Reading for My Life
by John Leonard
Writings, 1958-2008
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
39%
Critic Reviews: 12
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Synopsis
A landmark collection of essays on literature and culture from one of America's most beloved and influential critics Right up until his death in 2008, John Leonard was a lion in American letters. A passionate, erudite, and wide-ranging critic, he helped shape the landscape of modern literature. He reviewed the most celebrated writers of his age—from Kurt Vonnegut and Joan Didion to Thomas Pynchon and Michael Chabon. He also contributed many pieces on... more
About John Leonard
- All Critics: 12
- Positive: 5
- Negative: 7
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The New York Times | 16 Mar 2012
And sometimes Leonard’s prose preens too much and comes off as cute or glib.
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Book Forum | 14 Mar 2012
There's also Leonard on E. L. Doctorow, Toni Morrison, Vaclav Havel, Kurt Vonnegut, Edward Said, Philip Roth, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Peggy Noonan, to name just some of the highlights.
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Slate | 3 Mar 2012
This greatest-hits package doubles—and triples and scores—as a history of global culture and American literature, as a shadow canon and an intellectual history.
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Open Letters Monthly
The combination of all these things has the (inadvertent?) result of making the book seem like an extended eulogy, which is something Leonard himself would almost certainly have chuckled at.
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The Millions | 22 Mar 2012
His love of good writing is not only infectious, it’s also mind-expanding because his tastes were so elastic and catholic.
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The Daily Beast | 17 Mar 2012
Sure, sometimes you yearn for more exposition, but Leonard commands love and devotion, much like that required of a parent taking care of an ADHD child.
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Los Angeles Times | 18 Mar 2012
As a writer, Leonard could be lapidary; some of the essays and reviews here meander, getting lost in language, in digression, although to his credit, he almost always makes it back.
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Kirkus Reviews | 1 Jan 2012
(Many readers, however, will be disappointed to find no external indications of when and where the piece initially appeared.)
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Tulsa World | 1 Apr 2012
Sometimes, the intensity of Leonard's style and the obsessive lengths at which he treats some topics (GÃ1/4nter Grass, for example, or Pynchon's "Vineland") gets wearing.
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NY Daily News | 22 Mar 2012
Above all, he endowed his words with vitality - that is the greatest lesson one can learn from his work.
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NY Observer | 27 Mar 2012
Not that there aren’t big omissions (referring to essays included in book).
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Freelance Intellectual | 8 Apr 2012
In a world of cold, academic criticism, Leonard shows us what it means to have a personal connection with culture.
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