The Joy of Reading: A Passionate Guide to 189 of the World's Best Authors and Their Works

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Description

The ultimate book for the book lover from the bestselling co-author of How to Read a Book. This engaging love letter to reading follows the great authors and classics that transformed the world- from Aristotle and Herodotus in ancient Greece to Salinger and Heinlein in 20th century America. Like a professor whose enthusiasm enwraps his students, Van Doren explains what's wonderful in the books you've missed and awakens your desire to reopen the books you already know. Divided chronologically by the periods in which these classics were written, each book is put in its historical context and brought to life by Van Doren's brilliant analysis. The Joy of Reading delves into a wide range of genres-fiction, poetry, drama, children's books, philosophy, history and science. This is the one book that brings together everything you need to know about the classics you missed and ignites your passion to read and reread the greatest books the world has ever known.

Author Bio

Charles Van Doren is the author of A History of Knowledge- Past, Present and Future, as well as the author or editor of many other books. He is an adjunct professor of the University of Connecticut, Torrington Campus. He lives in Falls Village, Connecticut. He is the co-author of How to Read a Book.