How To Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster
What a great find! I've been looking for something to help me get more from my reading and was lucky to find good used copies of this one and How To Read Novels Like A Professor by the same author. I expected something along the line of a text book, maybe a bit dry but with helpful information; instead I got one of the most entertaining books I've read in a long time.
Thomas Foster must be popular as a professor. He's smart, funny and down-to-earth and I found myself more than once wishing I could sit in on his classes. Anybody who can make learning this breezy and interesting, and this much fun, has my admiration and my gratitude.
Some of the chapter titles will give you an idea of the topics covered: Every Trip Is A Quest; Nice To Eat With You: Acts of Communion; When In Doubt, It's From Shakespeare; Is That A Symbol?; It's All Political; Geography Matters and It's Never Just Heart Disease. Every chapter taught me how to look for things that I had been missing much of the time and every book I've picked up since has been more interesting as a result.
If you want to get more from the books you're reading, and you want to have a good time learning how, this is the book for you. If you have an education in literature, you will already know this stuff, but for ordinary readers like me, this is a must read. A wonderful book!
3 months ago