Harold Bloom would argue that reading with a notion that the act will change lives beyond your own is a laughable notion. However, in my view, certain books have changed -- if not my life -- at least my outlook on life. On further consideration, though, I remember one book that really did change my life: I read the collected works of Flannery O'Connor (the Library of America edition) when I was a late-in-life graduate student; I knew instantly that I would go on to teach literature. That qualifies as a life-changing moment. Thank you, Ms. O'Connor.
Harold Bloom would argue that reading with a notion that the act will change lives beyond your own is a laughable notion. However, in my view, certain books have changed -- if not my life -- at least my outlook on life. On further consideration, though, I remember one book that really did change my life: I read the collected works of Flannery O'Connor (the Library of America edition) when I was a late-in-life graduate student; I knew instantly that I would go on to teach literature. That qualifies as a life-changing moment. Thank you, Ms. O'Connor.
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