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A tribute to the powers of reading, one of our most undervalued skills. Explains how we can read better, alongside some of the greatest readers, such as Borges, Plato and Woolf. It's an ideal gift for any avid reader.
About the author
Damon Young is a prize-winning philosopher and writer. He is the author or editor of thirteen books, including The Art of Reading, How to Think About Exercise, Philosophy in the Garden, and Distraction. His works have been translated into eleven languages, and he has also written poetry, short fiction, and children’s fiction. Young is an Associate in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne.
Summary
A beautiful celebratory tribute to the powers of one of our most undervalued skills — an ideal gift for the avid reader.
‘What you are doing right now is, cosmically speaking, against the odds.’
As young children, we are taught to read, but soon go on to forget just how miraculous a process it is, this turning of scratches and dots into understanding, unease and inspiration. Perhaps we need to stop and remember, stop and learn again how to read better.
Damon Young shows us how to do exactly this, walking alongside some of the greatest readers who light a path for us — Borges, Plato, Woolf. Young reads passionately, selectively, surprisingly — from superhero noir to speculative realism, from Heidegger to Heinlein — and shows his reader how cultivating their inner critic can expand their own lives as well as the lives of those on the pages of the books they love.
Foreword
A beautiful celebratory tribute to the powers of one of our most undervalued skills - an ideal gift for the avid reader.
Additional text
‘The erudite, sometimes playful Australian philosopher and columnist is the most avid of readers.’
