Ready to Read!
Thanks to my trip to Chicago, I got to go to an awesome bookstore attached to the University of Chicago (the Seminary Co-op) and the original “Powell’s” and scored:
“Seven Types of Ambiguity” by William Empson
“Literary Theory: an Introduction” by Terry Eagleton
“Anatomy of Criticism” by Northrop Frye
I bought the above three books to prepare for graduate school, since I’ll be entering the English department but my BA is in history and these are foundational texts of literary criticism. Then I bought “Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing along the Borderlands” by Michael Chabon for more practical, down to earth advice from a professional novelist.
I bought “Rereading the Stone” by Anthony C. Yu as research for a novel I want to write about the novel often called “The Story of the Stone.”
I bought “Seven Types of Ambiguity” by Elliot Perlman because I wanted to see the seven types of ambiguity in action.
I bought “The Science of Liberty” by Timothy Ferris because it is a (so far) great book about the underlying unity of scientific and democratic thinking. They both accept risks, experimentation, and sometimes being wrong now to be even more right in the future.
I bought “The Ghost Writer” by Philip Roth and “The Messiah of Stockholm” by Cynthia Ozick because I had been preparing a lecture on Jewish American literature and thought they sounded interesting. I’d recommend “The Messiah of Stockholm” because it was funnier than I expected, made an interesting point about self-delusion and idealism, and you can read in less time than it takes to get from Chicago to Des Moines.
I bought “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell because I saw the movie and wanted more.
“Seven Types of Ambiguity” by William Empson
“Literary Theory: an Introduction” by Terry Eagleton
“Anatomy of Criticism” by Northrop Frye
I bought the above three books to prepare for graduate school, since I’ll be entering the English department but my BA is in history and these are foundational texts of literary criticism. Then I bought “Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing along the Borderlands” by Michael Chabon for more practical, down to earth advice from a professional novelist.
I bought “Rereading the Stone” by Anthony C. Yu as research for a novel I want to write about the novel often called “The Story of the Stone.”
I bought “Seven Types of Ambiguity” by Elliot Perlman because I wanted to see the seven types of ambiguity in action.
I bought “The Science of Liberty” by Timothy Ferris because it is a (so far) great book about the underlying unity of scientific and democratic thinking. They both accept risks, experimentation, and sometimes being wrong now to be even more right in the future.
I bought “The Ghost Writer” by Philip Roth and “The Messiah of Stockholm” by Cynthia Ozick because I had been preparing a lecture on Jewish American literature and thought they sounded interesting. I’d recommend “The Messiah of Stockholm” because it was funnier than I expected, made an interesting point about self-delusion and idealism, and you can read in less time than it takes to get from Chicago to Des Moines.
I bought “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell because I saw the movie and wanted more.