501 Must-Read Books

by Emma Beare

Book Overview

Pages are like new. Cover, corners and edges has some minor wear. Section B 120611-4 This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0753716410
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Bounty Books (Octopus)
• Weight: 3.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

a good resourse...or coffee table book.

I just got this book as a gift and I enjoy it a lot. I like looking at the pictures (as it has one picture for each of the 501 books) and I enjoy reading the summaries of the chosen books. I am not sure that it really is the 501 books I must read, and that is my only problem with it. I would argue that along with it's many sections it should dedicate a section to international books as well (these are quite limited in the book). But, really it is good, and interesting and pretty for your coffee table.

Good Compilation, but some errors

I LOVE book list and books about books. I'm the type of person who strives to own (and read) all the Pulitzers. This book was fun to go through and mark what I've read and what I own and plan to read, and it lead me to make many new literary discoveries. However, when I actually began reading it, I found the text itself was sub-par. The synopses of the individual books spend far too long describing the beginnings of books, but rush through the main plot, followed by a two-sentence "review" on why the book was good enough to make it into "501 Must Reads". There are an unacceptable amount of punctuation and capitalization errors. However, I can't complain too much, considering I got it for $10 on the Borders bargain shelf.

amazingly good selections

This book is currently available in hardback from Costco(!), and is well worth purchasing. I was skeptical when I saw it, but decided that if it had both Naked Lunch and Lolita, that it was probably a guide to serious literature. They were both there, along with dozens more of the best books I've ever read. The book is divided into categories, and isn't snobbish. Big sections on literature, of course, but also mysteries, SF, children's books, travel, history, etc. The SF floored me in the quality of selections (one per author, generally). Ballard's Crystal World, Bester's Demolished Man, Dick's Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Farmer's To Your Scattered Bodies and so forth. Unfortunately the attached lists of "selected works" by the chosen authors are haphazardly, even stupidly, selected. Ignore them, and go with the main work cited. The titles are British, and some were retitled in the U.S. There is also a distinct bias for British works, but it's not excessive. There are also many little errors that should have been caught by the editor (the fall of Berlin was 2.5 years after Stalingrad, not 1). In any case, each book is pictured with a brief non-spoiler plot summary and a very brief statement of the book's or author's significance. It's not a book of critical essays, only a guide to what's worth reading. And it's a very good guide.

Fantastic recommendations from a British point of view

I loved all of the recommendations this book gave. It made a point to not just pick the most well-known books the author wrote. Many times, they recommended books I had never heard of by famous authors, and some books by authors I had never heard of - but now would love to read. There is not one book from this list that I regarded as a throwaway book. I wanted to read everything! This book was published in Britain, which will be evident when you read, but hey, I don't intend to read all-American, so it did give me a better world-view of good books. Highly recommended - you will come away with many reading ideas.

Nice compilation of suggested readings

I had a hard time finding this book as it seems like it a british book. The recommended books are from all over the world.