A review by hpuphd
A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz

5.0

I have read lots and lots of books about literature in the line of grad student or English professor duty. This one, I think, is the best--most engaging, most human, most insightful. It shows how with skillful and receptive reading, literature can change people. It suggests that to be a better, more discerning reader is to be a more sensitive person capable of meaningful change, and I think that hits on a key truth about the power and endurance of literature. Great books don't last generation after generation because they're assigned in class. It's because their style and substance, experienced properly, provide us with the soul-shaking moments that change and deepen us. The book is written to a general audience rather than to scholars (which also may be something that adds to the appeal).