines in the country, The Threepenny Review, to describe a life lived in and through literature. As Lesser writes in her foreword, "Reading can result in boredom or transcendence, rage or enthusiasm, depression or hilarity, empathy or contempt, depending on who you are and what the book is and how your life is shaping up at the moment you encounter it." Here the reader will discover a definition of literature that is as broad as it is broad-minded. In addition to novels and stories, Lesser explores plays, poems, and essays along with mysteries, science fiction, and memoirs. As she examines these works from such perspectives as "Character and Plot," "Novelty," "Grandeur and Intimacy," and "Authority," Why I Read sparks an overwhelming desire to put aside quotidian tasks in favor of reading. A book in the spirit of E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Elizabeth Hardwick's A View of My Own, Why I Read is iconoclastic, conversational, and full of insight. It will delight those who are already avid readers as well as neophytes in search of sheer literary fun"--
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Wendy Lesser is smart and funny, and I really enjoyed reading this book. And while I think the book is aimed more at readers than writers, I value her comments on Character and Plot, Novelty, and Authority, especially, although throughout there are observations that I hope I will remember as I continue my work. (I read a lot, but I can't imagine reading and re-reading as much as she does.)
Oo, I had a tough time with this one for two (petty?) reasons 1) there seemed to be a greater usage of male pronouns for the abstract author/writer than female (I noticed she/her twice and he/him 5-7 times and after the 3rd time in a row it is jarring)
2) Lesser describes the unsuspicious reader a reader who is just filling time with book “trash reading”pp99 which I grew incandescent thinking about.
I think these things distracted from what the book is trying to do, which is describe why Lesser reads and all the lovely things she's read (largely classic canon but also genres like SciFi and Mysteries, however she sticks mostly to dead writers it still feels very much like she doesn't like things that aren't capital L literature.) Not that I didn't want to run out and read all the books mentioned anyway. While her list of 100 books to read for pleasure only has maybe a 1/4 women writers, Lesser's focus is on promoting older works that are not going to show up on the bestseller list and I'm a both/and kinda reader (read the our-voices that is new and the old stuff when you feel like it)
Written in 2014, Lesser includes a bit grappling with the rise of the eBook, where we all were thinking maybe the eBook would be the last word on book format. I think we've landed at an equilibrium now.
