Great Books

THE NATIONAL BESTSELLERAt the age of forty-eight, writer and film critic David Denby returned to Columbia University and re-enrolled in two core courses in Western civilization to confront the literary and philosophical masterpieces -- the "great books" -- that are now at the heart of the culture wars. InGreat Books,he leads us on a glorious tour, a rediscovery and celebration of such authors as Homer and Boccaccio, Locke and Nietzsche. Conrad and Woolf. The resulting personal odyssey is an engaging blend of self-discovery, cultural commentary, reporting, criticism, and autobiography -- an inspiration for anyone in love with the written word.

David Denby has been film critic of New York magazine since 1978, and is a contributing editor of The New Yorker. His reviews and essays have also appeared in The New Republic, The Atlantic, and The New York Review of Books. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, the novelist Cathleen Schine. and their two sons.

Contents

Introduction
Reading Lists

FIRST SEMESTER

1. Homer I
2. Sappho
Interlude One
3. Plato I
4. Homer II
Interlude Two
5. Plato II
6. Sophocles
7. Aristotle
Interlude Three
8. Aeschylus and Euripides Interlude Four
9. Virgil
10. The Old Testament
11. The New Testament
12. Augustine
13. Machiavelli
Interlude Five
14. Hobbes and Locke
15. Examination
Winter Break

SECOND SEMESTER

16. Dante
17. Boccaccio
18. Hume and Kant
Interlude Six
19. Montaigne
20. Rousseau
21. Shakespeare
22. Hegel
23. Austen
24. Marx and Mill
25. Nietzsche
Interlude Seven
26. Beauvoir
27. Conrad
28. Woolf
Epilogue

Appendix: Earlier Reading Lists
Selected Bibliography
Index

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials