A Reader’s Delight

by Noel Perrin

A Reader’s Delight collects 38 articles Perrin wrote over the course of several years as an occasional columnist for the Washington Post. Only two rules applied in selecting the books covered: “No book less than about fifteen years old was eligible;” and “no book that more than two or three of my colleagues had read got considered.”

Genres: Books About Books, Essays, Nonfiction, Reference

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

Noel Perrin was a professor of English literature, an essayist for the Washington Post, a hobbyist farmer, and a Korean War veteran.

Reviews

[Kazen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Reader's Delight is a collection of articles Perrin wrote for The Washington Post introducing older books he thinks deserve more love. He sold me on a bunch, but I was less than impressed with how white, male, and straight the collection of books was. He also badmouths and pooh-poohs romance. which means that while I'll take his recommendations and run the book itself will be leaving my house forthwith.

If you'd like to hear my in-depth thoughts they're in my November Wrap Up on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xY2Mai4rYFQ

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea behind this - unearthing truly neglected books worth reading. I don't like Perrin's writing style, PBS/NPR self-satisfied, yet aimed low, at precocious 9th graders rather than adults who are fairly familiar with literature. (If he were an economics correspondent, he would be Paul Solman.) It's annoying enough that I won't read any more of him.

[Debbiebandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating! Noel Perrin writes engagingly about books he would recommend as forgotten classics. His only parameters are that it has to be at least 15 years and not on another writer's forgotten/potential classics list. I ordered two of the books that he mentioned from used bookstores, and I hope to discover a couple of gems!

[Cera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable collection of super-short essays (between 4-6 pages apiece, as I recall) about unappreciated books that Perrin loves. I last read it in September, 2004, and marked down most of his recommendations only to (as so often happens) fail to follow up on them. I was thus pleasantly surprised when I decided to reread it to discover that quite a few books I've fallen in love with since then are noted in Perrin's text. As I realised this time through, however, his reviews often don't do a lot for me; he rarely articulates what his standards are, and when I can discern them from close reading I often find myself vehemently disagreeing with his conclusions without really understanding how he drew them. Still, it was an enjoyable afternoon of browsing, and convinced me that I really need to get around to reading Charles Williams sooner rather than later.

[Kathleen Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books about books. I cherish this one in particular because it has led me to so many others I might never have discovered. Perrin endeavors to provide the world with a list of books which, in his opinion, deserve more attention than they have received. They are not the best books of all time, they are simply some very good books, which have fallen into an undeserved obscurity. It is very difficult to read Perrin's impassioned paeans to the books he loves without succumbing to the urge to read each and every one of those books. His beautifully crafted essays are a joy to read. In fact, I have to admit that Perrin's essays occasionally make better reading than the books they are extolling. I have been disappointed in his recommendations more than once, but that's only to be expected, isn't it?

[Bryan Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed parts of this, then the library lost its copy.
Someday I'll return to it.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, Noel Perrin.....

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun collection of writings about sort of "forgotten classics" in the world of books. It was written back in the 1980's and originally started as a series of articles that the author wrote for the Washington Post (later published in book form in 1988). Each entry is about one particular book that he loves and feels is not really on any of the lists of best books or classics but deserves to be read by more people.

I love books about books so naturally this was an enjoyable read. I didn't feel it was necessarily life changing or anything, but it's fun to hear someone gush about their love for books. And because this is specifically about somewhat forgotten books, it's unique because it's not about books that are widely known (many of them are ones I had never heard of).

I will say reading it in 2024, some of the ways he talks about things are a bit outdated and the things he finds funny may not always be the same for everyone. But overall, it's apt to call it a "delight" because it's almost like those times when you browse through a really old crowded used bookstore and you never know what kind of old gems you might find hidden in those piles of books. Plus it's just nice to concentrate on books from all across the decades and centuries, and not just the latest new releases.

[Henry Sturcke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The forty short essays in this collection, first published in the Washington Post, highlight books (and two poems) that the author feels have been unjustly overlooked. Perrin doesn’t claim that they are great books but that they are good books and worth reading. It’s not meant to be a canon; rather than “you should read these,” I felt as if he were telling me, “You might find something here to enjoy.”

I turned to this while in a reading slump, unable to decide what I wanted to read next. It was the perfect antidote. I’d only read one of the books Perrin chose, and I’d never heard of several. I may never read George Ade or some of the others Perrin highlights, but I came across a dozen or so that look interesting. That’s a good ratio for a collection avowedly one person’s taste.

More importantly, Perrin communicates the enjoyment that reading can bring. For that reason, the title is well-chosen.

[Adam Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the Neglected Books blog. This was billed as a book form of that blog.
To some extent it is, with a wide variety of books. But like that blog, the author and I are different people.
I would have gone more populist. For example, the winner of the $10,000 1942 Redbook literary prize, worth $210,000 today, more than the Booker, Turning Leaves by Proctor.
I would have gone more minority, for example Plum Bun by Fauset.
I would have gone more emotional, for example Love, Let Me Not Hunger by Gallico.
I would have gone more gay. For example, Sam by Coleman.
All of these are out of print, yet I would suspect beneath the good professor.
I got three books out of this, one I had already bought about a WW2 prisoner's liberation. The other two I researched from the Table of Contents before I purchased this book. I thought there would be more gems once I read it. Alas, no.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another delightful book about reviews of old or forgotten books, somewhat reminiscent of Second Reading, but with more descriptive contents. The author only chose books that had been in print for more than 15 years. They also had to be relatively unknown to the general public. The whole is pleasant to read and generated enough interest to want to reserve some of the titles from the public library. I recommend this book to people who like to read off the well-read path.

[Tina Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about books that Noel Perrin feels are close to or over looked masterpieces. I found a few I might want to read myself.
At the time of print he listed the books he wrote about and if they were currently in print.
This book is a great way to learn about books and authors that you are probably not too familiar with.

[Emma Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this book and I found a few titles and authors I will try to track down, Freya stark is one…
One warning though, the book contains many spoilers so if you are one of those people who doesn’t like to know the ending of a book, maybe skip this one.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these brief essays about 40 little known, forgotten books. The book was published in 1988.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up. 1/2 star deducted for repeated jabs against the romance genre.

[Geoff Cumberbeach · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent discussion of 40 often looked over books (neglected books worth reading), their literary merit, style etc.
Here are good leads for new authors to try.
The books that stood out for me were:
- ‘When The Snow Comes, They Will Take You Away’ by Eric Newby
- ‘The Bottom of the Harbor’ by Joseph Mitchell
- ‘Watch the North Wind Rise’ (1969 1982) by Robert Graves
- ‘Fables in Slang’ (1899, 2007) by George Ade
- ‘Period Piece’ (1952, 2018) by Gwen Raverat
- ‘Wild Animals I Have Known’ (1898, 2007) by Ernest Thompson Seton
- ‘All Hallows Eve’ (1945, 2002) by Charles Williams
- ‘The Best of Friends: Further Letters to Syndey Carlyle Cockerell’ (1956) by Viola Meynell (Ed)
- ‘A Fine and Private Place’ (1960, 2007) by Peter S. Beagle
- ‘The Green Child’ (1935, 2013) by Herbert Read
- ‘A Casual Commentary’ (1926) by Rose Macaulay
- ‘Towers of Trebzon’ by Rose Macaulay
- ‘Instead of a Letter’ (1962, 2010) by Diana Athill
- ‘Islandia’ (1942, 2006) by Austin Tappan Wright
- ‘They Asked for a Paper’ (Selected Literary Essays) (1969, 2013) by C.S. Lewis
- ‘Far Rainbow’ (1963, 2004) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

[Lisa Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a great book is hard to beat, a good book about great books is a sturdy second. In this charming and chatty book, Noel Perrin, book lover and professor of enviromental studies, unearths 40 more or less
forgotten gems with, as he says, "its simple purpose[being] to steer people toward a winter's worth or a summer's worth of unusually pleasing reading." I have read as many of the books mentioned as I could or have yet found and have not yet been dissapointed. I bookcrossed my first copy of the book, them wished I hadn't. This September I found another copy at the library book sale and scarfed it up immediately. This one is going to stay put!

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book is truly enjoyable. Each of the brief chapters (essays and pieces) is skillfully and entertainingly written. I am going to leave my house immediately; I will take his recommendations and run the book itself. It is a good book about great books while being a vibrant and, dare I say it, lighthearted collection of essays about literature and the enjoyment of reading.
There is, as Noel Perrin writes in the prologue to A Reader's Delight, a large number of books just short of classic status that are known only to a few readers which leads us to book about delight, this collection is a joy to

[Lisa Houlihan]

That's a literal title. I had heard of a few of Perrin's authors or titles (Robert Graves, Joseph Mitchell, Guard of Honor, A Fine and Private Place) and now, solely on the his enticing, enchanting essays, I want to read them all. And even if Perrin is wrong (which I doubt) and the books' obscurity deserved, I shall have delighted in Perrin's essays themselves, which are as masterful as the books they tout.

[Lwright]

Everyone should read some Noel Perrin. He recommends so many of my favorites in A Readers Delight. Including Watership Down , A fine and private place, and one by the lesser Inkling...about a strange London...check it out

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the little essays in Perrin's collection, A Reader's Delight. He introduces and recommends lesser known works and it has added to this reader's reading list. I have even already read William Dean Howell's Indian Summer and found it all Perrin said it would be. A great work to dip into at your leisure.

[Greg Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t expect this book to do any more than it did — that is, induce me to read some jewels (Period Piece, Love and War in the Apennines, The Diary of George Templeton Strong) and point me to others that I fully intend to read some day (Journal of a Disappointed Man, Many Cargoes, Indian Summer).

[Lesli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Reader's Delight is a series of reviews of books the author considers to be "unknown classics." It is one of the books I most highly recommend. Every book that I have read so far that he recommends, I have greatly enjoyed.

[Herb Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just reread this book for the first time since 1988. It is a must read for every book lover. Perrin writes like a man who not only loves books but loves sharing them with other readers. Several books that hold a prominent place on my shelves, I had forgotten I had discovered through Perrin.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review here: http://trebro.livejournal.com/228135....

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful set of reviews of Perrin's favorite not-quite-classics, some of which I'd actually read myself. A great reference for finding my next good read.

[Rachel]

dipping in this collection of essays and quite enjoying it. it's basically about books - obscure and otherwise - that perrin has loved and feels others would....

[Jill Minor]

FALSE