{"product_id":"how-to-be-well-read-a-guide-to-500-great-novels-and-a-handful-of-literary-curiosities","title":"How to Be Well Read: A Guide to 500 Great Novels and a Handful of Literary Curiosities","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTitle: \u003c\/b\u003eHow to Be Well Read: A Guide to 500 Great Novels and a Handful of Literary Curiosities\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eJohn Sutherland\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN: \u003c\/b\u003e9781847946409\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/b\u003eRandom House UK\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished: \u003c\/b\u003e2015\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding: \u003c\/b\u003eHardcover\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage: \u003c\/b\u003eEnglish\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEdition: \u003c\/b\u003eReprint\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of Pages: \u003c\/b\u003e528\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Note: \u003c\/b\u003eClean, unmarked copy with some edge wear. Good binding. Dust jacket included if issued with one. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher Description: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA very personal guide to the best novels ever written, and why they matter\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs the annual flood of published novels grows ever greater, it's a hard a job to keep up, let alone sort the wheat from the chaff. Fortunately, literary sleuth and academic John Sutherland is on hand to do precisely that. In the course of more than 500 wittily informative pieces he gives us his own very personal take on the most rewarding, most remarkable, and, on occasion, most shamelessly enjoyable works of fiction ever written--the perfect reading list for the would-be literary expert. His taste is impressively eclectic. An appreciation of Apuleius's \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Ass\u003c\/i\u003e--arguably the first-ever novel--is followed by a consideration of Ian Fleming's \u003ci\u003eGoldfinger\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eThe Handmaid's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e is followed by \u003ci\u003eHangover Square\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJane Eyre\u003c\/i\u003e by \u003ci\u003eJaws\u003c\/i\u003e. There are imposing Victorian novels, entertaining contemporary thrillers, and everything in between, from dystopian works to romance. The flavor of each is brilliantly evoked and its relative merits or demerits assessed. At the same time, John Sutherland shows how the work fits into a broader context--whether that of the author's life or of other books from the same genre or period. And he offers endless snippets of intriguing information: did you know, for example, that the Nazis banned \u003ci\u003eBambi\u003c\/i\u003e or that William Faulkner wrote \u003ci\u003eAs I Lay Dying\u003c\/i\u003e on an upturned wheelbarrow; that Voltaire completed \u003ci\u003eCandide\u003c\/i\u003e in three days, or that Anna Sewell was paid £20 for \u003ci\u003eBlack Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e? Encyclopedic and entertaining by turns, this is a wonderful dip-in book, whose opinions will inform and on occasion, no doubt, infuriate. It is also effectively a history of the novel in 500 or so bite-sized pieces.\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"Random House UK","offers":[{"title":"How to Be Well Read: A Guide to 500 Great Novels and a Handful of Literary Curiosities | John Sutherland | Hardcover | 9781847946409 | Used: Very Good | Literary Criticism 1760533 (temp: 7)","offer_id":49202263163032,"sku":"1760533","price":7.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0492\/1609\/4360\/files\/71Ta1iU5C4L.jpg?v=1780869856","url":"https:\/\/roundaboutbookstore.com\/products\/how-to-be-well-read-a-guide-to-500-great-novels-and-a-handful-of-literary-curiosities","provider":"Roundabout Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}