“It’s not that I don’t like people,” writes Maureen Corrigan in her introduction to Leave Me Alone, I’m Readingread full description
reviews
Jan 01, 2012
Teji
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As a true book lover, I was drawn to this book by the title.
However, I found the book a little disjointed and less about the joy of reading books in general, less about the transportive effect of books, and more a literary analysis of various books thrown in amongst various autobiographical bits of the author's life.
Also, I have a bit of a "pebble in my shoe" issue after reading this book. I very much dislike it when authors throw in certain "facts" More...
However, I found the book a little disjointed and less about the joy of reading books in general, less about the transportive effect of books, and more a literary analysis of various books thrown in amongst various autobiographical bits of the author's life.
Also, I have a bit of a "pebble in my shoe" issue after reading this book. I very much dislike it when authors throw in certain "facts" More...
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Mar 03, 2008
Veronika
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So let's start off with a couple of things. First off, I love NPR. I love Fresh Air. I love NPR. Maureen Corrigan being the book reviewer for NPR= extreme jealously/worship. Second off, I adore books about books. I could read books about books all day forever and ever. Ok now that we have that established...forward march!
I really did enjoy this memoir, I loved how she incorporated books into nearly everything and I was laughing out loud more than a few times just out of sheer disbeli More...
I really did enjoy this memoir, I loved how she incorporated books into nearly everything and I was laughing out loud more than a few times just out of sheer disbeli More...
Mar 31, 2009
Melanie
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I love this book.
I love this book even though it has complicated my life by adding dozens and dozens of books to the list of books I will never have time to read, dammit.
** Maureen Corrigan is related to Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
** She once lived a part-time approximation of Harriet Vane in Gaudy Night.
** Her literary loves include mysteries with hard-boiled detectives ("the ultimate independent contractors").
** As a child, she read man More...
I love this book even though it has complicated my life by adding dozens and dozens of books to the list of books I will never have time to read, dammit.
** Maureen Corrigan is related to Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
** She once lived a part-time approximation of Harriet Vane in Gaudy Night.
** Her literary loves include mysteries with hard-boiled detectives ("the ultimate independent contractors").
** As a child, she read man More...
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Oct 30, 2011
Alicia
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Corrigan is the book critic for NPR's Fresh Air. Even if you don't recognize the name, you've probably heard her voice before. I like her reviews--I frequently read books based on her recommendations--and I was excited to read about what it's like to be a professional book reviewer. Clearly it's a busy life: Corrigan is also a teacher at Georgetown (as she herself admits, books just don't usually pay the bills), and reviews for numerous other publications. This book is a (not-entirely successful
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Oct 15, 2011
Roberta
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This is Corrigan's auto-biography in books--what she has read and how they influenced and reflected her life. Corrigan reads a different set of material than I do--books a PhD in literature would read. Authors and books I've never heard of. Classics. Nevertheless, in the bibliography, it was interesting for me to also find some books I have enjoyed, particularly mysteries. I thoroughly enjoyed Chapter Three called "They're Writing Songs of Love, but Not for Me;" Gaudy Night and Other
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Jul 17, 2011
Scott
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This book is what happens when a book reviewer turns her critical eye to her own existence. Any avid reader should appreciate the importance of books in one's own life and how they shape those who read. Corrigan says, apologetically, that we read to find authenticity, a scrap of something that will improve our understanding of ourselves. Perhaps. She says that reading a book can be a dangerous thing sometimes. True.
Peppered with examples from books she has read, this is a kind of More...
Peppered with examples from books she has read, this is a kind of More...
Jul 28, 2009
Elizabeth
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NPR fans may know Corrigan from her book commentaries. This is a nicely rambling and chatty series of essays looking at how the books one reads and the events of one's life become intertwined. This was a joy to read -- first, because I think it's easy for fiction readers to relate to the issues Corrigan explores, and second, I've happened to have read nearly every book Corrigan addresses. This is somewhat rare, even among the rabid reader set. Usually, when authors talk about their favorite or m
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Apr 09, 2009
Erica
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Maureen Corrigan -- professor, literary critic and reviewer for NPR talks about her love of books and how particular genres shaped her life.
A cross between lit crit and memoir, Corrigan makes some interesting arguments -- her idea of a Female Extreme Adventure as being something more internal and consisting of years, rather than a multi-month trek in the wilderness favored by rustic men, is compelling.
She weaves stories from her own life into the books she turns to for c More...
A cross between lit crit and memoir, Corrigan makes some interesting arguments -- her idea of a Female Extreme Adventure as being something more internal and consisting of years, rather than a multi-month trek in the wilderness favored by rustic men, is compelling.
She weaves stories from her own life into the books she turns to for c More...
Jul 25, 2009
Sera
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This book is a book about books. Well kind of... The author seems to have had difficulty in deciding whether she wanted to write a book on literary theory or to write about how certain books have had an impact on her life. Corrigan raises some interesting points on the female versus male extreme adventure reads and delves into the importance of detective fiction and the role of Catholic books in both literature and on her life, but frankly, I found the latter two subjects to be quite dull. C
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Sep 04, 2010
Kathy
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Maureen Corrigan has spent her life doing what she loves: reading and interpreting fiction as a college professor, author, and newspaper/radio critic. Her semi-autobiography uses a lifetime's reading to explore not only her own life and those of her parents, but also the role of women in Western culture, popular vs. canonical literature, and what it means to be an American. She is most effective when describing her admiration for hard-boiled detective fiction and when drawing parallels between t
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Nov 02, 2011
Kendall
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This book reads more like an essay for a literary journal, for the most part. Though she does talk about her favorite genres, and about her family and personal life, it lacks something. I don't know what.
The one thing that I LOVED, however, was the introduction. All twenty pages of it.
I may just tear out this intro and read it again and again.
There are many points in the introduction that made me stop, re-read, and soak up what she is able to put into words, such a More...
The one thing that I LOVED, however, was the introduction. All twenty pages of it.
I may just tear out this intro and read it again and again.
There are many points in the introduction that made me stop, re-read, and soak up what she is able to put into words, such a More...
Nov 25, 2010
Linda
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It was reassuring when I was living alone to have all those familiar presences in the room with me; it was also a little scary. Maybe I was turning into an eccentric whose apartment had become a macrocosmic metaphor for her own fevered mind. I know a fair number of people - some friends or acquaintance, some relatives - who would have wrinkled their noses at those cramped apartments smelling of paper. These people - let's call them the Bounderbys - see books only as commodities. (A refresher: Mr
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Sep 30, 2011
Dana
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This book could be interesting for someone who wants to get a feel for what it would be like to be a 'reader' for a living. This author reviews books for a living. And although it might sound like the best job in the world, I realized that I want to read what I want to read not what someone else wants me to read. I was not able to finish the book because I think dissecting a book takes some of the fun out of the sheer enjoyment of reading. I have read some of the books that this author mentions
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Feb 21, 2012
Nikki
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I love reading books this like, about people's personal relationship with the books they've read over the years, that have shaped them and have had a profound influence on them. How much I like this kind of book largely depends on the novels that are discussed, and that's why this particular book doesn't stand out from the pack for me. Corrigan spends a lot of time on feminism and feminist books and that just doesn't interest me very much. The same goes for the last chapter on books influenced b
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Jun 11, 2007
Lindsay
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I was really excited to read this book, but I couldn't get through all of it. I liked the introduction, but then the meat of the book reminded me (in a bad way) of my brief stint at an English major. I didn't like being tricked into reading literary criticism!
Oct 13, 2009
From Brigitte Weeks' review in The Washington Post 10/2/05:
[Maureen Corrigan:]'s enthusiasm for the novels of Susan Isaacs reflects her winning openness to popular fiction. She calls Isaacs "Jane Austen with a schmear" and judges her "one of our great underappreciated contemporary writers." I am delighted to imagine all the listeners of "Fresh Air" enjoying Isaacs's Shining Through, one of Corrigan's favorites, starring a legal secretary from Queens who More...
[Maureen Corrigan:]'s enthusiasm for the novels of Susan Isaacs reflects her winning openness to popular fiction. She calls Isaacs "Jane Austen with a schmear" and judges her "one of our great underappreciated contemporary writers." I am delighted to imagine all the listeners of "Fresh Air" enjoying Isaacs's Shining Through, one of Corrigan's favorites, starring a legal secretary from Queens who More...
Dec 26, 2009
Jason
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A book that is partly about reading, partly about the author and way too much about Victorian women's novels. The parts about losing herself and reading and the way that she found herself through that same reading is wonderful. What is less wonderful is her championing the "extreme female adventure" which is taking care of people. I am fine with a feminist argument about the trials of extended care, but Corrigan was reaching, REALLY reaching when she first proposed the idea that it is
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Oct 25, 2009
Lani
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I didn't enjoy this as much as the other book I'd read about reading (that I can't find for the life of me).
As someone who wasn't very familiar with the genres discussed in this book, I didn't get a ton out of it. This was a book that was decent, but I didn't enjoy through no real fault of the book itself. It was a book more about the author than books sometimes, and our life stories have very little in common. The genres she discusses - detective fiction and Catholic morality tales More...
As someone who wasn't very familiar with the genres discussed in this book, I didn't get a ton out of it. This was a book that was decent, but I didn't enjoy through no real fault of the book itself. It was a book more about the author than books sometimes, and our life stories have very little in common. The genres she discusses - detective fiction and Catholic morality tales More...
Jan 02, 2009
Katherine
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In this terrific book, Maureen Corrigan traces her life as a voracious bookworm. In addition, Corrigan deftly analyzes a series of her favorite books that have made the greatest impression on her over her lifetime. Throughout the text, Corrigan also explores the idea of the female adventure story while integrating her own personal adventure of adopting a baby from China.
Corrigan’s book is tightly written and thoroughly researched. Her ability to weave together such varied strands of th More...
Corrigan’s book is tightly written and thoroughly researched. Her ability to weave together such varied strands of th More...
Nov 05, 2009
jill
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I ran into one of my co-workers while I was reading this, and she suggested that I just make a copy of the cover and turn it into a dust jacket to transfer from book to book. The title really is probably the best part of the book.
My favorite section of the book was her discussion of detective fiction, which I also read a lot. I don't have the Catholic background that the author does, so the in-depth discussion of Catholic martyr books she goes into was mostly lost on me. I think she went More...
My favorite section of the book was her discussion of detective fiction, which I also read a lot. I don't have the Catholic background that the author does, so the in-depth discussion of Catholic martyr books she goes into was mostly lost on me. I think she went More...
Sep 11, 2011
Iris
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exciting title, tedious book. ugh. author works out her issues with catholic upbringing and lack-of-strong-female-role-models-in-books-by-males. she has two quotes that work against her-- "...reading good books doesn't necessarily make one a good person-- or a smarter, funnier, or more cultivated person." and "great books untouchables ... have always struck me as purring a bit too loudly over the beauty of their own sentence structure. the tone of a lot of academic literary theory
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Dec 06, 2008
Erin
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It's very cool to see some accessible-to-all lit crit that looks at the bigger picture and connects one reader's favorite books to her own life. It's also really nice to see someone analyze books not usually taken seriously (detective novels, Catholic young-adult serial novels) - it's a very fresh take. Interesting book, and one I'll keep for the extensive bibliography in the back - I definitely want to read many of the books Corrigan mentioned. The only downside: while I was reading this, no on
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Jun 28, 2011
Todd
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It really is amazing how arrogant critics and English professors can become, and for no good reason. This one begins with an arrogantly clever quotation from a contractor about how the author didn't learn anything about leaking foundations in her English classes. The entire book is a condescending collection of literary references attempting to prove she has, in fact, learned something important. Sadly, she fails. Not because we can't learn important things from a lifetime of reading, but be
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Jan 30, 2012
Laura
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It was nice to spend time with someone who loves words, books, and ideas, found a career reviewing books, and didn't enjoy the process of getting a PhD in English. I've always loved stories, but dreaded my required criticism class, and Corrigan's musings on how hard-boiled detective fiction helped get her through grad school was refreshingly honest. It's as much memoir as book recommendations, so depending on what you're looking for, that will either be enjoyable or irritating. I liked it, bu
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Sep 13, 2011
Kim
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Admittedly, I only selected this book because of a common surname, and because I enjoy the author's commentary on NPR. This is an average collection of what I'd call "reader's vignettes" - a focus on how certain pieces of literature impacted the author at various phases of life. The book also serves as a slightly preachy take on how one should be reading, and what one should be getting out of it. Which smacks of high school English classes (and how Ms Palmer ruined Lord of the Flies
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Nov 21, 2011
Robin
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A great read, full of interesting quotes and titles of well loved books. Favorite among favorite quotes from the book: "I've said that I love Pete Hamill's, A Drinking Life.But it's a paragraph Hamill wrote about the New York skyline that, for me, constitutes the most magical moment in the whole memoir. He recalls living in Brooklyn as a kid during World War II. On the evening of D day, he and his neighbors climb the stairs up to the roofs of their tenements. Hamill, who's about eight, kee
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Mar 13, 2011
Sarah
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This book is written by the book reviewer for Fresh Air on NPR, which sounded great on the flap. Little did I know, I should have stopped at the introduction. The intro was great, talking about developing and retaining a love of books throughout a lifetime. The author discusses reading as a way of searching for authenticity among books as the basis for her passion for fiction. Being out of school and understanding this is important to her ongoing development and learning, something to which I ca
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Mar 27, 2010
Janice
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Seldom does a non-fiction book draw me in like fiction, but I really enjoyed this one. Of course, much of the time Ms. Corrigan, who is a book reviewer for NPR, as well as a professor of literature at George Washington University, was talking about the fiction that she loves just as I do. Ms. Corrigan discussed what she calls the "women's extreme adventure" type of fiction, which started with books like Jane Eyre, and has now taken the form of the women detectives books that are flou
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Dec 10, 2010
Doina
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I absolutely love Fresh Air and Maureen Corrigan's book reviews. That's one of the reasons I picked up this book. Well, that and its title. I'm not usually a sucker for titles and covers but this title made me burst out laughing, and I have to say that I totally identify with that statement. I also love books about books. I found this book a little disjointed though. Something about it just didn't flow right for me. Other than that, I liked it. I love the fact that she loves hard boiled
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