Dirda on Books

Michael Dirda (The Washington Post)

Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda took your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading.

Each week Dirda's name appears -- in unmistakably big letters -- on page 15 of The Post's Book World section. If he's not reviewing a hefty literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be turning out one of his idiosyncratic essays or rediscovering some minor Victorian classic. Although he earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda has somehow managed to retain a myopic 12-year-old's passion for reading. He particularly enjoys comic novels, intellectual history, locked-room mysteries, innovative fiction of all sorts.

These days, Dirda says he still spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth, listening to music (Glenn Gould, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, The Tallis Scholars), and daydreaming ("my only real hobby"). He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer, working. His most recent books include "Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments" (Indiana hardcover, 2000; Norton paperback, 2003) and his self-portrait of the reader as a young man, "An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland" (Norton, 2003). In the fall of 2004 Norton will bring out a new collection of his essays and reviews. He is currently working on several other book projects, all shrouded in the most complete secrecy.

Dirda joined The Post in 1978, having grown up in the working-class steel town of Lorain, Ohio, and graduated with highest honors in English from Oberlin College. His favorite writers are Stendhal, Chekhov, Jane Austen, Montaigne, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, Nabokov, John Dickson Carr, Joseph Mitchell, P.G. Wodehouse and Jack Vance. He thinks the greatest novel of all time is either Murasaki Shikubu's "The Tale of Genji" or Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu." In a just world he would own Watteau's painting "The Embarkation for Cythera." He is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, The Ghost Story Society and The Wodehouse Society. He enjoys teaching and was once a visiting professor in the Honors College at the University of Central Florida, which he misses to this day.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books! As has been true for the past several weeks, our program is coming to you from beautiful McDaniel College, in beautiful Westminster, Maryland. I can say beautiful now because the sun has finally started to come out during the day, the temperatures are starting to feel spring like, and I'm halfway through writing my long-deferred piece on H.P. Lovecraft. After today's chat I'll go back to my essay and, I hope, by this evening be able to look forward to polishing it tomorrow, then sending it off.
My classes continue to go well (I think), and I am just about to start talking about Racine's "Phedre" in my morning course ("Love's Mysteries) and about the latest round of student writing in my afternoon class (Literary Journalism). I'm taking a short break from reviewing for three weeks, but have plenty of projects to keep me busy.
But enough about the weather and my activities, let's turn to this week's questions about books, reviewing, literature, what have you.

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Venus: Hello Michael. Would you or the chatters care to comment on the phenomenon where a book is highly praised by critics, wins awards, becomes a bestseller, but the book stinks, just stinks. Why and how does this happen? Is it groupthink? Am I being too hard on critics?

OK, I have a specific one in mind - Reading Lolita in Teheran. It was so bad. So disappointing. It was badly written with breathless, overwrought prose (no, not -good- overwrought prose of the Bronte variety). It was badly plotted. It was badly conceived - a dull, plodding polemic that pandered to reactionary views against the Iranian revolution and offered no nuance, no vision, no nothing. What an opportunity to educate and inform western readers, tragically wasted!; And the author, who has been much lauded in the US, including in this newspaper, hardly has a representative point of view about pre-revolutionary Iran during which time her father was mayor of Teheran. Talk about a life of privilege. I think she hates modern Iran in part because her family's privileged life was threatened, but she's too dishonest to say so in her book or in the many fawning interviews with her that have been published and broadcast. Reading the book was a sorely disapponting experience, but it's hard even for a cynic like me not to be a little swayed by the reviews and writeups.

On a good note, however, I recently re-discovered the mystery author Robert B. Parker and am thoroughly enjoying the journey through his many Spenser novels.

Lastly, I adored your Valentine's Day piece in the Post last Sunday. You can guess why.

Michael Dirda: Okay, I haven't read "Reading Lolita in Tehran" so I can't say for sure whether I agree with you or not. I do think that books often become best sellers because of high concept or a brilliant title (e.g. Eats, Shoots and Leaves). I suspect that this book may fall into that category, at least a little.
As for critics: Well, they're often wrong. EDmund Wilson couldn't see the point of J.R.R. Tolkien or H.P. Lovecraft, ditto for Clifton Fadiman when he reviewed Faulkner. There are a whole books devotged to "Rotten Reviews." Sometimes critics simply use a book as the ice for their own pirouettes.
ONe reason why it's good to have regular columnists--as he looks aside, his eyes downcast in almost maidenly modesty--is that you learn their tastes, proclivities, and weaknesses and can allow for them.

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Lenexa, Kan.: Mr. Dirda: T.S. Eliot was never a pushover (when asked about Edwin Arlington Robinson's poetry, said "It's not my cup of tea."). One imagines EAR wishing the question hadn't been posed. I admire both--certainly Eliot much more. Eliot did have nicer things to say about Kipling--calling him a "consummate versifier."

Last week someone mentioned Robert Service (sometimes called "the Canadian Kipling"). I've always admired internal rhyme when done well. (Your own father--not known for his devotion to reading--used to recite "Annabel Lee.") Charles E. Carryl could at times really hit on all ten cylinders when it came to internally-rhymed light verse (e.g.):

Canary-birds feed on sugar and seed,
Parrots have crackers to crunch;
And as for the poodles, they tell me the noodles
Have chicken and cream for their lunch.
...
Cats, you're aware, can repose in a chair,
Chickens can roost upon rails;
Puppies are able to sleep in a stable,
And oysters can slumber in pails.

Michael Dirda: Lovely, just lovely. Lenexa, you are a marvel of charm and erudition.

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Northern Virginia: Travel writer Redmond O'Hanlon is making the rounds with his latest book, "Trawler." It's getting very good reviews. I read it and was unimpressed.
What am I missing?

Michael Dirda: O'Hanlon's first couple of travel books--In Trouble Again, for instance--could be very funny. I looked at the latest and it seemed a little heavy in the hold with nautical and Scots lingo. You might try those earlier books.

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Washington, D.C.: Mr. Dirda,

I thought you and your chatters might be interested to know that Salon.com has an excerpt from Jeremy Irons' audiobook of Lolita. It can be found here or just by searching for "Lolita." It may not be the full thing on CD, but it at least whets the appetite.

Also, what, if any, recent short story authors would you recommend, apart from William Trevor, whose work you so justly praised?

Michael Dirda: Odd. Irons cassette of Lolita has been out for a couple of years, at least since the movie he made of the novel. I gather it is only now appearing as a CD though. I've listened to the whole thing and it's brilliantly done, a thorough pleasure.
After (or even before) Trevor would have to be Alice Munro. I'm also fond of John Updike's stories and the early ones are now available in a big fat collection. Certainly if you don't know them already, you should check out V.S. Pritchett, John Cheever, Donald Barthelem, and Raymond Carver.

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Milk & Honey: Good afternoon: After over 30 years (scary in itself), I went back and re-read The Godfather and damned if it still isn't a great read. It must be a great book, there's nothing in my lifetime to compare culturally, but it's not the greatest style or writing and while you get to know many of the characters, their analysis isn't that in -- depth. It just flows somehow. I guess it's just action packed. I'm not ashamed to like it and say so right here, but compared to all I've read since, I can't really pinpoint what's so appealing. Does it rank as an American classic?

Michael Dirda: Probably. But a classic of a certain type. It's more than just a genre classic, like Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," it's somehow a patterning work as well: It changed the way people thought about and wrote about crime, the Mafia, and even family. Pauline Kael used to talk about great trash movies--and The Godfather is a great trash novel. And a great movie period.

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Boston, Mass.: Michael,

I recently picked up "The Dragon Path: Collected Stories of Kenneth Morris," a volume of short stories from the beginning of last century. I am really enjoying it. What is your opinion of Morris? Thanks.

Michael Dirda: I've only read a couple of stories by Kenneth Morris, in--I think--Lin Carter collections (Ballantine Adult Fantasy--now there was a paperback line). My sense is that there a bit mystic and Celtic. But in truth I can't remember much more than that about him or them. What do yhou like about Morris' work?

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Lansdale, Pa.: Hi Michael,
Please let us know where and when your Lovecraft piece will appear. In the meantime, I have been gleaning the web for the commentaries of the lesser critics on HPL in the LOA. I've not seen the LOA volume yet, but was surprised at the omission of ‘The Picture in the House' and even more at the fact that, from what I've read, the concluding lines are no longer italicized. The italics at the end of the tale always seemed to me a part of the style, as essential and conventional as a period at the end of a sentence. One of the tricks of a successful tale was to have the ending justify the inevitable italics, ‘Pickman's Model' being one of the best examples. What is your opinion of the lack of italics? Have you any idea of HPL's intentions in the matter?

Michael Dirda: As it happens, I was just typing out those last lines of Pickman's Model just before the program. "But by God, Eliot, it was a photograph from life." My unocrrected proof of the LOA volume does have them italicized, and I actually make a small point about them, in discussing Lovecraft's progression d'effet--the way he starts off in a cool and rational voice and often ends up with italics or even Gaelic gibberish as in Rats in the Walls.
I suppose that Straub couldn't fit in everything of interest. He leaves out all the Dunsanian stories. I wish he'd had room to include the essay on Supernatural Horror in LIterature.
The piece is supposed to come out in The Weekly Standard, where my reflections on Dunsany's Jorkens stories appeared a year or so ago. The literary editor there is a friend of mine, a very smart guy named Jody Bottum. It's odd that for one of liberal views I do seem to have a fair number of friends at conservative magazines.

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New York, N.Y.: Hi, I completely agree on Alice Munro and W. Trevor. And their stories do not depend on familiarity with setting, time, or place. Is Margaret Atwood's Bluebeard's Egg (short stories) worth reading? And her relatively recent novel (w/ the word Assasin in the title, don't recall it exactly)? Thanks!

Michael Dirda: The last ATwood I read was the novel The Blind Assassin, which I thought very good, albeit with flaws. I was surprised when it won the Booker.

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Los Angeles, Calif.:
Mr. Dirda,

What's your take on these pink and aqua books that are so popular right now, such as Shopaholic and My Sister is a Shopaholic, etc. Citizen Girl...the list goes on. Is there any merit to them? Or do they fall into the category of anyone could write them?

Why can't someone like Lorrie Moore, who still deals with women's issues in a very humorous way, get more attention?

Michael Dirda: Moore is highly regarded as a short-story writer, and rightly so and I should have mentioned her in my previous posting.
I've sort of seen the books you mention, out of the corner of my eye, on bookstore tables. As one who has been known to admire Harlequin romances, I shouldn't dismiss them, but they sure do sound like commercial products intended for the chick-lit audience.

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Innsmouth, R.I.: What's prompting the Lovecraft essay? Is it for the Book World? I realize that his work probably falls in the above mentioned "good trash" category, but he could creep a reader out with the best of them!

Michael Dirda: Ah, is there a shadow over your hometown? I detect something fishy about this note. In fact, Lovecraft is appearing in the Library of America. Ta-dah!

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Cincinnati Ohio: I am just getting on here. I think the first reader missed the point of Reading Lolita. Plotting? It is not a novel. It is a story of courage foremost and then some interesting insites into some American classics seen from another culture. I loved it.

Michael Dirda: I'm sure she realized it wasn't a novel. A lot of people seemed to love it.

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Columbia, Md. -- Reading Lolita in Teheran: On the subject of reviews and critics, I think we have to allow for taste and differences in opinion/perspective in critics' assessments of books just as we do in assessing our friends movie reviews, book recommendations and friends--with a grain (or boulder) of salt. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance as they say

Michael Dirda: Yes and no. Professional critics should have more knowledge and discrimination than one's friends. The more books we read, the better we understand books. Not that critics can't make mistakes.

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Columbia, Md.: McDaniel College,eh? Are you living up there now or commuting? Also how are you finding the students up there? I'm thinking with growth of metropolitian areas and increased knowledge about colleges many schools are becoming more homogenous/similar in regards to the student bodies. Many good local schools are losing their distinctiveness. But that's a discussion for another day.

Here's a book related question. I've become interest in Ansel Adams and his photography. Any suggestions about biographies and/or essays would be appreciated. Thanks.

Michael Dirda: I'm here three days a week.
Gee, there used to be a new Ansel Adams book every year, generally around Christmas. Lots of mountains.
There's at least a couple of biographies and your best bet is to check with your local library or bookstore.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Michael,

What is your opinion of still-plugging-along fantasy writer Ursula K LeGuin? I recently read the first three books of her Earthsea series (uh, Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan, and The Furthest Shore) and enjoyed it a lot. I actually was inspired to read it after watching a bit of the recent SciFi Channel movie they made of the book. The movie, by the way, was pretty terrible! Thanks!

Michael Dirda: Le Guin hated the movie, and was quite vocal about it.
Ursula K. Le Guin is a terrific writer, and has been so for a long time. There was a period of experimentation when her books didn't quite come off--e.g. Always Coming Home--but the Earthsea trilogy (and the associated Tehanu and Tales from Earthsea) are wonderful, as are her two science fiction classics The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. Her short stories can be extremely powerful--think of "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas" about a civilization of great beatufy and refinement that is based on the torture of a single small child.
Long may Le Guin write.
Somehow thinking about her reminds me too of the late, great Joan Aiken. The final Dido Twite novel is just about to come out--now there's a YA series that every child should read.

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RE: Kenneth Morris: Morris's plot lines and characterization are often weak, but he makes up for it by capturing some of the twilight magic of the Mabinogi and other Celtic and Greek traditions. LeGuin has referred to him as a "master stylist" and I think that is accurate. He also has a strong sense of humor, which is lacking in many of his contemporaries and successors. "The Dragon Path" is well worth a look and it can be had really cheap since Morris is mostly forgotten these days.

Michael Dirda: Many thanks.

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Alexandria, Va.: A friend of mine hipped me to an espionage novelist by the name of Charles McCarry when he lent me a copy of Old Boys. I'm trying to track down his other novels but they all seem to be out of print. Before I search the used book stores, what of his can you recommend?

Michael Dirda: McCarry used to live in Washington and is certainly the greatest American spy novelist of the past 25 years. I have an essay on him in Bound to Please.
The book to start with is probably his masterpiece (in my view): The Tears of Autumn. It is partly about the Kennedy assassination. If you like that, you'll want to go back to the beginning and read the entire multivolume Paul Christopher series. Note that the, I thinkk, fifth volume, The Last Supper, offers a stunning surprise, so don't read it before the others. McCarry is a superb stylist.

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Chick Lit: Poster: "Or do they fall into the category of anyone could write them?" Not being a writer, just an avid reader, I think this is a very naive statement. Even if they are somewhat trashy and written for the commercial value, they still are evidence of a lot of work!

Michael Dirda: Many thanks.

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Atlanta, Ga.: Not too many years ago a sequel to Gone with the Wind was published. Do you know of other attempts by writers to piggyback previous works?

Michael Dirda: There are hundreds of sequels. Seemingly every book of any distinction has invited follow-ups. Jane Austen,in particular, has invited numerous additions to her canon. In science fiction and fantasy there's even a phenomeon called "share-cropping" in which writers use a universr or background established byh another writer. Lots of writers, for instance, have composed further stories for Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

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Fair Oaks, Va: Your "On Love" essay (Book World, 13 Feb 05) gave me much food for thought.

(1) It seems to me that the French attitude to love, and especially adultery, is so often exaggerated by American observers. Whenever we are exhorted to loosen up and be more sophisticated--well, like the French, with all their mistresses and understanding wives--I always suspect that the exhorter is a philanderer looking for excuses. No one actually asks a Danielle Mitterand what she thinks of her husband's infidelity--happy? indifferent? unsurprised? All of the real-life, middle-class French women I know say they hate that stereotype of French marriage and women, as well as the ones that insist they wear haute couture and make mayonnaise from scratch.

(2) Do you think that Andreas Capellanus' treatise was just an entertainment for bored ladies of the Aquitainian court? Not to be acted upon, but just listened to--like a medieval "Dallas"? Andreas' outrageous misuse of Scripture ( to paraphrase: "Jesus says, "Ask and you shall receive", I've asked, so put out, Darling") is hard to take seriously.

(3) I have more to say about Camus, Constant and love in general, but that's all for now. Thanks

Michael Dirda: Good points, all. Capellanus's book is now sometimes regarded as a kind of scholarly satire, rather than a reflection of any reality.
In my essay I wrote about the way French love is perceived in its literature and by observers. The piece was in fact commissioned--in the sense that I was asked to write about French love, rather than love in particular.
All this said, a French professor wrote that I was right on the mark.
But this whole business of love is far more complicated than anyhthing I said there. After all I've been teaching Plato's Symposium and Dante's Vita Nuova the past couple of weeks.

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Alexandria, Va.: Speaking of LeGuin and Lovecraft, I heard once that she thought VERY little of Lovecraft's work. True?

Michael Dirda: Don't know. But lots of people don't like Lovecraft.

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Crystal City, Va.: Michael, have you read Sock, the novel written by the magician Penn Jillette? I just finished it, and it certainly isn't your run-of-the-mill whodunit, if only because it's narrated by a sock monkey.

Michael Dirda: THis sounds too silly to even think about.

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Beltsville, Md.: During Gene Weingarten's chat this week one of the subjects discussed was the changing definition in American culture over the last 30 years of "hero." One poster wrote that "the problem lies with residual guilt over the conflict in Vietnam. That military endeavor was considered by many people to be wrong, and mistake ridden. This caused a backlash felt by soldiers who were sent (many against their will) to fight for this country."

Do you see any reflection in American literature since 1973 of this trend? Also, after reading your wonderful piece this past Sunday on love, would you consider doing a similar column on the hero in American literature?

Michael Dirda: This is a tough question. Certainly people have written about Vietnam and its aftermath, and certainly most people feel that the whole incursion into Southeast Asia was badly conceived and managed, regardless of whether it was the right or wrong thing to do.
For a long time, though, the war protesters were viewed as the heroes, but over the past dozen or 15 years there has been a kind of glorification of the vets who fought there. They were the ones who served in hell.
A good approach to this subject would be my colleague David Maraniss's recent book They Marched into Sunlight, which compares and contrasts Vietnam protesters and soldiers during the high point of the war.

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Munich, Germany: You once mentioned on a chat that if space becomes an issue, one should always keep the first editions and then try to decide which books to keep afterwards.

I'm reaching the same predicament in my apartment, and hence I'm considering buying less books in the future, but keeping an eye on potential keeping value afterwards, namely making the extra expenditure on first editions.

The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't so easy to get a first edition over the Internet. Even at the bookstore, when I had the proprietors check their computerised database for me, they had no idea if the hardback that I wanted was still the first edition.

Then come the issues. I assume that the choicest books to obtain are the first issues of the first editions. How can a mere mortal like myself try best to obtain gems like these during issue time.

On doing a search on the Internet, I discovered that a first edition of "Bound To Please" would put you back $50.00. This is perhaps a bargain compared to $100.00 for a signed, first edition of "Readings".

Would us faithful chatters receive a discount on future first editions from Dr. Dirda?

Michael Dirda: Two things: First, if you want to collect modern firsts, you probably need to talk with established modern first dealers. They know their stock, yuou will be assured of getting what you paid for, and if there's a problem you can give the book back. If you focus on a single author, you should acquire his or her bibliography, so that you will know all the points associated with each title.
Readings went into a second printing, but Bound to Please only has one so far--thus, there's no reason to pay more for either book than the cover price.

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Love and nationality: Michael, you surveyed French attitudes toward eros in your Sunday column. How about giving us some American takes on the subject?

Michael Dirda: Maybe next Feb. 14.

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Do you teach?: I wonder what prompts you to take on adjunct (or visiting) professorships. Do you simply enjoy talking about books with students? Does it prompt you to explore a set or authors or a theme that you might not otherwise get to?

What do you like most and least about teaching?

Michael Dirda: I'm called the Scholar in Residence, and so I'm being paid a proper salary.
Teaching was for me the road not taken. If I like it well enough, I will give up regular reviewing and concentrate on writing books and talking to students. The books I teach are either books I love or books I want to know better.

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Washington, D.C.: Michael,

I recieved 'Bound to Please' as a christmas gift and loved it. You truly are gifted.

As my son gets more and more involved in organized sports, I thought I'd introduce him to some sports-themed novels. We've been enjoying the work of Matt Christopher. "The Great Quarterback Switch" and "The Kid who Only Hit Homers" are two that we have enjoyed together. Have you read any of his work? Could you suggest something similar? My son Trevor is nine and I saw this as a great opportunity to get him interested in reading. Thanks.

Michael Dirda: Fred Bowen--who lives in Maryland and used to write for the Kids Page of the Post--has a whole series of sports books, aimed at your son's age. Most are about baseball.
There's an older series, much beloved by men of my generation, by John R. Tunis. Most are about baseball, as well, and your son may be a bit young for them.
Your best bet, as always, is to chat with your local children's librarian.

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Chicago, Ill.: Mr. Dirda,

What's the word on Daniel Pinkwater. I'm reading his book centered around his love of dogs, Uncle Boris in the Yukon, and I'm wondering if I should investigate him more?

Michael Dirda: Pinkwater's a genius, a madman, a gift of the gods. Look for his two omnibus volumes, in paperback: Five by Pinkwater and Four MOre by Pinkwater. He's written wonderful books for almost every age group, starting with The Big Orange Splot. My favorite is Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars. But you've got to love anybody who titles a novel "Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario."

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Oxford, UK: Mr. Dirda,
You have no doubt inspired many to read PG Wodehouse -- how were you introduced to the author?

Michael Dirda: I read some short stories, liked them, and then read Leave it to Psmith. The rest is history.

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Washington, D.C.: With the recent death of Arthur Miller, I began to think about other playwrights and their places in history. How relevant do you think George Bernard Shaw is today? Although he was a man ahead of his times, he doesn't appear to appeal to people today. His political philosophy and atheistic beliefs just don't coincide with "red" American values. I know that he is still being staged in the US, but many young Americans have no idea of who he was. I've been told that they no longer study Shaw, Wilde or Ibsen. I know that Shaw is still revered and studied in Ireland, the UK and Canada (the Shaw Festival), but I wonder if young Americans no longer study him, then how much longer will he be staged.

Michael Dirda: I suspect there's some truth to what you say. But Wilde will always live through The Importance of Being Earnest, arguably the greatest comedy in English (along with The Way of the World), and Ibsen's A Doll's House is a classic for feminists more than ever. But Shaw's ideas do seem dated for many. But what doesn't age is his marvelous prose--there can't be many greater writers of English than Shaw, whether in his plays, prefaces or letters.

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Minnetonka, Minn.: Micheal,
What do you know about a new book, The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman? Is it another Antiquarian Romance? I'm looking for the next Name of the Rose, a bibliomystery with just enough esoterica to make it challenging.

Michael Dirda: Don't know anything about this. I presume you've looked at The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon?

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Bethesda, Md.: I am currently readng a book that I am FORCING myself to push through. What do YOU do when there is a book that you HAVE to finish and am having trouble getting through in a timely fashion? THANKS!

Michael Dirda: If you have to read it, then you just need to sit down and slog your way through. You might reward yourself every 100 pages with some illicit treat.
But if you don't absolutely have to read it, chuck it aside and try something else.

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Washington, D.C.: Have you read Gissing's Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft? It's a charming book in every way, and I'm wondering if you know of any books you'd consider similar to it. Thanks in advance.

Michael Dirda: It is charming. I'd suggest Julian Symons' life of his brother the bibiliophile/oenophile, A.J.A. Symons--it's quite charming and bookish. So too are the letters between publisher Rupert Hart-Davis and his old tutor George Lyttelton--The Lyttelton/Hart Davis Letters (in six volumes, or a recent one volume condensation). Cyril Connolly's essays might also appeal. Try the later ones in The EVening Colonnade.

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Lenexa, Kan.: Thank you for the warm compliment--really appreciated. Speaking of lighter verse, there's a new collection (beautifully illustrated by two sets of artists-spouses) of famous STORY poems forwarded by Kevin Crossley-Holland called "Once Upon a Poem." It has favorites like "Paul Revere's Ride," "The Man from Snowy River," and "The Cremation of Sam McGee." Also included are narrative poems by Lewis Carroll, Noyes, C.S. Lewis, Dahl, Auden, et al. I discovered it from a short-review by Elizabeth Ward in Book World. It would look nice in anyone's library.

Michael Dirda: Many thanks.

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Westerly, R.I.: On Reading Lolita in Tehran... I put it down after the first couple of chapters because I couldn't stand the narrator's self-congratulatory voice. I was diappointed because it was such an interesting story, but the author was way too focused on making herself the heroine of her story.

Michael Dirda: THanks.

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New York, N.Y.: The movie Groundhog Day seems to have grown in stature and belovedness over the years. Can you think of a book that has similarly started out just as a "book" and become a beloved cultural artifact?

Michael Dirda: Mostly I can think of books that I haven't read and didn't want to, such as Tuesdays at Morrie's.
But there are lots of cult books, from Catcher in the Rye and Catch 22 to John Crowley's Little, Big and Jonathan Carroll's The Land of Laughs.

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Dissenting Opinion: Forget first editions. Keep the books that are likely to become hard to find and that you want to re-read. The rest you can get from the library or a used bookstore.

Books aren't things, they're conveyances for wordsandmagic.

Michael Dirda: True enough; yours are my views too. Yet even though the text does count first, it's still not an entirely bad idea to know what things are worth in a commercial sense. Books are also artifiacts, products, collectibles.

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Dryden, N.Y.: You must receive hundreds of books each week. How do you chose what to review?
Do you have a standard vetting process?

Michael Dirda: Nope. I look at the book, sometimes read a few pages, and it speaks to me. Or not.

And that folks brings us to the end of our hour together. Be sure to tune in next week for another thrill-packed episode of Dirda on Books. Till then, keep reading!

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