The Anti-Book List (Redhead & MacLeish)

     Brian Redhead and Kenneth McLeish, eds. The Anti-Booklist. (1981) A collection of short essays attacking the reputations of certain books (and their authors.) Witty and well read. Most of the criticisms of the classic, well-known, or merely popular books rest on moral grounds and/or simply bad writing. This book reminds us not so much that even good writers write bad books, but that we often value books for the wrong reasons. The other point this book makes, albeit unintentionally: it demonstrates that much of what we think of as literary judgement, positive or negative, consists of little more than following the current fashions. Many of  this book's targets no longer loom large enough in the literary world to merit this much attention (eg, Evelyn Waugh.) Nothing fades as fast as a best-seller’s popularity. A quick read, but once is enough. **½ (2001)