books about: criticism

books about: criticism

books:

Criticism

The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide (Twilight Saga)
Stephenie Meyer

Little, Brown Young Readers, 2008

Fans of the #1 New York Times bestselling Twilight Saga will treasure this definitive official guide! This must-have hardcover edition--the only official guide--is the definitive encyclopedic reference to the Twilight Saga and provides readers with everything they need to further explore the unforgettable world Stephenie Meyer created in ...

Letter to My Daughter

Maya Angelou

Random House, 2008

Absolutely inspiring; I couldn't put it down
"I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian and Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am ...

Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile

Rob Bell, Don Golden

Zondervan, 2008

rob's best book yet
rob bell's newest book (his third) is his best one yet, i believe. his main premise is that the bible should be read as the story of exile and reconciliation. and he traces this storyline throughout the narrative arc of scripture. peppered with the storytelling that ...

The Gate House
Nelson DeMille

Grand Central Publishing, 2008

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille delivers the long-awaited follow-up to his classic novel The Gold Coast . When John Sutter's aristocratic wife killed her mafia don lover, John left America and set out in his sailboat on a three-year journey around the world, eventually settling in London. Now, ten years later, he has come ...

Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays

David Foster Wallace

Back Bay Books, 2007

Smart, eclectic, and hilariously funny.
Full disclosure: I have a major intellectual crush on David Foster Wallace. Yes, yes, I know about his weaknesses - the digressions, the rampant footnote abuse, the flaunting of his amazing erudition, the mess that is 'Infinite Jest'. I know all this, and I don't care. ...

Indignation

Philip Roth

Houghton Mifflin, 2008

There Will Be Blood
Butchery and blood are recurring images in Philip Roth's scalding new novel which is probably his darkest comedy since Sabbath's Theater. The images are shocking yet appropriate since this little novel deals with a big subject: what someone once called "the ...

A Most Wanted Man

John le Carre

Scribner, 2008

The Nuances of the Spying Game
I have always wanted to be spy or a spook in the spying game vernacular. After reading John Le Carre's first novel, 'A Call For The Dead' and meeting George Smiley, I imagined myself in a trench coat hiding in corners. I then went on to read every book written by John ...

Divine Justice
David Baldacci

Grand Central Publishing, 2008

Following the instant # 1 New York Times bestseller Stone Cold, Oliver Stone and the Camel Club return in David Baldacci's most surprising thriller yet . . . Known by his alias, "Oliver Stone," John Carr is the most wanted man in America . With two pulls of the trigger, the men who destroyed Stone's life and kept him in the shadows ...

Nothing to Be Frightened Of

Julian Barnes

Knopf, 2008

Lively Thoughts on Death
Novelist Julian Barnes thinks a lot about death. And he doesn't like it; he describes himself as "one who wouldn't mind dying as long as I didn't end up dead afterwards." Naturally death has been part of some of his books, but in _Nothing to Be Frightened Of_ ...

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments

David Foster Wallace

Back Bay Books, 1998

Sheer genius.
David Foster Wallace is one awesomely smart guy. This is both his greatest strength and his potential Achilles heel as a writer. Personally, I will read anything this man writes, because I think he is a true genius with a rare sense of compassion, and a hilarious sense ...

Night (Oprah's Book Club)

Elie Wiesel

Hill and Wang, 2006

Elie, a brave boy and a survivor
Night is a book that truly makes you think and feel. What happened to the Jewish people is devastatingly awful.My mom homeschools my siblings and they chose to listen to Night on audio tape. Everyone was enraptured in Elie's story wanting to know what happened to him. ...

Hot Mahogany

Stuart Woods

Putnam Adult, 2008

Stuart Woods Continues to Entertain
Stone Barrington and his "friends and lovers" provide another exciting story. Funny, good plot, and great ending say it all. The author made one error in the book and I was able to email him and tell him of the correction. Did not take away from a wonderful story.

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

Del Rey, 1987

Ominous reading
I remember seeing the movie based on this book with Oskar Werner and Julie Christie when I was a teenager and discussing it with my teachers. As you read the book many similarities can be seen today, such as large billboards, people not talking to each other, a society ...

The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien

Broadway, 1998

Thought Provoking, Thoughtful, Emotional
Read this book over 10 years ago for high school. It was one of those that really made you think, put you in the state of mind and emotions of the character. A bit depressing - but within context of being a soldier in a war that you did not want to be in; it was pretty ...

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Scribner, 1999

Classic romance and tale of a man who isn't exactly what he seems
Set in the Roarin' Twenties, this unforgetable classic is a romance as well as the story of Jay Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald told the story in a unique way, through the voice of Nick Carraway, an impartial aquaintace of both Gatsby and Daisy. Details of the golden ...