Michael Dirda
Bound to Please
An Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education
"Michael Dirda may be as close to the ideal critic as we are likely to get."—Annie Proulx
Surveying the dizzying universe of classic books, Michael Dirda, the Pulitzer Prize-winning literary essayist, proves himself to be one of the most engaging critics of our time—and great fun to read. Opening with an impassioned critique of modern reading habits, he then presents many of the great, and idiosyncratic, writers he loves most. In this showcase of one hundred of the world's most astonishing books, Dirda covers a remarkable range of literature, including popular genres such as the detective novel and ghost story, while never neglecting the deeper satisfactions of sometimes overlooked classics. Short-listed for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for criticism, Bound to Please is a glorious celebration of just how much fun reading can be.
"A concentrated compendium of all that has delighted us in Western civilization and literature."—Carolyn See
"Dirda consistently demonstrates the power of books to change lives."—Henry L. Carrigan, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michael Dirda, who won a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism at the Washington Post Book World, is the author of An Open Book. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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An Open Book
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