Synopsis
A profound, funny and uplifting collection of reminiscences about a life in books.
Here are forty texts to read at some stage in your life: forty texts that can enrich you in all manner of ways.
Some are recent, like Harry Potter; some ancient, like Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world’s great novels, from George Eliot’s Middlemarch to Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
Our guide, in entertaining short essays about personal encounters with each of these works, is Michael McGirr: schoolteacher and former priest, reviewer of hundreds of novels and lifelong lover of literature. His humour and insight shine through in stories that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them.
Never prescriptive, and often very funny, this book is an invitation to reflect on—and share with others—the extraordinary gift of reading. ‘It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,’ McGirr writes. ‘The excitement has never worn off.’
Great literature is thrilling. It will feed your hungry mind and take your heart on a journey. It will help you on the path of one of life’s most elusive and hard-won freedoms, freedom from the ego.
Michael McGirr is the bestselling author of Snooze: The Lost Art of Sleep, Things You Get for Free and Bypass. He has reviewed almost one thousand books for various newspapers; his short fiction has appeared in Australian and overseas publications; and he has been a publisher of Eureka Street and fiction editor at Meanjin.
He teaches at St Kevin’s College in Melbourne.
‘McGirr is an inspired synthesiser, serious in intent even while riotous in execution.’
Eureka Street on Snooze: The Lost Art of Sleep
‘His anecdotes will make you laugh out loud. If you haven’t read any books by him before, seek them out’.
Good Reading
‘Readers will come for the humour, but they’ll stay for McGirr’s haunting memories…brimming with lyrical insight and earthy humour, this debut is a rare treat’.
Publishers Weekly on Things You Get For Free
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Books that Saved My Life: Reading for Wisdom, Solace and Pleasure.
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Books that Saved My Life: Reading for Wisdom, Solace and Pleasure (Paperback)
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Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2019
ISBN 10: 192226847X
ISBN 13: 9781922268471
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Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A profound, funny and uplifting collection of reminiscences about a life in books, now available in a smaller, competitively priced format.Great literature is thrilling. It will feed your hungry mind and take your heart on a journey. It will help you on the wonderful path to one of life's most elusive and hard-won freedoms, freedom from the ego.Here is a book about the sheer joy of living, exploring forty texts that can enrich us in all manner of ways. Some are recent, such as Harry Potter; some ancient, such as Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world's great novels, from George Eliot's Middlemarch to Toni Morrison's Beloved. This book uses them to muse upon life in all its glorious complexity.Our guide, in entertaining short accounts of personal encounters with these works, is Michael McGirr- schoolteacher and father, reviewer of hundreds of books and lifelong lover of literature. His humour and insight shine through in essays that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them.This is the ideal companion for a keen reader-and it may just inspire someone you know to become one, too. Never prescriptive, and often very funny, Books that Saved My Life is an invitation to reflect on the extraordinary gift of reading. 'It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,' McGirr writes. 'The excitement has never worn off.' A profound, funny and uplifting collection of reminiscences about a life in books, now available in a smaller, competitively priced format. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781922268471
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Books that Saved My Life: Reading for Wisdom, Solace and Pleasure (Paperback)
Published by
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ISBN 10: 192226847X
ISBN 13: 9781922268471
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Seller: AussieBookSeller, Truganina, VIC, Australia
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Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A profound, funny and uplifting collection of reminiscences about a life in books, now available in a smaller, competitively priced format.Great literature is thrilling. It will feed your hungry mind and take your heart on a journey. It will help you on the wonderful path to one of life's most elusive and hard-won freedoms, freedom from the ego.Here is a book about the sheer joy of living, exploring forty texts that can enrich us in all manner of ways. Some are recent, such as Harry Potter; some ancient, such as Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world's great novels, from George Eliot's Middlemarch to Toni Morrison's Beloved. This book uses them to muse upon life in all its glorious complexity.Our guide, in entertaining short accounts of personal encounters with these works, is Michael McGirr- schoolteacher and father, reviewer of hundreds of books and lifelong lover of literature. His humour and insight shine through in essays that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them.This is the ideal companion for a keen reader-and it may just inspire someone you know to become one, too. Never prescriptive, and often very funny, Books that Saved My Life is an invitation to reflect on the extraordinary gift of reading. 'It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,' McGirr writes. 'The excitement has never worn off.' A profound, funny and uplifting collection of reminiscences about a life in books, now available in a smaller, competitively priced format. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781922268471
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Books that Saved My Life: Reading for Wisdom, Solace and Pleasure (Paperback)
Published by
Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2019
ISBN 10: 192226847X
ISBN 13: 9781922268471
New
Paperback
Seller: CitiRetail, Stevenage, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A profound, funny and uplifting collection of reminiscences about a life in books, now available in a smaller, competitively priced format.Great literature is thrilling. It will feed your hungry mind and take your heart on a journey. It will help you on the wonderful path to one of life's most elusive and hard-won freedoms, freedom from the ego.Here is a book about the sheer joy of living, exploring forty texts that can enrich us in all manner of ways. Some are recent, such as Harry Potter; some ancient, such as Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world's great novels, from George Eliot's Middlemarch to Toni Morrison's Beloved. This book uses them to muse upon life in all its glorious complexity.Our guide, in entertaining short accounts of personal encounters with these works, is Michael McGirr- schoolteacher and father, reviewer of hundreds of books and lifelong lover of literature. His humour and insight shine through in essays that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them.This is the ideal companion for a keen reader-and it may just inspire someone you know to become one, too. Never prescriptive, and often very funny, Books that Saved My Life is an invitation to reflect on the extraordinary gift of reading. 'It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,' McGirr writes. 'The excitement has never worn off.' A profound, funny and uplifting collection of reminiscences about a life in books, now available in a smaller, competitively priced format. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781922268471
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