Literary Criticism Books

Showing 1-50 of 25,480
Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (Paperback)
by (shelved 208 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.29 — 3,812 ratings — published 1942
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages (Paperback)
by (shelved 185 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.86 — 3,674 ratings — published 1994
Rate this book
Clear rating
Literary Theory: An Introduction Literary Theory: An Introduction (Paperback)
by (shelved 184 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.94 — 5,739 ratings — published 1983
Rate this book
Clear rating
Poetics Poetics (Paperback)
by (shelved 184 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.83 — 30,385 ratings — published -335
Rate this book
Clear rating
Anatomy of Criticism Anatomy of Criticism (Paperback)
by (shelved 157 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.09 — 1,983 ratings — published 1957
Rate this book
Clear rating
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines (Paperback)
by (shelved 155 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.58 — 34,650 ratings — published 2003
Rate this book
Clear rating
How Fiction Works How Fiction Works (Paperback)
by (shelved 147 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.99 — 8,362 ratings — published 2008
Rate this book
Clear rating
Aspects of the Novel Aspects of the Novel (Paperback)
by (shelved 146 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.80 — 5,012 ratings — published 1927
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination (Paperback)
by (shelved 143 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.21 — 4,171 ratings — published 1979
Rate this book
Clear rating
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (Paperback)
by (shelved 136 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.03 — 3,721 ratings — published 1998
Rate this book
Clear rating
Orientalism Orientalism (Paperback)
by (shelved 133 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.14 — 30,735 ratings — published 1978
Rate this book
Clear rating
How to Read and Why How to Read and Why (Paperback)
by (shelved 131 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.61 — 3,919 ratings — published 2000
Rate this book
Clear rating
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (Paperback)
by (shelved 120 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.33 — 7,713 ratings — published 1992
Rate this book
Clear rating
A Room of One’s Own A Room of One’s Own (Paperback)
by (shelved 115 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.22 — 272,480 ratings — published 1929
Rate this book
Clear rating
Lectures on Literature Lectures on Literature (Paperback)
by (shelved 113 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.32 — 2,700 ratings — published 1980
Rate this book
Clear rating
Illuminations: Essays and Reflections Illuminations: Essays and Reflections (Paperback)
by (shelved 107 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.29 — 12,638 ratings — published 1955
Rate this book
Clear rating
Against Interpretation and Other Essays Against Interpretation and Other Essays (Paperback)
by (shelved 105 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.14 — 10,707 ratings — published 1966
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Pleasure of the Text The Pleasure of the Text (Paperback)
by (shelved 105 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.00 — 6,015 ratings — published 1973
Rate this book
Clear rating
Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback)
by (shelved 103 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.64 — 4,669 ratings — published 1997
Rate this book
Clear rating
Why Read the Classics? Why Read the Classics? (Paperback)
by (shelved 99 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.81 — 3,454 ratings — published 1991
Rate this book
Clear rating
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 90 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.53 — 26,532 ratings — published 2021
Rate this book
Clear rating
Mythologies Mythologies (Paperback)
by (shelved 90 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.08 — 17,470 ratings — published 1957
Rate this book
Clear rating
An Experiment in Criticism An Experiment in Criticism (ebook)
by (shelved 82 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.20 — 3,424 ratings — published 1961
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Art of the Novel The Art of the Novel (Paperback)
by (shelved 82 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.98 — 7,502 ratings — published 1960
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry (Paperback)
by (shelved 79 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.77 — 1,772 ratings — published 1973
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Art of Fiction The Art of Fiction (Paperback)
by (shelved 78 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.92 — 3,100 ratings — published 1992
Rate this book
Clear rating
Lectures on Russian Literature Lectures on Russian Literature (Paperback)
by (shelved 78 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.26 — 2,140 ratings — published 1981
Rate this book
Clear rating
How to Read Literature How to Read Literature (Hardcover)
by (shelved 75 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.70 — 2,716 ratings — published 2013
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays (Paperback)
by (shelved 74 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.17 — 3,620 ratings — published 1975
Rate this book
Clear rating
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (Paperback)
by (shelved 72 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.78 — 12,044 ratings — published 2006
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (Paperback)
by (shelved 70 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.28 — 3,373 ratings — published 1964
Rate this book
Clear rating
A Preface to Paradise Lost A Preface to Paradise Lost (Paperback)
by (shelved 70 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.25 — 1,829 ratings — published 1942
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition (Paperback)
by (shelved 69 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.14 — 879 ratings — published 1954
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (Hardcover)
by (shelved 69 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.13 — 2,144 ratings — published 2001
Rate this book
Clear rating
On Literature On Literature (Paperback)
by (shelved 67 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.95 — 2,345 ratings — published 2002
Rate this book
Clear rating
Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (Paperback)
by (shelved 65 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.86 — 3,020 ratings — published 1995
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (Vintage) The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (Vintage)
by (shelved 62 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.83 — 6,388 ratings — published 1975
Rate this book
Clear rating
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (Yale Nota Bene) Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (Yale Nota Bene)
by (shelved 61 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.99 — 3,706 ratings — published 1990
Rate this book
Clear rating
Shakespeare After All Shakespeare After All (Paperback)
by (shelved 60 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.40 — 1,111 ratings — published 2004
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Rhetoric of Fiction The Rhetoric of Fiction (Paperback)
by (shelved 59 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.00 — 1,301 ratings — published 1961
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Common Reader The Common Reader (Paperback)
by (shelved 58 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.11 — 2,007 ratings — published 1925
Rate this book
Clear rating
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Mass Market Paperback)
by (shelved 58 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.34 — 323,930 ratings — published 2000
Rate this book
Clear rating
Seven Types of Ambiguity Seven Types of Ambiguity (Paperback)
by (shelved 57 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.82 — 613 ratings — published 1930
Rate this book
Clear rating
Axel's Castle: A Study of the Imaginative Literature of 1870-1930 (FSG Classics) Axel's Castle: A Study of the Imaginative Literature of 1870-1930 (FSG Classics)
by (shelved 56 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.08 — 466 ratings — published 1931
Rate this book
Clear rating
Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Hardcover)
by (shelved 54 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.32 — 2,808 ratings — published 2008
Rate this book
Clear rating
Shakespearean Tragedy Shakespearean Tragedy (Paperback)
by (shelved 54 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.12 — 839 ratings — published 1904
Rate this book
Clear rating
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (Paperback)
by (shelved 53 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.88 — 10,980 ratings — published 2004
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (Paperback)
by (shelved 51 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.96 — 4,067 ratings — published 1983
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society (Hardcover)
by (shelved 51 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 4.00 — 491 ratings — published 1950
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding (Paperback)
by (shelved 51 times as literary-criticism)
avg rating 3.85 — 968 ratings — published 1957
Rate this book
Clear rating


Terry Pratchett
“Several times he had to flatten himself against the shelves as a thesaurus thundered by. He waited patiently as a herd of Critters crawled past, grazing on the contents of the choicer books and leaving behind them piles of small slim volumes of literary criticism.”
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

Samuel Johnson
“I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works.”
Samuel Johnson

More quotes...

The following shelves are listed as duplicates of this shelf:
lit-crit and literarycriticism