Jenny Bond

Well, it seems that New Criticism may finally be on its way out. Here is a book proclaiming that it's silly to look at the text only -- that really, the only way to truly understand the value of a text is to figure out what was going on in the author's life at the time the text was written.

We have, then, a book of mini-biographies of the authors of 50 compelling fiction and non-fiction works. While the book purports to contain biographies of the texts themselves, providing background for and show more insight into the texts' construction and hidden secrets, Who the Hell... actually focuses more directly on the biographies of the authors of these texts. Though the biographies are interesting, they are somewhat less revealing than the authors seem to have intended.

Really, the book seems rather unpolished, more like someone's pet project than a serious inquiry into the genesis of "good" literature. For one thing, the books surveyed seem to be chosen completely at random. While the authors offer their justification for their choices in the book's introduction, texts published prior to 1900 are heavily underrepresented, while books from the last decade (Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code among them) are categorized among other "enduring" texts.

Also, though the authors' biographies attest to their literary prowess, the text is riddled with tiny errors that indicate their unfamiliarity with some of the texts they reference (or perhaps it's just laziness?). For example, the author of Pilgrim's Progress spells his name Bunyan and not Bunyon. And, as far as I know, it was Malory and not Milton who wrote Le Morte d'Arthur. Perhaps I'm being nit-picky, but if you're going to write a book about books, it seems like you should know better.

That said, it's a cute little romp through some of literary history, and the chapters are short enough that the book is easily picked up in spare moments of time throughout the day. No heavy thought required here, but the book offers some fun insight into the lives of favorite authors, and may even be helpful in bolstering readers' to-read lists. show less

Overly dramatic on again off agin angst over which of two men she really loved .... otherwise a good novel with the background of FDR presidency.

An Amazingly readable book on the life of the authors behind 50 classic books. The small biographoies are well written, with the sources listed at the back of the book for easy cross-referencing. I was fascinated at the doggedness od most of these authors, many drawing on the hardships of their lives to create a great book. There are a few non fictions books as well

An Amazingly readable book on the life of the authors behind 50 classic books. The small biographoies are well written, with the sources listed at the back of the book for easy cross-referencing. I was fascinated at the doggedness od most of these authors, many drawing on the hardships of their lives to create a great book. There are a few non fictions books as well.