Wendy Lesser - Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books

In Why I Read, Lesser draws on a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing to describe a life lived in and through literature. As Lesser examines work from such perspectives as “Character and Plot,” “Novelty,” “Grandeur and Intimacy,” and “Authority,” the reader will discover a definition of literature that is as broad as it is broad-minded. In addition to novels and stories, Lesser explores plays, poems, and essays, along with mysteries, science fiction, and memoirs. Her passion for reading is infectious—and it resonates on every page.

Wendy Lesser is the founder and editor of The Threepenny Review. She is the author of eight previous books of nonfiction and one novel, most recently the prizewinning book Music for Silence Voices: Shostakovich and His Fifteen String Quartets. She has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Times Literary Supplement, among other publications, and divides her time between Berkeley, California, and New York City.

 

 

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