One of America's finest essayists writes about 40 literary masterpieces that have been wrongfully forgotten or were ignored in the first place.
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Jan 21, 2012
When I started my own book blog a few years ago, it was for the vague purpose of making note of books that were by and large obscure and forgotten, yet deserving of wider acquaintance. Little did I know that Noel Perrin (among, I am sure, others) had had a similar idea many years before. He had published dozens of short reviews of such books in the Washington Post, and it is these that are collected in A Reader’s Delight.[return][return]I consider myself fairly well read, but Perrin has noted
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Jan 19, 2009
Cera
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This is an enjoyable collection of super-short essays (between 4-6 pages apiece, as I recall) about unappreciated books that Perrin loves. I last read it in September, 2004, and marked down most of his recommendations only to (as so often happens) fail to follow up on them. I was thus pleasantly surprised when I decided to reread it to discover that quite a few books I've fallen in love with since then are noted in Perrin's text. As I realised this time through, however, his reviews often don
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Apr 06, 2011
Kathleen
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I love books about books. I cherish this one in particular because it has led me to so many others I might never have discovered. Perrin endeavors to provide the world with a list of books which, in his opinion, deserve more attention than they have received. They are not the best books of all time, they are simply some very good books, which have fallen into an undeserved obscurity. It is very difficult to read Perrin's impassioned paeans to the books he loves without succumbing to the urg
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Nov 30, 2008
Lisa
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While a great book is hard to beat, a good book about great books is a sturdy second. In this charming and chatty book, Noel Perrin, book lover and professor of enviromental studies, unearths 40 more or less
forgotten gems with, as he says, "its simple purpose[being] to steer people toward a winter's worth or a summer's worth of unusually pleasing reading." I have read as many of the books mentioned as I could or have yet found and have not yet been dissapointed. I bookcrossed my More...
forgotten gems with, as he says, "its simple purpose[being] to steer people toward a winter's worth or a summer's worth of unusually pleasing reading." I have read as many of the books mentioned as I could or have yet found and have not yet been dissapointed. I bookcrossed my More...
Mar 04, 2011
Lobstergirl
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I love the idea behind this - unearthing truly neglected books worth reading. I don't like Perrin's writing style, PBS/NPR self-satisfied, yet aimed low, at precocious 9th graders rather than adults who are fairly familiar with literature. (If he were an economics correspondent, he would be Paul Solman.) It's annoying enough that I won't read any more of him.
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Sep 05, 2011
Tim
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I loved the little essays in Perrin's collection, A Reader's Delight. He introduces and recommends lesser known works and it has added to this reader's reading list. I have even already read William Dean Howell's Indian Summer and found it all Perrin said it would be. A great work to dip into at your leisure.
Oct 13, 2010
Lesli
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A Reader's Delight is a series of reviews of books the author considers to be "unknown classics." It is one of the books I most highly recommend. Every book that I have read so far that he recommends, I have greatly enjoyed.
Dec 31, 2007
That's a literal title. I had heard of a few of Perrin's authors or titles (Robert Graves, Joseph Mitchell, Guard of Honor, A Fine and Private Place) and now, solely on the his enticing, enchanting essays, I want to read them all. And even if Perrin is wrong (which I doubt) and the books' obscurity deserved, I shall have delighted in Perrin's essays themselves, which are as masterful as the books they tout.
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Nov 28, 2008
Everyone should read some Noel Perrin. He recommends so many of my favorites in A Readers Delight. Including Watership Down , A fine and private place, and one by the lesser Inkling...about a strange London...check it out
Jul 24, 2011
dipping in this collection of essays and quite enjoying it. it's basically about books - obscure and otherwise - that perrin has loved and feels others would....
Oct 25, 2007
Beverly
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Wonderful set of reviews of Perrin's favorite not-quite-classics, some of which I'd actually read myself. A great reference for finding my next good read.
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