We Are What We Read: A Life Within and Without Books

by Vybarr Cregan-Reid

Vybarr Cregan-Reid is an unlikely academic. Someone who knows what it's like to be written off, who left school with no qualifications, who desperately needed a second chance. He also understands better than anyone the power of literature to change a life.

From a turbulent start, through a disastrous education, truancy and petty crime, to a distinguished career as an English professor, We Are What We Read weaves Vybarr's own unexpected life in books with a spirited history of the war on the humanities, uncovering the profound impact that books have in shaping our reality at a time when their value is under attack from governments around the world.

Part memoir, part manifesto, part history, We Are What We Read is not just about how education can place you back on the right side of the tracks. It is also a rallying cry for the importance of literature in a world where the arts are being squeezed out at every level and where book bans in schools and libraries have surged to record highs. It's about the joys and the transformational power of reading and how our brains are rewired by books, exploring how literature offers a vital means of connection in a fractured world. Reading is not merely an escape – it's an essential part of who we are.

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2024

About the author

Vybarr Cregan-Reid, Ph.D., is an author and academic. He is Reader in English and Environmental Humanities in the School of English at the University of Kent.

Reviews

[Mrs N E Hartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve just finished this book and my mind is reeling with so many “yes! Exactly!” moments. What an incredible journey the author has had against so many odds - I hope that the people who are such pivotal signposters in our lives, on some level, recognise their impact. I was chided for reading The Magic Faraway tree aged 13 by a teacher in front of all my peers. For context, by 13 I’d had open heart surgery, lost a sister and was living in a caravan with my mother … I think the escapism was warranted but it stopped me reading for about 15 yrs. This book also talks about the necessary value of humanities and arts subjects. As a music graduate and eventually a paramedic and lecturer, I’ve seen the benefits arts training can have in any career. But most importantly, it’s made me understand my kids a bit better. My daughter was so creative but the curriculum had wrung it out of her , especially in English. She is bright, achieving but has lost all love for literature.. So I am reading with her. I hope books will find her again. If you love learning, literature and a beautifully written book, you should read this.

[Kirsten Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read non-fiction.
I don't read classics.

How wrong I am! I adored every word of this book, I was fascinated with Vybarr's life and how books that at one stage felt so far away shaped his life. We aren't born readers and we don't always love reading - until we find that one book that opens the flood gates.

While reading I marked so many sections so I could go back and read and again - I also marked a few classics that I feel I should perhaps read too!!

Brilliant read! A favourite of the year.

[Julia Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Teacher of English and this perfectly encapsulates why what I do is vitally important but also being completely squandered.

[Sparkling Leaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book discusses a topic that is close to my heart so expertly with such passion and honesty that I found myself underlining numerous passages (the amount of times I had to listen to "But what can you actually DO with an English Lit degree?" and "You‘re not going into teaching? That‘s a waste of a degree" is bonkers). Some passages made me laugh, many made me tear up. Having had the privilege of being taught by Vybarr, I know he instils this love for literature and the sense of its importance in his students. This gives me a flicker of hope despite the grim data that informs the discussion in this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone but especially to those who want, or need, to see how important teaching humanities is.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very needed book if only the right people get to read it. Part memoir, part defence of books (not that reading should ever need defending!) and part very pertinent critique on what is happening in arts education. Vybarr was right when he said there wouldn’t be anything in it I didn’t know but to see what I completely agree with communicated so eloquently is both heartening and reassuring- reading can and does change lives - let’s hope society beyond communities like Goodreads realises this before it’s too late!

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was missing something to really real me in. I don't think I realised that this would be more memoir than just about books and reading. There was a lot more politics and discussions of the education system than I was expecting and not what I was looking for.
I enjoyed exploring some books and authors I'd never read but feel like this book could have been shorter.

[Roberto Garza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesantes algunas partes. Otras no.