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| Author: Thomas C. Foster
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $9.86
You Save: $4.09 (29%)
Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 3902
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 006000942X
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN: 9780060009427
Publication Date: March 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 How one professor looks at literature January 29, 2006
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
This book is full of great examples of how to interpret literature. Unfortunately, it falls short on imagination and coveniently slots themes, plots and characters into several well contrived but narrow definitions. It is a good read for those studying literature but does not hold the answers that it seems to promise from the title.
 I Wish This Book Was Available When I was in High School and College July 2, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Back in the day when I was in high school and college, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren's classic tome HOW TO READ A BOOK was suggested reading for anyone who was studying literature, philosophy, or any of the other subjects of a traditional classical education. I recall one professor suggesting someone write a book called HOW TO READ MORTIMER ADLER AND CHARLES VAN DOREN'S HOW TO READ A BOOK. As I recall the book was helpful but I'm wondering if a book such as Thomas Foster's HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR would have a bit more helpful and perhaps would have given Adler and Van Doren a bit of competition.
I first saw the title a few months back when bookstores began displaying books that were required summer reading in area high schools. The selections amazed me. Staples such as HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV and A TALE OF TWO CITIES were still included in the stacks along with authors such as Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, John Updike, and Marilynne Robinson. Summer reading lists have expanded and in many cases are more challenging. I also saw HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR in the same displays. I'm not sure if teachers are requiring this book as a companion or whether the booksellers are hoping that students will buy this guide that's bound to be useful in reading and writing about literature.
The book is set up into a number of small chapters that deals with understanding literature. Each chapter has illustrations from the wide worlds of literature and Foster makes sure he includes everything from antiquity to the present day. It also includes a good bibliography as well as film suggestions (much of what Foster says can be applied to film studies as well).
Students are the obvious target audience for this book with English teachers not that far behind. My guess is that this book will be a godsend in the classroom. It will enable actual discussions about literature to start. I purchased it as a guide for a book club I belong to, and since I love to write, I've been using it to help me shape portions of my novel in progress. People who are involve din Bible Study may also find this book helpful. The Bible does contain so many universal themes in literature and like good literature, shows humanity at its bets and worst. I'm also thinking another audience will enjoy it. I know a number of people who are rereading classics or picking up books that were supposed to be read in high school and college but instead got the "Cliffs Notes" treatment. People are also reading more challenging books for personal pleasure. This book is like having an answer machine nearby and is bound to make reading more meaningful.
All literature should be taught this way March 25, 2007
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book asks of literature, "What's going on here?" and of authors, "How did you do that?" Then it supplies clear, understandable answers that surprise and enlighten and delight.
Great book for anyone May 12, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I found this book in a catalog that was sent to me at work. As I researched more about this book, I found out that many teachers across the country have thier students read it. As a high school English teacher and someone who rushed through thier English lit. degree, I was instatnly hooked. During our state testing, I have been reading it and chuckled out loud at it. It is well written and funny. It is hard to believe that you are actually learning as you read.
For Literary Understanding AND Writing Inspiration. January 28, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I saw the title of this book and thought, "Now why
would I want to read literature like a professor?"
which was probably a reflection of my professors
who sucked the passion for reading literature right
out of my veins. Too bad I didn't havev a
professor like the author if this book!
(I do have to mention the one section that upset
me, though - where he supposes that 45 year olds
are somehow to old to increase their self-knowledge
as a "Quester"...this was in his summary of
"Every trip is a quest." I beg to differ on this
one... and in fact, I wonder how many of this
books readers are over 45 years old and are
actually questing through reading this book
and applying the principles found therein?)
So now that this one opinion of "The Professiorial
Doubting Thomas C. Foster" set aside.... I will also
say that this book was eye-opening and evocative and
nearly each page had something wise that I could
immediately use and apply to my own learning
process and discovery as both a reader and a writer.
Writers would find a lot of gold here, too - so
I strongly suggest it be added to any writer's
library as well.
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