I love Wendy Lesser’s Why I Read. Lesser discusses books and authors who mean the most to her. She enjoys Patricia Highsmith, Trollope, Mailer, and Dostoevsky. Lesser writes about her pleasure in reading Isaac Asimov. But she really loves Henry James. Lesser also writes about why she doesn’t like James Joyce’s Ulysses. One of my favorite chapters in Why I Read is “Elsewhere” where Lesser talks about reading books in translation. She shows why she likes certain translators (and not others). And, as a bonus, Lesser lists 100 books that are her favorites. Many of them I’ve read, but now I have a list of books I want to read. If you love to read, you’ll find a kindred spirit in Wendy Lesser. She loves books and loves to write about them. It doesn’t get better than this. GRADE: A
WENDY LESSER’S 100 FAVORITE BOOKS
Ackerley, J. R. MY FATHER AND MYSELF
Ambler, Eric. A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS
Austen, Jane. PERSUASION
Baldwin, James. NOTES OF A NATIVE SON
Balzac, Honore. COUSIN BETTE
Bellow, Saul. RAVELSTEIN
Bennett, Arnold. THE OLD WIVE’S TALE
Bishop, Elizabeth. THE COMPLETE POEMS
Bolano, Roberto. DISTANT STAR
Bowen, Elizabeth. THE HEAT OF THE DAY
Carroll, Lewis. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
Cather, Willa. THE PROFESSOR’S HOUSE
Chekhov, Anton. THE LADY WITH THE DOG & OTHER STORIES
Coetzee, J. M. DISGRACE
Collins, Wilkie. THE WOMAN IN WHITE
Conrad, Joseph. UNDER WESTERN EYES
de Waal, Edmund. THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES
Der Nister, THE FAMILY MASHBER
Dickens, Charles. DAVID COPPERFIELD
Dickinson, Emily. FINAL HARVEST
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Dyer, Geoff. OUT OF SHEER RAGE
Eisenberg, Deborah. TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES
Elkin, Stanley. VAN GOGH’S ROOM AT ARLES
Ellison, Ralph. INVISIBLE MAN
Farrell, J. G. THE SIEGE OF KRISHNAPUR
Faulkner, William. ABSALOM, ABSALOM!
Fitzgerald, Penelope. THE BEGINNING OF SPRING
Flaubert, Gustave. SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION
Ford, Ford Madox. PARADE’S END
Ford, Richard. THE BASCOMBE NOVELS
Forester, E. M. A PASSAGE TO INDIA
Gissing, George. NEW GRUB STREET
Gluck, Louise. A VILLAGE LIFE
Goncharov, Ivan. OBLOMOV
Greene, Graham. THE QUIET AMERICAN
Grossman, Vasily. LIFE & FATE
Gunn, Thom. COLLECTED POEMS
Handke, Peter. A SORROW BEYOND DREAMS
Hardwick, Elizabeth. THE SIMPLE PLAN
Hardy, Thomas. JUDE THE OBSCURE
Hazzard, Shirley. THE TRANSIT OF VENUS
Heaney, Seamus. THE HAW LANTERN
Herzen, Alexander. MY PAST & THOUGHTS
Highsmith, Patricia. THE COMPLETER RIPLEY NOVELS
Hopkins, Gerard Manley. POEMS
Howells, William Dean. A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES
James, Henry. THE GOLDEN BOWL
Lahiri, Jhumpa. UNACCUSTOMED EARTH
Lampedusa, Giuseppe di. THE LEOPARD
Lawrence, D. H. SONS AND LOVERS
Li, Yiyun. GOLD BOY, EMERALD GIRL
London, Jack. MARTIN EDEN
Lowell, Robert. LIFE STUDIES
Macdonald, Ross. THE BLUE HAMMER
Mailer, Norman. THE ARMIES OF THE NIGHT
Malcolm, Janet. IN THE FREUD ARCHIVES
Malouf, David. THE GREAT WORLD
Mankell, Henning. SIDETRACKED
Mann, Thomas. BUDDENBROOKS
Mantel, Hilary. BEYOND BLACK
Marias, Javier. A HEART SO WHITE
Maxwell, William. SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW
McEwan, Ian. THE INNOCENT
Melville, Herman. GREAT SHORT WORKS
Michaels, Leonard. COLLECTED STORIES
Mistry, Rohinton. A FINE BALANCE
Munro, Alice. FRIEND OF MY YOUTH
Murakami, Haruki. HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND & THE END OF THE WORLD
Norris, Frank. THE PIT
O’Connor, Flannery. WISE BLOOD
Ondaatje, Michael. RUNNING IN THE FAMILY
Orwell, George. THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER
Pinsky, Robert. SELECTED POEMS
Platonov, Andrey. SOUL & OTHER STORIES
Price, Richard. CLOCKERS
Roth, Joseph. THE RADETZKY MARCH
Roth, Philip. I MARRIED A COMMUNIST
Rushdie, Salman. THE MOOR’S LAST SIGH
Queiros, Eca de. TH MAIAS
Sebald, W. G. THE RINGS OF SATURN
Serge, Victor. THE CASE OF COMRADE TULAYEV
Stafford, Jean. THE MOUNTAIN LION
Stendhal, THE CHARTERHOUSE OF PARMA
Svevo, Italo. ZERO’S CONSCIENCE
Theroux, Paul. THE FAMILY ARSENAL
Toibin, Colm. THE MASTER
Tolstoy, Leo. WAR & PEACE
Trevor, William. THE CHILDREN OF DYNMOUTH
Trollope, Anthony. THE WAY WE LIVE NOW
Turgenev, Ivan. VIRGIN SOIL
Twain, Mark. HUCKEBERRY FINN
Verne, Jules. THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
West, Rebecca. THE FOUNTAIN OVERFLOWS
Wharton, Edith. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH
Wolff, Tobias. IN PHARAOH’S ARMY
Wright, Richard. NATIVE SON
Zola, Emile. THE LADIES’ PARADISE
Yet another list I’m not on!
Bill, there’s some very different books on Wendy Lesser’s list. I was surprised at her fondness for Isaac Asimov when she was a kid. I went through an Asimov phase like that myself.
You know this one is going on my list too. There are a number of things I’ve read and another group I want to read (or think I want to read). Maybe she can convince me one way or the other.
Jeff, Wendy Lesser really likes Russian writers. I may have to give them another try.
I’m too busy trying to read what’s on hand to read about what someone else reads. I’m sure it’s a fine book, but life’s too short.
It’s really difficult for me to accept that THE PIT by Frank Norris is a favorite book of anyone. Didactic, revealing, even shocking, yes. Favorite, no.
Bob, I know. So many books, so little time. But I’m still addicted to books like WHY I READ.
Rick, that’s part of the fascination (for me at least) of books like WHY I READ. Lesser’s tastes sometimes intersect with mine, but as you point out with THE PIT she also makes some strange choices. I like Jack London’s CALL OF THE WILD and WHITE FANG. Some of London’s short stories, like “To Build a Fire,” are gems.
I admire her list. Even the books I didn’t much like, I could see the good in. Have to find this book.
Patti, WHY I READ is a slim book full of interesting insights. You’ll enjoy it.