A little too verbose and grammatically pretentious for my liking; however, I did glean helpful insights that I will definitely put into practice when reading classical literature in the future. ( )

Somewhat interesting collection of recommendations. I added seventeen to my reading list. The essays are short enough to provoke or denounce interest within the first few sentences and the essays do not give away too much of the stories they review. ( )

A fine collection of reviews and synopses of some of the great books throughout history, written in such a way as to present them in the best possible light to the literate reader. Kanigel's reviews are brief (about two pages), engaging and informative, effectively communicating his reasons for liking each book. The selections are roughly grouped by category and are eclectic, including some books or authors I hadn't heard of, and some very well-known. There are some books here I will continue to not read, and some that I am intrigued enough by the reviews to give them a shot. The eighty books do not comprise a "best ever" list by any means, but they do make up an interesting cross-sample of human creativity in literature. ( )