I’ve read several of John Carey’s books over the years so this memoir arrived as a welcome surprise. Basically, John Carey tells his life through the books he read. I learned that John Carey took over teaching the classes of J.I.M. Stewart who wrote mysteries as “Michael Innes.” The strongest sections in The Unexpected Professor center around Carey’s enthusiasm for George Orwell and D. H. Lawrence’s works. Carey discusses how his popular books came about. He shows how he came to write about John Donne and Thackeray. Carey was a prodigious reviewer and that leads to some amusing anecdotes. If you love books and learning, you’ll find a lot to like in The Unexpected Professor. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Forward
1. Beginning
2. Radcliffe
3. Grammar School
4. Playing at Soldiers
5. Undergraduate
6. Research Student
7. Keble
8. St. John Street and Catching Up with the Victorians
9. Gaves, Larkin, and Catching Up with the 20th Century
10. Reviewing
11. Writing
12. So, in the End, Why Read?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Index of Authors and Titles