An edition of Practical classics
(2013)
Practical classics
50 reasons to reread 50 books you haven't touched since high school
by Kevin Smokler
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What do the great books of your youth have to say about your life now? Smokler's essays on the classics are divided into ten sections, each covering an archetypical stage of life from youth and first love to family, loss, and the future. The author not only reminds you about the essential features of each great book but gives you a practical, real-world reason why revisiting it in adulthood is not only enjoyable but useful.
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Books and reading, Psychology and literature, Best books, Psychological aspects, LiteraturePeople
Kevin SmoklerPlaces
United States| Edition | Availability |
|---|---|
1
Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched since High School
2013, Globe Pequot Press, The
in English
1616146575 9781616146573
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zzzz
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2
Practical classics: 50 reasons to reread 50 books you haven't touched since high school
2013, Prometheus Books
in English
1616146567 9781616146566
|
aaaa
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Book Details
Table of Contents
Youth and growing up. The midlife crisis of "Huckleberry Finn" ; Candide says relax. Then get to work ; "A separate peace" and the dream of best friends forever ; Owners of our lonely hearts ; How the uncaged bird sings
Identity. Real Indians play rock 'n roll ; "The autobiography of Malcolm X" : yours and mine ; Edith Wharton : "'Innocence' is for wimps" ; The us yet to come ; Am I a man or an android?
The inner and the outer world. If this "Library" is paradise
; Staying out of the "Bell jar" ; You may find yourself trapped in Alexander Portnoy's head
; "Cannery Row" : where everybody knows your name ; My favorite book of them all
Love and pain. "Pride and prejudice" : Jane Austen for the clumsier sex ; Marriage counseling from Henrik Ibsen ; "Eyes" on love ; I've been young and afraid, Joyce Carol Oates. Thank you for asking ; "The scarlet letter" : I don't like it either
Working. "Bartleby" in the breakroom ; The work/life balance of Sherlock Holmes ; Working at relaxing with David Foster Wallace ; At the office with "'Master Harold'
and the boys" ; Burning books : one crappy job
Family. Why "To kill a mockingbird" makes a great Father's Day gift ; The ambivalent family of Toni Morrison ; Of wontons, mah-jongg, and time ; A family of giant insects ; "Maus" : a comic book about fathers, sons, and genocide
Ideas and learning. The renaissance nerds of "The phantom tollbooth" ; Camping it up with Susan Sontag ; 'The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction' by Walter Benjamin, notes by Kevin Smokler ; Hello, I'm William Shakespeare ; "Understanding" Marshall McLuhan
Violence and loss. Holden Caulfield, that little brat ; Albert Camus, the unsexy "Stranger" ; Shirley Jackson's rituals of violence ; The stone-faced trip of "Slaughterhouse-five" ; An act of violence, a book of forgiveness
The shameless case of Walt Whitman ; Emily Dickinson's lessons for success ; Little heroes and "Locust" ; "Visit Tinker Creek." Then keep going ; How to tell a hero story
Beware of revolutionaries who look like pigs ; Meet Thomas Pynchon, your driving companion ; The "Remains" of tomorrow ; Four different ways that "Things fall apart" ; A letter.
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-320).
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