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Download high-resolution image Look inside Listen to a clip

The Bright Book of Life

Novels to Read and Reread

Author Harold Bloom
Listen to a clip Look inside
Paperback
$18.00 US
Knopf | Vintage
On sale Dec 28, 2021 | 544 Pages | 978-1-9848-9843-2
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  • English > Comparative Literature > Literary Criticism
  • English > Comparative Literature > Literary Theory
  • English > Comparative Literature > Modern Comparative Literature
  • English > Literature > American Literature – American: Novel
  • English > Literature > World Literature Survey – 17th Century to Present
  • About
  • Author
America’s most original and controversial literary critic writes trenchantly about forty-eight masterworks spanning the Western tradition—from Don Quixote to Wuthering Heights to Invisible Man—in his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction.

In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom—who for more than half a century was regarded as America’s most daringly original and controversial literary critic—gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on forty-eight essential works spanning the Western canon, from Don Quixote to Book of Numbers; from Wuthering Heights to Absalom, Absalom!; from Les Misérables to Blood Meridian; from Vanity Fair to Invisible Man. Here are trenchant appreciations of fiction by, among many others, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Le Guin, and Sebald.
 
Whether you have already read these books, plan to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom is your unparalleled guide to understanding literature with new intimacy.
 
“Harold Bloom was one of the leading critics of his generation, and there is no question about his erudition. It is on full display.” —Washington Post

“The Bright Book of Life is the reflection of a lifetime of reading from a great, deep, exhaustive reader of novels.” —The New York Journal of Books

“Elegant and insightful. . . . With loquacious reflection made palatable by thoughtful, meaty prose—underscored by lengthy excerpts from each title—Bloom makes the case for why these timeless works of fiction remain important and powerful.” —Shelf Awareness

“Fresh insights and renewed joys. . . . Fervent . . . Dedicated . . . [Bloom] candidly analyzes what he considers a novel’s shortcomings and where he differs with other critics’ assessments. [His] ardent celebration of novels is tinged with the inevitable losses of old age. . . . Warm recollections of a singular literary life.” —Kirkus Reviews
© Gregory Botts
HAROLD BLOOM lived in New Haven and was a Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Before that, he was Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard. His more than forty books include Possessed by Memory, The Anxiety of Influence, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, The Western Canon, The American Religion, and The Daemon Knows: Literary Greatness and the American Sublime. He was a MacArthur Fellow, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal for Belles Lettres and Criticism, the Catalonia International Prize, and Mexico's Alfonso Reyes International Prize. He lived in New Haven until his death on October 14, 2019, at the age of eighty-nine. View titles by Harold Bloom

About

America’s most original and controversial literary critic writes trenchantly about forty-eight masterworks spanning the Western tradition—from Don Quixote to Wuthering Heights to Invisible Man—in his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction.

In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom—who for more than half a century was regarded as America’s most daringly original and controversial literary critic—gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on forty-eight essential works spanning the Western canon, from Don Quixote to Book of Numbers; from Wuthering Heights to Absalom, Absalom!; from Les Misérables to Blood Meridian; from Vanity Fair to Invisible Man. Here are trenchant appreciations of fiction by, among many others, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Le Guin, and Sebald.
 
Whether you have already read these books, plan to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom is your unparalleled guide to understanding literature with new intimacy.
 
“Harold Bloom was one of the leading critics of his generation, and there is no question about his erudition. It is on full display.” —Washington Post

“The Bright Book of Life is the reflection of a lifetime of reading from a great, deep, exhaustive reader of novels.” —The New York Journal of Books

“Elegant and insightful. . . . With loquacious reflection made palatable by thoughtful, meaty prose—underscored by lengthy excerpts from each title—Bloom makes the case for why these timeless works of fiction remain important and powerful.” —Shelf Awareness

“Fresh insights and renewed joys. . . . Fervent . . . Dedicated . . . [Bloom] candidly analyzes what he considers a novel’s shortcomings and where he differs with other critics’ assessments. [His] ardent celebration of novels is tinged with the inevitable losses of old age. . . . Warm recollections of a singular literary life.” —Kirkus Reviews

Author

© Gregory Botts
HAROLD BLOOM lived in New Haven and was a Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Before that, he was Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard. His more than forty books include Possessed by Memory, The Anxiety of Influence, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, The Western Canon, The American Religion, and The Daemon Knows: Literary Greatness and the American Sublime. He was a MacArthur Fellow, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal for Belles Lettres and Criticism, the Catalonia International Prize, and Mexico's Alfonso Reyes International Prize. He lived in New Haven until his death on October 14, 2019, at the age of eighty-nine. View titles by Harold Bloom

Additional formats

  • The Bright Book of Life
    The Bright Book of Life
    Novels to Read and Reread
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-525-65726-2
    $35.00 US
    Hardcover
    Knopf
    Nov 24, 2020
  • The Bright Book of Life
    The Bright Book of Life
    Novels to Read and Reread
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-525-65727-9
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Nov 24, 2020
  • The Bright Book of Life
    The Bright Book of Life
    Novels to Read and Reread
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-593-29195-5
    $30.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Random House Audio
    Nov 24, 2020
  • The Bright Book of Life
    The Bright Book of Life
    Novels to Read and Reread
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-525-65726-2
    $35.00 US
    Hardcover
    Knopf
    Nov 24, 2020
  • The Bright Book of Life
    The Bright Book of Life
    Novels to Read and Reread
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-525-65727-9
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Nov 24, 2020
  • The Bright Book of Life
    The Bright Book of Life
    Novels to Read and Reread
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-593-29195-5
    $30.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Random House Audio
    Nov 24, 2020

Other Books by this Author

  • Possessed by Memory
    Possessed by Memory
    The Inward Light of Criticism
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-525-56247-4
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Mar 17, 2020
  • The Daemon Knows
    The Daemon Knows
    Literary Greatness and the American Sublime
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-8129-8746-1
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Random House
    Feb 09, 2016
  • Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-59448-138-3
    $21.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Oct 04, 2005
  • Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-59448-091-1
    $12.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Jul 05, 2005
  • Julius Caesar
    Julius Caesar
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-59448-078-2
    $10.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Apr 05, 2005
  • Hamlet: Poem Unlimited
    Hamlet: Poem Unlimited
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-377-5
    $13.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Mar 02, 2004
  • Shakespeare: Invention of the Human
    Shakespeare: Invention of the Human
    The Invention of the Human
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-751-3
    $30.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Sep 01, 1999
  • Omens of Millennium
    Omens of Millennium
    The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-629-5
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Oct 01, 1997
  • The Western Canon
    The Western Canon
    The Books and School of the Ages
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-514-4
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Sep 01, 1995
  • Possessed by Memory
    Possessed by Memory
    The Inward Light of Criticism
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-525-56247-4
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Mar 17, 2020
  • The Daemon Knows
    The Daemon Knows
    Literary Greatness and the American Sublime
    Harold Bloom
    978-0-8129-8746-1
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Random House
    Feb 09, 2016
  • Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-59448-138-3
    $21.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Oct 04, 2005
  • Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-59448-091-1
    $12.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Jul 05, 2005
  • Julius Caesar
    Julius Caesar
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-59448-078-2
    $10.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Apr 05, 2005
  • Hamlet: Poem Unlimited
    Hamlet: Poem Unlimited
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-377-5
    $13.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Mar 02, 2004
  • Shakespeare: Invention of the Human
    Shakespeare: Invention of the Human
    The Invention of the Human
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-751-3
    $30.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Sep 01, 1999
  • Omens of Millennium
    Omens of Millennium
    The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-629-5
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Oct 01, 1997
  • The Western Canon
    The Western Canon
    The Books and School of the Ages
    Harold Bloom
    978-1-57322-514-4
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Riverhead Books
    Sep 01, 1995
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