โ[A] collection of Clive Jamesโs essays on a variety of literary topicsย .ย .ย . This is sanity, humor and acuity in the face of deathโ (The Wall Street Journal).
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In 2010, Clive James was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. Deciding that โif you donโt know the exact moment when the lights will go out, you might as well read until they do,โ James moved his library to his Cambridge house, where he would โlive, read, and perhaps even write.โ James is the award-winning author of dozens of works of literary criticism, poetry, and history, and this volume contains his reflections on what may well be his last reading list. A look at some of Jamesโs old favorites as well as some of his recent discoveries, this book also offers a revealing look at the author himself, sharing his evocative musings on literature and family, and on living and dying.
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As thoughtful and erudite as the works of Alberto Manguel, and as moving and inspiring as Randy Pauschโs The Last Lecture and Will Schwalbeโs The End of Your Life Book Club, this valediction to Jamesโs lifelong engagement with the written word is a captivating valentine from one of the great literary minds of our time.
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โThese essays and poems are death-haunted but radiant with the felt experience of what it means to be alive, even when mortally sick, especially when mortally sick.โ โFinancial Times
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โLatest Readings is a plain demonstration that Mr. James remains as learned and as funny as any critic on earth.โ โThe New York Times