The Dolphin reader

by Douglas Hunt

1. Some Ways of Knowing Adrienne Rich, Claiming an Education Samuel Scudder, Learning to See Carol Bly, Growing Up Expressive Jacob Bronowski, The Creative Mind William G. Perry, Jr., Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts Vincent G. Dethier, Extracting Information from a Fly Linda Hogan, Hearing Voices William L. Rodman, When Questions Are Answers 2. Some Reasons for Writing George Orwell, Why I Write David Bradley, The Faith Richard Rodriguez, Mr. Secrets Adrienne Rich, When We Dead Writing as Re-Vision George Orwell, Politics and the English Language Joan Didion, Why I Write 3. Community Scott Russell Sanders, The Common Life Robert Putnam, Bowling America's Declining Social Capital Katha Pollitt, For Whom the Ball Rolls H.D.F. Kitto, The Polis James Baldwin, Fifth Avenue, A Letter from Harlem Jane Jacobs, The Uses of Sidewalks Susan Glaspell, Trifles (drama) 4. Femininity and Masculinity Susan Brownmiller, Femininity Annie Dillard, Samson in Chains Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff Katha Pollitt, The Smurfette Principle Jan Morris, To Everest Noel Perrin, The Androgynous Man JoAnn Wypijewski, A Boy's Life Gloria Steinem, Sex, Lies, and Advertising John Steinbeck, The Chrysanthemums (fiction) 5. What's So Bad About Being Poor? Charles Murray, What's So Bad About Being Poor? Gary Soto, Black Hair E.M. Forster, My Wood John Kenneth Galbraith, How to Get the Poor Off Our Conscience Clarence Darrow, Address to the Prisoners in Cook County Jail Sallie Tisdale, Good Soldiers Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving Alice Walker, Everyday Use (fiction) 6. On the Job Dorothy L. Sayers, Living to Work Studs Terkel, Two Prefaces from Working Carol Bly, Getting Tired Sue Hubbell, Beekeeper Paul Roberts, Virtual Grub Street Perri Klass, Learning the Language William Carlos Williams, Jean Biecke (fiction) 7. Faith and Practice E.M. Forster, What I Believe Patricia Nelson Limerick, Believing in the American West Huston Smith, The Straight Path of Islam Robert Kegan, The Mitzvah of Kaporis Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail Flannery O'Connor, Revelation (fiction) 8. Progress and Its Price Daniel Boorstin, Technology and Democracy Alice Bloom, On a Greek Holiday C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man Barbara Ehrenreich, Spudding Out Randall Jarrell, A Sad Heart at the Supermarket E.M. Forster, The Machine Stops (fiction) 9. Their Lives and Times Lytton Strachey, Florence Nightingale Joan Didion, Slouching Toward Bethlehem Roger Angell, In the Country Katherine Boo, After Welfare

Genres: Literature, Nonfiction

1127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jobie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve started this repeatedly and never finished it until now.

I bought this book years ago used so it is an older edition than the one listed.

I liked at least 90% of the essays. I gave myself permission to skim through what I did enjoy but I only found my self doing that for a handful of essays. Maybe I skimmed five total. I would say 75% of the essays are actually enjoyed reading. They were all well written some of them were a little bit more complicated than they needed to be but that was probably the style of the writer.

[Kimberly]

This was the best academic literature book. I still have it now, with the binding held together with duck tape.

[Susan C Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a find… this was on a cart outside of Bonner’s Books in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho. I can see how this was probably a textbook for college English classes but I think it stands alone as a wonderful essay collection. Most of the contributions are by well-known writers throughout history and arranged by subjects such as Progress, Art and Sport, and Journeys to name just a few.
This wonderful collection reminded me of a journal, Lapham’s Quarterly, published by The American Agora Foundation, that I have missed since it shut down with the death of the president, Lewis Latham. Each issue focused on one broad subject such as money or water or home and contained writings by well-known authors on that subject.

I hope that either a new edition of The Dolphin Reader or a new launch of Lapham’s Quarterly happens soon!

I believe several editions of The Dolphin Reader have been published but this is the original edition published in 1986.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another English class textbook. It has some great selections to read (83 in all), but it is broken down into 8 thematic units to help the reader focus on what issues is being addressed.
They are: Initiation (the rite of passage from childhood to
adulthood)
Femininity and Masculinity (forming of sexual
identities)
Communities (how we are shaped by the place we
live in)
Insiders and Outsiders (social differences within
the communities and the struggle to find our
niche)
Nature and Civilization (are we a part of nature
or apart from it)
Work and Economy (challenges the assumption that
work and income are democratic)
Media (examines our perceptions of life to find
out whether the reality of the media is real)
Understanding (highlights the difference between
learning and real understanding)

[Phyllis]

textbook