Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Bright Book of Life by Harold Bloom
Add The Bright Book of Life to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside

The Bright Book of Life

Novels to Read and Reread

Novels to Read and Reread

Novels to Read and Reread

Novels to Read and Reread

By Harold Bloom

By Harold Bloom

By Harold Bloom

By Harold Bloom

By Harold Bloom

By Harold Bloom

By Harold Bloom
Read by Stephen Mendel

By Harold Bloom
Read by Stephen Mendel

Best Seller
Paperback $18.00

Dec 28, 2021 | ISBN 9781984898432

Hardcover $35.00

Nov 24, 2020 | ISBN 9780525657262

Ebook $13.99

Nov 24, 2020 | ISBN 9780525657279

Audiobook Download $30.00

Nov 24, 2020 | 1320 Minutes

All Formats
+
    The Bright Book of Life by Harold Bloom
    Paperback $18.00
    Dec 28, 2021 | ISBN 9781984898432

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (3) +
    • $18.00

      Dec 28, 2021 | ISBN 9781984898432

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $35.00

      Nov 24, 2020 | ISBN 9780525657262

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Nov 24, 2020 | ISBN 9780525657279

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Nov 24, 2020 | ISBN 9780593291955

      1320 Minutes

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The Bright Book of Life

    America’s most original and controversial literary critic writes trenchantly about forty-eight masterworks spanning the Western tradition—from Don Quixote to Wuthering Heights to Invisible Man—in his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction.

    In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom—who for more than half a century was regarded as America’s most daringly original and controversial literary critic—gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on forty-eight essential works spanning the Western canon, from Don Quixote to Book of Numbers; from Wuthering Heights to Absalom, Absalom!; from Les Misérables to Blood Meridian; from Vanity Fair to Invisible Man. Here are trenchant appreciations of fiction by, among many others, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Le Guin, and Sebald.
     
    Whether you have already read these books, plan to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom is your unparalleled guide to understanding literature with new intimacy.

    About The Bright Book of Life

    America’s most original and controversial literary critic writes trenchantly about forty-eight masterworks spanning the Western tradition—from Don Quixote to Wuthering Heights to Invisible Man—in his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction.

    In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom—who for more than half a century was regarded as America’s most daringly original and controversial literary critic—gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on forty-eight essential works spanning the Western canon, from Don Quixote to Book of Numbers; from Wuthering Heights to Absalom, Absalom!; from Les Misérables to Blood Meridian; from Vanity Fair to Invisible Man. Here are trenchant appreciations of fiction by, among many others, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Le Guin, and Sebald.
     
    Whether you have already read these books, plan to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom is your unparalleled guide to understanding literature with new intimacy.

    About The Bright Book of Life

    America’s most original and controversial literary critic writes trenchantly about forty-eight masterworks spanning the Western tradition—from Don Quixote to Wuthering Heights to Invisible Man—in his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction.

    In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom—who for more than half a century was regarded as America’s most daringly original and controversial literary critic—gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on forty-eight essential works spanning the Western canon, from Don Quixote to Book of Numbers; from Wuthering Heights to Absalom, Absalom!; from Les Misérables to Blood Meridian; from Vanity Fair to Invisible Man. Here are trenchant appreciations of fiction by, among many others, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Le Guin, and Sebald.
     
    Whether you have already read these books, plan to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom is your unparalleled guide to understanding literature with new intimacy.

    About The Bright Book of Life

    America’s most original and controversial literary critic writes trenchantly about forty-eight masterworks spanning the Western tradition—from Don Quixote to Wuthering Heights to Invisible Man—in his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction.

    In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom—who for more than half a century was regarded as America’s most daringly original and controversial literary critic—gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on forty-eight essential works spanning the Western canon, from Don Quixote to Book of Numbers; from Wuthering Heights to Absalom, Absalom!; from Les Misérables to Blood Meridian; from Vanity Fair to Invisible Man. Here are trenchant appreciations of fiction by, among many others, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Le Guin, and Sebald.
     
    Whether you have already read these books, plan to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom is your unparalleled guide to understanding literature with new intimacy.

    Listen to a sample from The Bright Book of Life

    Also by Harold Bloom

    Possessed by Memory
    The Daemon Knows
    Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Julius Caesar
    See all books by Harold Bloom

    Also by Harold Bloom

    Possessed by Memory
    The Daemon Knows
    Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Julius Caesar
    See all books by Harold Bloom

    Also by Harold Bloom

    Possessed by Memory
    The Daemon Knows
    Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Julius Caesar
    See all books by Harold Bloom

    Also by Harold Bloom

    Possessed by Memory
    The Daemon Knows
    Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
    Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
    Julius Caesar
    See all books by Harold Bloom

    About Harold Bloom

    HAROLD BLOOM lived in New Haven and was a Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Before that, he was Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard. His more than forty books include Possessed by Memory, The Anxiety of Influence, Shakespeare: The… More about Harold Bloom

    About Harold Bloom

    HAROLD BLOOM lived in New Haven and was a Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Before that, he was Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard. His more than forty books include Possessed by Memory, The Anxiety of Influence, Shakespeare: The… More about Harold Bloom

    About Harold Bloom

    HAROLD BLOOM lived in New Haven and was a Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Before that, he was Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard. His more than forty books include Possessed by Memory, The Anxiety of Influence, Shakespeare: The… More about Harold Bloom

    About Harold Bloom

    HAROLD BLOOM lived in New Haven and was a Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. Before that, he was Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard. His more than forty books include Possessed by Memory, The Anxiety of Influence, Shakespeare: The… More about Harold Bloom

    Product Details

    Category: Literary Criticism | Writing

    Paperback | $18.00
    Published by Vintage
    Dec 28, 2021 | 544 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9781984898432

    Category: Literary Criticism | Writing

    Hardcover | $35.00
    Published by Knopf
    Nov 24, 2020 | 544 Pages | 6-1/4 x 9-1/4 | ISBN 9780525657262

    Category: Literary Criticism | Writing

    Ebook | $13.99
    Published by Vintage
    Nov 24, 2020 | 544 Pages | ISBN 9780525657279

    Category: Literary Criticism | Writing | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $30.00
    Published by Random House Audio
    Nov 24, 2020 | 1320 Minutes | ISBN 9780593291955

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “Harold Bloom was one of the leading critics of his generation, and there is no question about his erudition. It is on full display.”
    —Washington Post

    “The Bright Book of Life is the reflection of a lifetime of reading from a great, deep, exhaustive reader of novels.”
    —The New York Journal of Books

    “Elegant and insightful. . . . With loquacious reflection made palatable by thoughtful, meaty prose—underscored by lengthy excerpts from each title—Bloom makes the case for why these timeless works of fiction remain important and powerful.”
    —Shelf Awareness

    “Fresh insights and renewed joys . . . fervent . . . dedicated . . . [Bloom] candidly analyzes what he considers a novel’s shortcomings and where he differs with other critics’ assessments. [His] ardent celebration of novels is tinged with the inevitable losses of old age. . . . Warm recollections of a singular literary life.”
    —Kirkus Reviews

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

     An online magazine for today’s home cook

    An online magazine for today’s home cook