{"product_id":"whats-so-great-about-the-great-books-why-you-should-read-classic-literature-even-though-it-might-destroy-you-9780691251929","title":"What's So Great about the Great Books?: Why You Should Read Classic Literature (Even Though It Might Destroy You)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA popular novelist and literary blogger answers those who claim the classics are too\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003edifficult, too problematic, and too white--and explains what we gain by reading them\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen she was in her early twenties, then-aspiring writer Naomi Kanakia set out to read the Great Books--humankind's most highly regarded literary classics, representing \"the best that human beings have thought or said,\" as determined by the two elderly intellectuals who'd written the guidebook she consulted. After twenty years, she has made her way through about two-thirds of these books, and she's found reading them to be an immensely pleasurable and insightful activity. Plato, Milton, Tolstoy, Proust, all those dead guys--their books have stood the test of time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut since beginning her journey, Kanakia has found that although reading the Great Books is part of a longstanding tradition of engaging with the thought of previous generations, it is also a highly contingent activity that arose out of a specific time and place, the brainchild of a small group of early twentieth-century popularizers associated with Columbia University and the University of Chicago. And people have always been skeptical about the idea of reading the Great Books, asking if this is truly a realistic or even desirable goal for the ordinary person. A more recent and growing group of Great Books skeptics asks if these works are too problematic, reactionary, and irrelevant to bother reading. Kanakia, a self-described \"left-of-center person,\" grapples with these objections, attempting to restore context for the Great Books even as she sticks up for them. Because books that expose us to fundamental truths about the nature of beauty and reality are worth fighting for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Naomi Kanakia\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/26\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.06lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.60h x 5.70w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691251929\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNaomi Kanakia\u003c\/b\u003e writes a popular literary blog, \u003ci\u003eWoman of Letters\u003c\/i\u003e, that's been praised by \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVox\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eNew York Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e. She is also the author of three YA novels and a literary novel for adults.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Naomi Kanakia \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":48363902795933,"sku":"9780691251929","price":31.14,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_e8cbda53-2955-46d3-ab83-dc686a3ec5fe.jpg?v=1780429551","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/whats-so-great-about-the-great-books-why-you-should-read-classic-literature-even-though-it-might-destroy-you-9780691251929","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}