What do you think?
Rate this book
What Is a Book?
In What Is a Book? David Kirby addresses the making and consuming of literature by redefining the four components of the act of reading: writer, reader, critic, and book. He discusses his students, his work, and his practice as a teacher, writer, critic, and reader, and positions his theories and opinions as products of "real" life as much as academic exercise. Among the ideas animating the book are Kirby's beliefs that "devotion is more important than dissection" and "practice is more important than theory."
Covering an impressive range of writers--from Emerson, Poe, and Melville to James Dickey, Charles Wright, Richard Howard, Susan Montez, and others--Kirby considers the evolution of critical theory from the nineteenth century to the late twentieth and explores the role of criticism in contemporary culture. Drawing from his experience writing poetry and reading to children at a local housing project, he answers two of his four central questions: "What is a reader?" and "What is a writer?" In the largest section of the book, "What Is a Critic?," Kirby demonstrates his passionate engagement with the function of the critic in literary culture and offers both overviews and close examinations of literary theory, book reviewing, and the historical background of criticism from its earliest beginnings. In the final section of the book, he addresses the question "What is a book?" with an examination of the reading preferences of older readers. Kirby's analysis of those responses, along with his own notions of the literary canon, is an insightful excursion into how books are valued.
Deeply learned and wonderfully entertaining, What Is a Book? is a lucid look at the whole of literary culture. Kirby makes us think about the books we love and why we love them.
Covering an impressive range of writers--from Emerson, Poe, and Melville to James Dickey, Charles Wright, Richard Howard, Susan Montez, and others--Kirby considers the evolution of critical theory from the nineteenth century to the late twentieth and explores the role of criticism in contemporary culture. Drawing from his experience writing poetry and reading to children at a local housing project, he answers two of his four central questions: "What is a reader?" and "What is a writer?" In the largest section of the book, "What Is a Critic?," Kirby demonstrates his passionate engagement with the function of the critic in literary culture and offers both overviews and close examinations of literary theory, book reviewing, and the historical background of criticism from its earliest beginnings. In the final section of the book, he addresses the question "What is a book?" with an examination of the reading preferences of older readers. Kirby's analysis of those responses, along with his own notions of the literary canon, is an insightful excursion into how books are valued.
Deeply learned and wonderfully entertaining, What Is a Book? is a lucid look at the whole of literary culture. Kirby makes us think about the books we love and why we love them.
- GenresNonfiction
221 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 30, 2025
DNF
It started to be really repetitive/ not make sense for me.
It started to be really repetitive/ not make sense for me.
March 17, 2012
In this collection of essays, Kirby analyzes reading and writing through a four-part framework:
What is a reader?;
What is a writer?;
What is a critic?; and
What is a book?
As a poet and English professor, he laments that poetry is not often what comes to mind when someone is asked about books and/or writers they love. However, his analysis is both fair and thoughtful which makes for an excellent read.
Some of the essays seem a little tangential but Kirby includes them to dispell readers of the notion of inaccessibility of poetry. "A poem is a quick chat over the fence with a neighbor, someone who is smarter than you are and maybe even a little intimidating, whereas a novel is familiar and domestic, a week- or month-long presence on your end table or by your bed." (p.199)
It did make me think quite a bit about why I don't read more poetry. I realized that, for me, it is all about context. I love the poets/poems I love because I know about the poets' lives and thus I feel like I understand from where their poetry stems. Essentially, in order for me to enjoy or appreciate the over-the-fence chat, I need a little biographical background about my neighbor.
What is a reader?;
What is a writer?;
What is a critic?; and
What is a book?
As a poet and English professor, he laments that poetry is not often what comes to mind when someone is asked about books and/or writers they love. However, his analysis is both fair and thoughtful which makes for an excellent read.
Some of the essays seem a little tangential but Kirby includes them to dispell readers of the notion of inaccessibility of poetry. "A poem is a quick chat over the fence with a neighbor, someone who is smarter than you are and maybe even a little intimidating, whereas a novel is familiar and domestic, a week- or month-long presence on your end table or by your bed." (p.199)
It did make me think quite a bit about why I don't read more poetry. I realized that, for me, it is all about context. I love the poets/poems I love because I know about the poets' lives and thus I feel like I understand from where their poetry stems. Essentially, in order for me to enjoy or appreciate the over-the-fence chat, I need a little biographical background about my neighbor.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews