One of my students told me she was reading my book – this in a course where I didn’t give grades – and asked me if I had a list of all the books that are mentioned in it. I didn’t but, intrigued, I made one yesterday. They number 60, and include everything from Homer’s The Iliad (read in a college course I audited before a visit to Greece) to T.R. Reid’s The Healing of America. The author with the most books referenced is Paul Theroux (5), followed closely by Graham Greene (4). Twenty-six writers appear without their books, from W.H. Auden to Rebecca West. There’s even a mention, in the last chapter, of my previous book. Perhaps my next book should be The Joys of Reading.
