Reading Around: Journalism on Authors, Artists, and Ideas

by John J. Miller

This collection of excellent short essays includes many of the most popular and important pieces by John J. Miller, the respected author, journalist, and academic. From literature to music, from movies to writing, from culture to politics, "Reading Around" shows Miller -- the talented director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College -- at his peak performance. This best-of book draws from National Review, Wall Street Journal, and other publications and includes pieces on the ancient epics "Gilgamesh" and "Beowulf"; thriller writers Michael Crichton, Daniel Silva, and Brad Thor; science-fiction authors Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein; fantasy novelists J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis; the horror fiction of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft; movies such as "The Exorcist" and "Red Dawn"; the music of Iron Maiden; the art of Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo; and much more, including essays on the purpose of libraries, writer's block, and the conundrum of having a common name. The Chronicle of Higher Education has called Miller "one of the best literary journalists in the country," and this volume shows why. For anyone who loves and admires excellent writing, "Reading Around" is an enjoyable must.

Genres: Nonfiction

324 pages, Paperback

Published January 4, 2018

About the author

John J. Miller writes for National Review, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. He is the author of The First Assassin, a historical thriller, plus several works of nonfiction. He is a contributing editor of Philanthropy magazine and a consultant to grantmaking foundations. The Chronicle of Higher Education has called him “one of the best literary journalists in the country.”

Reviews

[James Goeke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book delightful. It is a compilation of articles written over several years. Topics range from Gilgamesh to the rock band Iron Maiden. These are not synopses but brief descriptions of an artist/author or work and one or more interesting facts that I did not know. I haven’t read every article, but that is the beauty of it; you only read about topics that interest you and the list is quite long. I absolutely would recommend this book to anyone with a wide interest in topics (especially those, like me, with a short attention span).

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll admit that I love books about books.

This collection of articles from a few newspapers and journals was a wonderful trip in the life of reader. Reading all these intelligent, well-written pieces about different authors and books, some familiar and some not, was an absolute joy.

And yes, I've added quite a few new titles (or translations) to my Amazon wishlist. Mission accomplished.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I loved this compilation of articles about books and authors, written by Miller for the Wall Street Journal, National Review, and other periodicals. From old classics (such as Beowulf and Dr. Faustus) to my favorites (such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and a Charles Dickens book) to children’s books (such as Dr. Seuss’s, Berenstain Bears, and Curious George), I thoroughly enjoyed learning background details such as how these stories came to be. I highly recommend this book!

Quotes:
“The evolution of vampires, Grinches, and witches is a variation on the theme of defining deviancy down. There was a time when we knew a monster when we saw one-- and understood that some nasties need to have their heads chopped off and their mouths stuffed with garlic. Nowadays, however, vampirism and its related maladies are just alternative lifestyles. Condemning them is an unforgivable rendering of judgment and a crime against the imperatives of moral relativism. A society that has trouble recognizing monsters in its art probably will have difficulty identifying terrorists at its airports.” -p. 85

"'My mother says that violence never settles anything,,' comments one character. The teacher who doubles as Heinlein's mouthpiece then pounces: 'Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history then has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth has always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.'" -p. 185

"The mainsprings of evil, Conrad seems to say, are not foreign embassies or social forces but rather individual acts of personal cruelty. And although we may never defeat this permanent feature of human nature, people everywhere have the power to prevent it within their small spheres." -p. 191

"Card's critics might do well to set aside their wrath, read the book, and absorb what may be its ultimate theme: Through tolerance, that most difficult and liberal of virtues, we may learn essential lessons, even from those we first see as foes." -p. 239

Here are titles I added to my Reading List, after Miller discussed them in Reading Around:
William Knox, “Mortality”
Hawthorne- “Rappaccini’s Daughter”
Poe- “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “Mystery of Marie Roget”
Longfellow- “Evangeline”, “Courtship of Miles Standish”
Bierce- “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Louisa May Alcott - “Lost in a Pyramid”
Le Fanu - “Carmilla” (first good vampire story, 1872)
M.R. James- “Lost Hearts,” “Count Magnus” (old ghost story)
Arthur Machen- “The White People,” “The Novel of the White Powder” (ghost stories)
O. Henry- “The Furnished Room”
Hemingway- “Big Two-Hearted River”
Benet- “John Brown’s Body”, “Devil and Daniel Webster”, “By the Waters of Babylon”
Harold Lamb- “The Golden Horde”, “Keeper of the Gate” (in Swords from the West), “Changa Nor”
Shirley Jackson- The Haunting of Hill House, Life Among the Savages, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Lovecraft- “The Call of Cthulhu”
Coleridge- “Christabel”, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Hawthorne- “Young Goodman Brown”
Lieber- “Conjure Wife”
Kirk- The Conservative Mind
Heinlein- The Puppet Masters (science fiction)
Conrad- The Secret Agent
Zamyatin- “We” (translated by Natasha Randall) - Orwellian society
Sinclair Lewis- It Can’t Happen Here, Babbitt
Drury- Advise and Consent (Wash DC)
L’Amour- Last of the Breed (escape in Siberia)
Burgess- Clockward Orange (dystopian)
Vonnegut- Harrison Bergeron “
“Red Dawn” movie (1984)

[Robert Lurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight from start to finish. Taken together, these essays are a rejoinder to Clifton Fadiman and John Major's "Lifetime Reading Plan" (and other books of that ilk), in the sense that Miller's book is a lifetime reading plan of authors you would actually _want_ to read: C.S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Michael Chrichton, Lois Lowry and others. He gives plenty of love to the classics, but Miller's fondness for great storytelling and a sense of wonder opens the door to a host of genre writers who might not otherwise get their critical due. And some of the best essays in here venture beyond the printed word to cover music and film, always keeping that joy of story at the forefront.

There are some surprises: A report on an unmanned survey probe to Pluto becomes a meditation on the disappearance of magic from the world; an elegy for the late songwriter Bryan Harvey doubles as a howl of rage at a pointless tragedy that is barely mentioned directly. And by any rights, Miller's examinations of Mary Shelley and H.P. Lovecraft, both originally published in the Claremont Review of Books, ought to take their rightful places as defining works of scholarship on those authors.

"Reading Around" is a celebration of the joy of getting lost in a good book. And Miller's beguiling enthusiasm ensures that his own book very quickly becomes the thing it celebrates--a great read.

[Terry Feix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard book to describe, but I really liked it!