by David Denby
First published 1997
David Denby confronts a personal crisis at 48. The film critic for New York magazine realizes his knowledge of Western literature has faded into half-remembered fragments. He possesses information without understanding, opinions without principles. The culture wars rage around him as academics debate whether dead white European males deserve reverence or rejection. Rather than join the shouting match, Denby enrolls at his alma mater Columbia University to retake the two foundational courses: Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization. Over one academic year, he rediscovers Homer, Boccaccio, Austen, Nietzsche, Conrad, Machiavelli, Marx, and Woolf alongside students young enough to be his children. He struggles to balance serious reading with his roles as husband and father. Four different professors challenge his assumptions about teaching and learning. Through direct engagement with the texts themselves, Denby finds that both sides of the academic debate oversimplify the Western tradition. His journey back to the classroom becomes a path toward genuine understanding.
Genres: biography, classics, literary-fiction, contemporary, education, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-growth
Setting: Columbia University, New York
Period: 20th-century
511 pages · Paperback · Simon & Schuster