Why I Read The Serious Pleasure of Books

"Reading Why I Read delivers all the pleasure of discussing one's favorite books with a marvelously articulate, intelligent, opinionated friend. It's like joining the book club of your dreams."—Francine Prose

"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, she draws on a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing to describe a life lived in and through literature. As Lesser examines work from such perspectives as "Character and Plot," "Novelty," "Grandeur and Intimacy," and "Authority," 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. Her passion for reading is infectious—and it resonates on every page. Iconoclastic, conversational, and full of insight, Why I Read will delight avid readers as well as neophytes in search of sheer literary fun.

Wendy Lesser is the founder and editor of The Threepenny Review, which Adam Zagajewski has called “one of the most original literary magazines not only in the U.S. but also on the entire planet.” She is the author of eight previous books of nonfiction and one novel. Her most recent book is the prizewinning Music for Silenced Voices: Shostakovich and His Fifteen String Quartets. She has written for The New York Times Book Review, the London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, and other publications. She divides her time between Berkeley, California, and New York City.

CONTENTS

Prologue: Why I Read...3                                                                    

1. Character and Plot...11
2. The Space Between...41
3. Novelty...59
4. Authority...89
5. Grandeur and Intimacy...117
6. Elsewhere...147

7. Inconclusions...173
8. Afterword: The Book as Physical Object...187

A Hundred Books To Read for Pleasure...207
Acknowledgments...213
Index...215

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