How To Read and Why

By: Harold Bloom

Narrated by: John McDonough

"Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?" is the crucial question with which renowned literary critic Harold Bloom begins this impassioned book on the pleasures and benefits of reading well. For more than forty years, Bloom has transformed college students into lifelong readers with his unrivaled love for literature. Now, at a time when faster and easier electronic media threatens to eclipse the practice of reading, Bloom draws on his experience as critic, teacher, and prolific reader to plumb the great books for their sustaining wisdom.

Shedding all polemic, Bloom addresses the solitary reader, who, he urges, should read for the purest of all reasons: to discover and augment the self. His ultimate faith in the restorative power of literature resonates on every page of this infinitely rewarding and important book.

"Bloom is one of the last … of his kind … one of the greatest educators of our time … Wonderful … Bloom writes with passion of those writers whom he loves, and whose work for him affirms life."—John Banville, Irish Times

©2000 Harold Bloom (P)2001 Recorded Books

insightful, immensely interesting

This book is so very interesting and insightful, showing you the books you read in a much deeper way. I also diacovered several works I am not familiar with, and will now go read those. I took to heart the author's advice and read outloud and started to memorize one of the poems he talked about, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came. I am surprised at discovering how much meaning I previously missed in it!

Not a Boring Lecture

I took a detour and listened to a couple of the books he mentions and that enriched my learning so deeply.

Interesting and informative

Harold Bloom's "How to Read and Why" is a passionate argument for the importance of literature and a guide to experiencing its power. Bloom asserts that reading should be a deeply personal and transformative experience, and he outlines how to achieve this.

Nerd alert

This is great but not for the faint of heart. Harold Bloom is truly an American treasure and this book deserves reading. I doubt the casual reader/listener will enjoy it but as a teacher I loved it.

A honest

Would you consider the audio edition of How To Read and Why to be better than the print version?

Yes. John McDonough is one of my favorite readers. His reading is,rather scholarly (I don't know if he'd like that description though). I prefer his reading when listening to non fiction, much more than most modern readers who tend to adopt a rather funny "Everybody Loves Raymond" type tone when reading non fiction.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the introduction a lot, because I've always felt that fiction writing is in danger of becoming political tracts whose goal is to teach more than tell a story. If characters in stories are allowed to be themselves, politics will manifest itself naturally.

Have you listened to any of John McDonough’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He had more spunk here than he does in reading Isaiah (from The Bible).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh sometimes, especially when Mr Bloom calls two characters from one of Flannery O Conner's stories "Abominable persons." He was talking about a grandfather and a little girl.

Any additional comments?

I am glad to be introduced to a reader that doesn't get in the way of the story. I have a hard time listening to great actors when they read, because they give sort of characterizations that are often quite good (a British person, Truck Driver, Mafia lord...etc),but they are too definite for the length of an average novel.