Monday, May 30, 2011

Books about books - notes for potential syllabus

It occurs to me that a general lit class about books about books (and/or reading, with a little writing thrown in) would be a pretty cool one to teach. Titles keep popping into my head, and I've decided to write them here, rather than on tiny scraps of paper which I will inevitably lose, or which some cat will puke on.

  • The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (because manuscripts don't burn)
  • People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  • Matilda by Roald Dahl (because Dahl's description of Matilda's reading is probably the best description of what reading does that I have ever encountered)
  • The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  • Misery by Stephen King
  • The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (or one of its sequels, Lost in a Good Book or The Well of Lost Plots, which last is my favorite Fforde book)
  • "The Composition" short story by Antonio Skármeta
  • "Umney's Last Case" short story by Stephen King
What others am I forgetting? There are tons of books about books, or writing or reading - these are just the ones that come immediately to my mind. What other children's or YA books need to go on the list? And can I count Un Lun Dun as a book about a book?

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