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"Must" read? Bah!

You may have come across 1001 Books You Must Read, edited by Peter Boxall (or at the very least, read about it on Sharon's blog). Patrick T. Reardon from the Chicago Tribune did, and he came away feeling rather miffed:
What got me was the word "must" in the title. I see that, and I feel guilty. I mean, I read a lot -- a lot -- but all I have to do is open this book, and I find hundreds of works whose covers I've never cracked.

"Roxana" by Daniel Defoe, "The Thinking Reed" by Rebecca West, "The Judge and His Hangman" by Friedrich Durrenmatt, "Blood and Guts in High School" by Kathy Acker

-- I've never even heard of these, much less read them.
So he decided to make his own list.
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Comments

  1. sharkgila30/6/06 8:29 am

    I got 19 books read on Boxall's list - woohaa got to buck up on my reading.

    I use Nancy Pearl's BookLust as guide to picking up my reading list, her picks are pretty good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted Mahsun30/6/06 12:57 pm

    Ooh! That's a great list! I'm still so envious you got it for cheap at the Popular warehouse sale! Everytime I see it in stores, it's so expensive!

    ReplyDelete

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