
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Best known for his provocative take on cultural issues in
The Intellectuals and the Masses and
What Good Are the Arts?, John Carey describes in this warm and funny memoir the events that formed him - an escape from the London blitz to an idyllic rural village, army service in Egypt, an open scholarship to Oxford and an academic career that saw him elected, age 40, to Oxford's oldest English Literature professorship.
He frankly portrays the snobberies and rituals of 1950s Oxford, but also his inspiring meetings with writers and poets - Auden, Graves, Larkin, Heaney - and his forty-year stint as a lead book-reviewer for the
Sunday Times.
This is a book about the joys of reading - in effect, an informal introduction to the great works of English literature. But it is also about war and family, and how an unexpected background can give you the insight and the courage to say the unexpected thing.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Landing Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Foreword
- 1: Beginning
- 2: Radcliffe
- 3: Grammar School
- 4: Playing at Soldiers
- 5: Undergraduate
- 6: Research Student
- 7: Keble
- 8: St John Street and Catching Up with the Victorians
- 9: Graves, Larkin and Catching Up with the Twentieth Century
- 10: Reviewing
- 11: Writing
- 12: So, in the End, Why Read?
- Acknowledgements
- Index of Authors and Titles
- About the Author
- By the Same Author
- Copyright