Review
This blagger’s guide is a must. Chock-full of strategies to make a little learning go a long way (The Guardian, Almee Shalan)
Hitchings is an amiable guide and includes useful tips (Telegraph Review, Sameer Rahim)
Hitching’s whistle-stop literary guide is often insightful and his advice on talking to actors is hilariously deadpan (The Observer, Emily Stokes)
I slipped into this book with immense pleasure... an excellent miniature history of books... and it’s funny too (The Scotsman, William Leith)
Opinionated, funny...its main aim is to ignite a love of reading – in as British and unmawkish a way as possible (The Daily Mail, Amber Pearson)
I won't mince words. Read it and talk about it. A very smart (and funny) book. (John Sutherland)
Entertaining (Peggy Hughes, Scotsman)
Fascinating (Dales Life)
Witty and anecdotal (Bookseller)
Hitchings is an amiable guide and includes useful tips (Telegraph Review, Sameer Rahim)
Hitching’s whistle-stop literary guide is often insightful and his advice on talking to actors is hilariously deadpan (The Observer, Emily Stokes)
I slipped into this book with immense pleasure... an excellent miniature history of books... and it’s funny too (The Scotsman, William Leith)
Opinionated, funny...its main aim is to ignite a love of reading – in as British and unmawkish a way as possible (The Daily Mail, Amber Pearson)
I won't mince words. Read it and talk about it. A very smart (and funny) book. (John Sutherland)
Entertaining (Peggy Hughes, Scotsman)
Fascinating (Dales Life)
Witty and anecdotal (Bookseller)
Product Description
Ever wondered how some people seem to have an opinion on every book ever published? Nowadays, there are so many books: how can anyone be well read anymore?
Well, help is at hand. Let Henry Hitchings educate you in the invaluable skill of literary bluffing in this survivor's guide to talking about books you haven't read. With tips on how to bluff with confidence using quotable insights and invaluable trivia, Henry Hitchings covers all the great books you ought to have read but haven't got round to yet. If you want to be able to hold your own in a debate about Stephen Hawking or Philip Roth; or perhaps you find Shakespeare or Dostoevsky intimidating, then look no further. Including literary heavyweights such as Ulysses,Bleak House and War and Peace, this guide will equip you with all the bookish information you need to bluff your way through any scenario, be it a vital exam, an in-depth conversation at the pub or chatting up the potential love of your life.
Contents include: Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Henry James, James Joyce, Proust, Homer, Virgil, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dickens, various contemporary writers, the Bible, the Koran, fairy tales, select bestsellers and some poetry.
Well, help is at hand. Let Henry Hitchings educate you in the invaluable skill of literary bluffing in this survivor's guide to talking about books you haven't read. With tips on how to bluff with confidence using quotable insights and invaluable trivia, Henry Hitchings covers all the great books you ought to have read but haven't got round to yet. If you want to be able to hold your own in a debate about Stephen Hawking or Philip Roth; or perhaps you find Shakespeare or Dostoevsky intimidating, then look no further. Including literary heavyweights such as Ulysses,Bleak House and War and Peace, this guide will equip you with all the bookish information you need to bluff your way through any scenario, be it a vital exam, an in-depth conversation at the pub or chatting up the potential love of your life.
Contents include: Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Henry James, James Joyce, Proust, Homer, Virgil, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dickens, various contemporary writers, the Bible, the Koran, fairy tales, select bestsellers and some poetry.
About the Author
Henry Hitchings was born in 1974. Educated at the universities of Oxford and London, he is the author of Dr Johnson's Dictionary and The Secret Life of Words, and has contributed to many newspapers and magazines.
