Vintage Reading: From Plato to Bradbury: A Personal Tour of Some of the World's Best Books

by Robert Kanigel

A readable, friendly, literary companion, Kanigel shares the books he loves best. Vintage Reading is like those samples that seduce you into tasting because Kanigel’s enthusiastic eclecticism makes it clear that a good reader is really someone ready to venture between the covers, and Kanigel’s mini-forays between those covers seem cozy not intimidating. The antidote to Cliff’s Notes, Vintage Reading’s unpretentious appetite for literature will inspire readers young and old to new adventures and, most importantly, a confidence in themselves.

ROBERT KANIGEL is a National Book Critics Award finalist, a Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist, winner of the Grady-Stack award for science writing, and winner of “Author of the Year" honors in 1998 by the 1200-member American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). His The One Best Way was one of four finalists for the Global Business Book Award for biography, co-sponsored by the Financial Times of London and the management consulting firm of Booz-Allen. The Man Who Knew Infinity is now in its fifth paperback printing. His fourth book, High How One French Riviera Town Has Seduced Travelers for Two Thousand Years, is due to be published in June 2002 by Viking Press.
His articles and essays have been published in magazines such as The Sciences, American Health, and The New York Times Magazine. His book reviews have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Psychology Today. For many years, he taught writing in the Publications Design Program at the University of Baltimore. Since September 1999, Kanigel has been professor of science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and administrator of its new Graduate Program in Science Writing. A Kanigel talk on Vintage Reading was broadcast on C-Span's "About Books" in August 1998.

Genres: Books About Books, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Literature, Essays, Classics

243 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Robert Kanigel was born in Brooklyn, but for most of his adult life has lived in Baltimore. He has written nine books.

"The Man Who Knew Infinity," his second book, was named a National Book Critics Circle finalist, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, and a New York Public Library "Book to Remember." It has been translated into Italian, German, Polish, Greek, Chinese, Thai, and many other languages, and has been made into a feature film, starring Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015.

Kanigel's 2012 book, "On an Irish Island," set on a windswept island village off the coast of Ireland, was nurtured by a Guggenheim fellowship and later awarded the Michael J. Durkan Prize by the American Conference for Irish Studies.

"Eyes on the Street," his biography of Jane Jacobs, the far-seeing author of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" and fearless champion of big-city life, was published by Knopf in 2016.

His most recent book, "Hearing Homer's Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry," is a biography of the man who revolutionized our understanding of the Homeric epics. In support of this project Kanigel was awarded an NEH Public Scholar award.

Reviews

[Tashia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads a while back. If you ever want to be inspired to read classics that you otherwise thought was boring and/or want to have many books summarized for you in one place before reading the actual book, then this is the book you need as a guideline. I enjoyed the thoughts and opinions prepared on many classics as it made me want to pick up a few when I was recently in Barnes and Nobles. If you are not sure what to read next, read this and it will guide you in the right direction of the next classic you should add to your bookshelf.

[Bibliomama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a retired librarian, so I like books. I really like books about books, and that is what this is. I probably bought it (so long ago that I can’t remember when) because the author bought my old house.

I stumbled upon it in a recent reorganizing project and started reading. To be honest, I didn’t read every review, mainly just those of books I liked or authors I liked. Most of the brief critiques were delightful. Could be because he liked many of the same books and authors that I did.

“To be left unmoved by The Little Prince is to be a lump of asphalt.”

[Joleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's like Cliff Notes for literature. I've been introduced to,
have a basic knowledge of, and a desire to read, works I might previously have avoided - IF I had heard of them. I'll be adding several books to many Want to Read list.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad "personal tour," I just found that I didn't have much in common with the author, so the recommendations fell a little flat. A very quick read, however.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting summaries of a variety of books. My interest in reading this waned after finishing Fahrenheit 451 - I don't want to just read a summary of a great book; I want to read the great book! In the end, I found a couple books that I now want to read, a few books I've never heard of (and am happy about), and a few books I've already read. For those, I enjoyed comparing my thoughts on those books with the author's thoughts. Of course, this book is mainly a summary of the books, not the author's opinions.

[Sully Augustine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars out of 5 - I read this over the past few evenings. If this had been available when I was in high school I would have had a lot easier time getting away with spending all of my reading time with science fiction and avoiding all of the required readings. Kanigel's reviews are far better than the Classic Comics. I reduced it to four stars from five because he reminded me of a lot of books I've long intended to read, so now I have to once again endure the guilt of failing to get to them.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this!!!! I did not read all at once, but over the course of a few days I was able to put my "to read " list in better order. Kanigel gave me great insite to some I wasn't sure if I wanted to read and helped know I needed to put others at the Top or Bottom of my list. I am so pleased that I am sharing with my co -workers!! Thank you so much for the book!!!!!!

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very short list of books
but a very decent overview

mind you
I'm the sort of person who thinks Harold Bloom's list lacks enough detail

and Adler and Fadiman's lists of classics are 30 to 50 years out of date, strictly for the people who think 100 books is just right for the shelves

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one.

[Joan Hetherington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a new list of books to read. As a study of what led to the way today's society, this book is a great reference.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of extremely cursory reviews of some classic books. Most are laughably short and/or obvious. I doubt that the author engaged with any of these books in any real sense. Not recommended.

[Adrienne Teague · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I put this on the "makes me look smart" shelf because it says Plato on the cover and has a bunch of historic pictures.

Basically, the author read a bunch of old books- some you've heard of, some you haven't- and reviewed them for the contemporary reader. And it would have worked really well, except he dated the book. He kept saying, "At almost 50 years old, this book..." Well, now the book is 60 years old. If he hadn't said stuff like that, the reader would never have noticed that the writing was over a decade old. The content would have been just as cogent for today as 1998.

Other than that, I enjoyed it.

[Ci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book rather accidentally. It is a compilation of short book notes based on the wide-ranged reading by the author. Some pieces appeared to be rather seriously worked through, others fleetingly light. It may be useful as curiosity reference for books one has read or heard of, but it does not inspire much in this particular reader.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some dude writes synopses of books he thinks people should read. It's goodreads.com in paperback form.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many books, so little time. It helps me choose the next book.

[Pekoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vintage Reading: From Plato to Bradbury: A Personal Tour of Some of the World's Best Books. Every student and reader needs this one. Essays by Robert Kanigel.

[Saad Bhamla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert is great and insightful author. This is a great read to find books that you want to read in the future.

[Kristine]

Meh.

[Terri Timonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too verbose and grammatically pretentious for my liking; however, I did glean helpful insights that I will definitely put into practice when reading classical literature in the future.

[John]

Sounded great! I'll peruse later.;)

[Judy Gacek]

A book on books. Fun to pick up and read a few chapters at a time.

[Deedee]

Dewey 809