This is indeed a fantastic aid when analyzing literature. In AP literature, one must definitely know how to analyze different works. This work gives simple ways to explain difficult concepts or difficult to find ideas. Sometimes the book does over-state key ideas, this reiteration could be quite bothersome when reading the entire book at once. i would advise that you only look up things as you need them, but the writing is fascinating and can be quite colorful and even enjoyable. This was a great purchase for me!

While only just beginning to read this novel I have found some very intriguing remarks just in the first section where the author refers to a teacher teaching a class by reading a passage from another book where a home owner is selling the house and another man is attempting to pay the man and his family to leave the community. The description of the man trying to pay the man who owns the house off to move is stated by the teacher as "The Devil" because of the nature of his proposal. The nature of the proposal was that of integrity, dignity, and self-respect. All were in violation with the proposal and the man was in a bind because after the house was sold, the money ended up missing. Eventually the man came to terms with himself and declined the proposal while maintaining his integrity, dignity, and self-respect. The manner in which the author uses the teacher to describe this understanding is brilliant, insightful, and full of twists that keep you in suspense for further analysis of human behaviors, and abilities to read into a character by their actions and motives and use these to track down their choices. In essence, this is what makes up a part of a person's identity with themselves and the world around them. I am anxiously awaiting the next reading session and hope to add further details as they unfold.

Dr. Thomas C. Foster is a Michigan Professor of English who has written this bestseller and its sequel "How To Read Novels Like a Professor". This is the initial volume published in paperback by Quill in 2003.
Foster is well versed in all aspects of the literary field from ancient works to fiction by living writers. In his lively little book he introduces us to such terms as the following:
Seasons; Food; the Bible, Greek and Latin classical allusions and the world of fairy tales. He discusses irony, plote, motif and theme. All of this can be found elsewhere and in greater depth but Foster does an adequate job by using cogent illustrations from outstanding works such as "The Alexandrine Quartet" of Lawrence Durrell;
"A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess; "Grendel" by John Gardner as well as classics penned by such notables as Dickens, Henry James, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence and the ancient Greek dramatists. He also uses examples from African-American, Latin American and Native American works which is commendable. I especially enjoyed his contention that the chief character in Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" is a Christ figure.
The best part of the book was the chapter in which we are asked to peruse Katherine Mansfield's "The Garden Party" short story and then analyze it using the tools of the literary critic which we have acquired1 This was great fun! Valid interpretations of a literary work are myriad making it fun to become engrossed in literature!
Foster alludes to the sonnet and Shakespeare but otherwise has little to say about legitimate drama. The book is a beginner's guide not for the advanced literary scholar. It will keep your interest for several hours; you will learn new ways of looking at old books and you will become a better reader. Recommended!

Most people I encounter, after reading this book, complain that it is pushing a single opinion about the meaning of a story. That's not the case. While it does convey the language that people use to communicate, since that is what literature is supposed to do, it still does recognize that everyone will hear a story differently, due to the intertextuality it even mentions. This is an excellent book to have people "join the conversation" instead of being trapped in their own interpretation which may not be shared with anyone.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor explains some of the devices used by authors to express themselves. The author covers many aspects of the novel such as the quest and the frequent appearance of references to previous authors such as Shakespeare. The author's approach is flexible, he explains that, for example the weather, can have many uses as a device rather than just one. Rather than tell you precisely what to think about a use of a literary device in a novel, the author encourages you to think about them for yourself. After reading this book you will pay more attention to what is going on in a novel so I recommend this book for those people looking for a comparatively easy way to deepen one's appreciation of literature.

This book provided a handful of interesting things for me to consider (and a small list of interesting titles to check out later). However, as a literature major, the whole endeavor seemed a bit too elementary to be worth reading. The title should have been something akin to "How to Read Literature in Such a Way So as to Pass AP English Lit." Most of the concepts Foster discusses may be easily grasped through one critical read of a novel in a high school senior literature class.

The most enjoyable part of the book was the "case study" of "The Garden Party" by Mansfield; unfortunately for Foster, I simply mean Mansfield's short story. The story was fantastic, but it was quite easy to analyze the story and come to nearly as many supposedly "profound" conclusions as the author. In fact, I am only keeping this book for that story.

I would recommend this book to high school juniors and seniors (or even college students outside the English major). However, I would NOT recommend this book to a well-read individual, nor do I desire to read Foster's other book any longer.

It's an interesting, funny, and informative book that can give you ideas of how to interpret the literature you're reading, and even give you more ideas of what to read next. It's entertaining, and you learn more than you even realize until the next time you read a difficult novel.

My high school AP English teacher recommended this to our class. A lot of other people have addressed how great this book is for appreciating literature so I'll talk about another great aspect of it.

This literally should be every students bible for getting A's in English classes. I never understood how to break that B+ barrier on writing essays for english classes and then I read this and was enlightened. No matter if you are interested in sincerely analyzing literature or straight up b.s.ing your next english teacher this book is the key. Not only did I find success with it but I passed it on to my brother who is not the best student but after reading 50 pages found himself with an A in English every quarter.

In sum, this is it for understanding the minds of professors/teachers. Its pretty amazing how most students and adults don't know how to fully appreciate literature, or at least understand why great literature is what it is.

If you are preparing for the AP test or have always struggled with writing essays on interpretations of literature, this is the key, I promise.

This book is not just helpful for readers seeking to grasp common themes in literature, but it's also a boon to writings who seek to write more consciously.

I've written many of the discussed scenarios, and understood the meanings of them, but the point the author makes is that we all understand them on an instinctual level. It's when it's spelled out for you that you can contemplate and fully appreciate the story, or use it as a window to better communicate with a reader.

For instance, I doubt I'll ever again write a scene set around a table at meal time and not capitalize on a shared meal as being communion.

As a life-longer learner and literature major, I have spent years laboring over difficult, verbose, dry and authoritative texts that define and discuss literary symbolism. Reading too much deconstruction theory and word-specific analysis feels like getting so close to the words with a magnifying glass that the meaning of the words and sometimes the words themselves can no longer be deciphered. These tomes take seriousness to an exaggerated level, speaking down to the reader from great heights, perhaps the same heights Thomas Foster uses as an example from The Garden Party in How To Read Literature Like a Professor.

Suggestive of the second half of his title, A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, Foster comes down from the heights of academia by speaking, not to his readers, but with them. And while this book is most suited to high school seniors or college freshmen as a friendly introductory text, it was delightfully refreshing to read. It felt good to put down the magnifying glass and see literature once again as basic and whole as it was meant to be. I felt as though I had pulled up a chair in Professor Foster's classroom and had been part of a conversation, albeit a directed conversation.

Is Foster's tone a bit arrogant? Sure it is - he is a college English professor and what's a good English professor without a little arrogance? Isn't that what we expect, after all? Are the concepts basic and used? Yes they are - there is nothing here that is new or revolutionary - but what a comforting feeling it was to walk again on a worn path.

Any non-student with the inclination to pick up this book on their own undoubtedly has a list of favorite authors and stories, and certainly will feel as though something is missing. But Foster repeatedly reminds his readers that a lot is missing from this book. As he explains, no book can encompass all of literary symbolism, or mention every story, novel, movie or poem worthy of mention. So although some readers might find his list of recommended readings somehow incomplete, it is nonetheless his list. As Foster points out very honestly, "I'm pretty sure I could have made this book, with not too much effort, twice as long. I'm also pretty sure neither of us wants that."

Fosters concept of literature as play and his own word-play are as refreshing as the cleansing rains he outlines in his chapter on weather. Two of the best lines are from the end of his book, his "Envoi":

"... don't wait for writers to be dead to be read; the living ones can use the money. Your reading should be fun. We only call them literary works. Really, though, it's all a form of play."

As students of literature one tends to forget this, trudging through tedious and unpleasant pages because we are told that we must master certain classics; a list of some English professor's doing. Foster further explains that, "... in fact literature is chiefly play. If you read novels and plays and stories and poems and you're not having fun, somebody is doing something wrong. If a novel seems like an ordeal, quit; you're not getting paid to read it are you? And you surely won't get fired if you don't read it. So enjoy."

Which is his whole point, if you don't like his style, his ideas or his words, don't read his book. Otherwise - enjoy.

This is a lively, friendly, entertaining book that is great for students. It discusses how to read, to to really read literature. But as a practiced reader I found that it didn't teach me much, though it would be great for a freshman or sophmore.

I wish that I'd read this book before I began college too many years ago. How to Read Literature Like a Professor summarizes in accessible style and tone many of the points that it took years to learn on my own. It would be a good gift for any junior or senior in high school who's headed for college. It will ease the transition from reading at the literal level, to learn what happens in the plot, to reading at deeper levels, to learn what the author is saying "between the lines." Inclusion of references to film, television, theatre, and music strengthens How to Read Literature Like a Professor by refering to genres with which students may be more familiar. (The current universal reference for high school students is the film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings.) The literary references form a wonderful reading list. The humor helps to demonstrate that approaching literature does not have to be a solemn occasion.

Heard about this book in an AP class for teachers. They were right. It's great. I'd love to require my high school students get a copy-but funding would be a problem.

After reading a certain review here I felt I must post. This book is not for English majors only. This book will open a reader's eyes to what is hidden within leterature. It gave me fresh insight into the background and symbols I had not even thought of before and allowed my reading to be what it was meant to be. Yes, Mr. Foster does enjoy refering to his favorite authors for clarity on a theme or idea he has presented, however, this is not a flaw but a preperation to lay a solid foundation in what the reader will need for their goal. The beauty of this book is in its goal. This book was written so that we can learn with our eyes open and our minds ready to recieve whatever an author might throw at us. I had my "ticket punched" in a lit. class but I got more from this book. Thanks Professor Foster.

I found this book in a catalog that was sent to me at work. As I researched more about this book, I found out that many teachers across the country have thier students read it. As a high school English teacher and someone who rushed through thier English lit. degree, I was instatnly hooked. During our state testing, I have been reading it and chuckled out loud at it. It is well written and funny. It is hard to believe that you are actually learning as you read.

This book asks of literature, "What's going on here?" and of authors, "How did you do that?" Then it supplies clear, understandable answers that surprise and enlighten and delight.

An easy read and a nice introduction (or reminder to those who've been out of college a while) what goes into reading and appreciating great literature. People in college or who remember their college English lit classes vividly will find it a bit too beginner-level. I also thought the prose sometimes was a bit too informal and chatty. Still, I liked it.

There comes a time in every honest conversation about literature
between students and professors when the students' willingness to
accept the academic way of looking at things fails. Foster, having
no doubt been on the receiving end of this skepticism, cites it:
"A moment occurs in this exchange between professor and student
when each of us adopts a look," Foster explains. "My look says,
'What, you don't get it?' Theirs says, 'We don't get it. And we
think you're making it up.'"

Fair enough. In fact, there's a legitimate question in the accusation.
Are they making it up? There are two answers to the question.

*Yes. Absolutely. Very few writers begin with symbols and go to
stories. We actually dream our stories or allow them to pop into
our heads while we're walking in the woods or the streets or
pumping the elipto-cycle at the gym. The layers of symbol that
Foster's talking about represent the creativity of readers, not
the creativity of writers.
We should, by the way, be grateful to them for making this stuff
up. Reading in a professorial way requires a great deal of attention.
It actually forces the reader to be aware, and awareness as you
probably know is the basic stuff of life. Read like a professor and
you will have a lot more fun with your reading. Guaranteed.

*The second answer is 'No'. No, they're not making it up. Writers
live in the world of symbols just like everybody else and
when a writer chooses to post (let's say) a dog at the entrance
to a dark lane, it's possible that that author is either
connecting with or just unconsciously replicating the Classical
image of Cerebus guarding the gates of Hell.

Most people intuitively understand both these answers, but
the trouble begins when we pay too much attention to writers'
intentions. What does Murakami mean when Kafka's mentally feeble
guide is able to talk to cats? Wrong question. We'll never
know what he meant (even if he tried to tell us).What we can
'know' is what it means to us and what pieces of the universal
gold mine of meaning it brings to the surface for out attention.

Now it seems like this kind of attention to literature could
be an interesting game to play-you get to participate in a
book, not just read it. In actual fact, most of the writing on
the topic is achingly, profoundly, set-the-house-on-fire-to-
escape-it dull. Gigantic egos praying to our Lady of the
Unwarranted Assumption and offering definitive answers where
what is needed are artful suggestions.

Foster's book is brilliant because he is appropriately humble
in the face of his topic. He seems like a fellow who enjoys
his reading, a helpful waiter who tells you which of tonight's
specials would really go with your favorite wine. He has
certainly made my reading more fun and I have no doubt that
he will do the same for you.


--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN 9781601640005

If only I had had access to HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR for my Freshman English classes!! Foster provides great insights into those specific points college professors and advanced placement English teachers make concerning classical texts. You may even discover why certain works appeal to you while others don't. Foster clearly explains the literary devices are used to effect mood, attitude, and feelingsto create entertaining tales. Shakespeare may have been original, but he was also a master of understanding what worked for other authors from whom he borrowed much. A number of great works written since Shakespeare use his devices including subtle references to the Bible and the Greek Classics.

Foster explores works that are read in most high school and college survey classes. He gives simple explanations for complex concepts and does so with humor. Students who sometimes struggle with commonly used elements will surely find this a helpful addition to their reading and understanding literature.

This book is like a key that helps you unlock the mysteries contained in literary works. It's easy to read and full of insights and helps you dissect the many meanings in literature. My only criticism is that the book is too short. I hope Dr Foster is working on volume two.

This book was utterly amazing. It made me realize some things I have never thought of when reading some of the books he discussed. I found it both entertaining and informative and a great help in my quest to understand everything I read.

Anybody who's familiar with anykind of storytelling definitely should not need to read this. Watching movies, reading books, drawing parallelels and over-analyzing would be much more fun, and much more interesting. The author proves himself not a master of insight, but instead a master of tautology. The introductory chapter ought to have gotten me to stop, but hey, it was required reading. I could have died a happy reader without ever needing to read this book.

This is no On Writing. Its a professor who thinks too-little of his students' capacity to reason and too much of his own capacity to invent (and tell jokes.) It doesn't need to be so long (were this a good book, I wouldn't consider it long), but he's so preoccupied, not just with giving examples from literature virtually nobody needing the book would be familiar with, but with his own sense of humor and the brilliant interpretations he's crafted.

But they're useless. Really. If an author's done his job right, a literary work shouldn't be an intellectual riddle to unravel, but it should convey its meaning to the lay person through these devices. Somebody doesn't need to know "whenever people eart or drink together, it's communion, (Foster, 8)" to pick up on the emotional dynamic in a scene, and be moved subconciously by the close, familiar and personal setting. The same applies to every single one of his clumsy, bold, ugly little "rules."

The only thing worth taking out of this book, (though you really should know it from experience), is just to know that you should think about what you're reading. There's always a purpose, even when that purpose is showing you that there is no purpose.

And Mr. Linder is not the devil. He plays the role of the devil, he's the tool for the devil, but he is not the devil. He is by no means the villian, nor malicious, nor conciously buying the protagonist's soul. I'd even let slide his dramatic semantics if the story slavishly nad obviously followed a Faustian plot, but it doesn't. Walter Lee is not Faust, he lacks the will to power. He's merely trying to save his family. In fact, to trade the well-being of his family in exchange for the preservation of something material that he connects his identity to would be the soul-selling. I would not get along well in his class. What college does he teach at, again?

The above paragraph has no place in a book review. I apologize.

Foster gives a lively and very readable review of what we all learned in high school but have since forgotten. His examples are familiar and even include movies. Our book club read this and feel it will give us a little more depth in our discussions.

Back in the day when I was in high school and college, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren's classic tome HOW TO READ A BOOK was suggested reading for anyone who was studying literature, philosophy, or any of the other subjects of a traditional classical education. I recall one professor suggesting someone write a book called HOW TO READ MORTIMER ADLER AND CHARLES VAN DOREN'S HOW TO READ A BOOK. As I recall the book was helpful but I'm wondering if a book such as Thomas Foster's HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR would have a bit more helpful and perhaps would have given Adler and Van Doren a bit of competition.

I first saw the title a few months back when bookstores began displaying books that were required summer reading in area high schools. The selections amazed me. Staples such as HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV and A TALE OF TWO CITIES were still included in the stacks along with authors such as Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, John Updike, and Marilynne Robinson. Summer reading lists have expanded and in many cases are more challenging. I also saw HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR in the same displays. I'm not sure if teachers are requiring this book as a companion or whether the booksellers are hoping that students will buy this guide that's bound to be useful in reading and writing about literature.

The book is set up into a number of small chapters that deals with understanding literature. Each chapter has illustrations from the wide worlds of literature and Foster makes sure he includes everything from antiquity to the present day. It also includes a good bibliography as well as film suggestions (much of what Foster says can be applied to film studies as well).

Students are the obvious target audience for this book with English teachers not that far behind. My guess is that this book will be a godsend in the classroom. It will enable actual discussions about literature to start. I purchased it as a guide for a book club I belong to, and since I love to write, I've been using it to help me shape portions of my novel in progress. People who are involve din Bible Study may also find this book helpful. The Bible does contain so many universal themes in literature and like good literature, shows humanity at its bets and worst. I'm also thinking another audience will enjoy it. I know a number of people who are rereading classics or picking up books that were supposed to be read in high school and college but instead got the "Cliffs Notes" treatment. People are also reading more challenging books for personal pleasure. This book is like having an answer machine nearby and is bound to make reading more meaningful.

This tongue-in-cheek volume was written by an English professor of fiction, drama and poetry (as my husband was); also creative writing and composition (as son Zach does). If you really want to read English lit. like a professor, you do as I did: find a "professional copy" of a course text with annotations and leverage for the teacher. The students think he knows what he's talking about, when actually it is really from his faculty/teacher's manual.

You might get lucky and find such an intensive book of Literature at the closest Goodwill store. If not, get this one and take it with a grain of salt. No one can read lit. like a prof. unless he is or ever was one. I know for a fact as I married my college teacher who taught English and American literature classes. I had to take the English, he said, because it was the hardest. In poetry, according to my guide, words are the building blocks while imagery is the poem's link to the senses. Prosody is the sound, rhythm, and rhyme in poetry and form is the shape of the poem. Myth is the symbolism allusions in poetry. Theme includes the idea and meaning in poetry. Some English poems were written by Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Gray, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Thomas Hardy, and my favorite, Leigh Hunt ("Abou Ben Adhem"). Drama included Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark which Zach used for his master's dissertation, "The religious aspects of Hamlet."

In Lit. there are realistic and nonrealistic plays, like Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Albee's "The Sandbox." Comedies such as Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Love is the Doctor" by Moliere fit the bill.

Anyone can read literature like a professor if they should be fortunate enough to find such a treasure in used books. Or, this practice in reading lit. by an expert may be essential -- if you've never been married to an English Prof. or had one for a son.

I might have picked an alternative title for this book, like "How To Read Literature," which takes the focus away from the academic sounding title and places it more in the works themselves. Once upon a time, people who were 'serious' about writing shared a particular set of 'texts in their heads.' They were usually the Bible, medieval literature, Greek tragedies, and so forth. This became a sort of 'code' that literary people could encode and decode through reading stories, poems, epics, and the like. The nice thing about the 'codes' (unlike the DaVinci Code) was that they were aesthetically pleasing, i.e., they were enjoyed for their imagery, character, setting, tone, development, ironies, and so forth. Thomas Foster provides a crash course in learning about these codes like the hero code, the saviour code, the sacrificial code, the morse code (only kidding), and so forth. The code was more thoroughly 'codified' by Northrup Frye back in the 50's & 60's, but getting people to read any of his major books instead of this one would be like giving most people a choice between reading War & Peace or watching an episode of the 'Sopranos'. So, sure you can learn to read like a particular type of college professor from the instructions in this book, but this partly misses the point. At one time, these ideas, principles, codes, etc., MEANT something to people. People really believed in them and considered them. Nowadays, such code catching has come down quite frequently to outdoing someone in coming up with the most decodings, or we should say "recoding" because you can't really decode something since you have to express it into another code, right? Otherwise, you'd just have silence or a blank page, and Sam Beckett even made those things into codes. So, it's all in good fun, but learning this stuff without finding meaning in it would be sort of like wearing a crucifix around your neck because you thought it had nice symmetry. Hey, that's ok, but then all you end up with his an object. Now if you are or your professors are into post-modernism b.s., you will probably learn that these codes are just a lot of obfuscation and arbitrary too boot, and, so, for example, Jesus on the Cross doesn't mean anything except that some guy is in deep sh_t, but that's probably covered in some other book.

A better subtitle to this book might be "Understanding Symbology," but then you would miss the "lively" and "entertaining" part of the current subtitle, and that shouldn't be thrown away. This is probably the best book I've ever read about the ugly task of decoding literature, and I would highly recommend it as a graduation present for any high school student who plans to attend college. It's that good. Foster is no dry academic, although his taste still runs to the rather mundane type of literature that doesn't do anything for me personally. What Foster is good about, though, is explaining exactly why he finds that type of literature exciting and how one can decipher it to understand what those darn professors find interesting about it, too.

This is a nice companion piece to Jane Smiley's Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, especially her chapter on how novelists play games when writing. Smiley comes to the novel as a practioner; Foster looks at the novel as a cartographer. Smiley explains how to play the game, while Foster shows how to understand what the game was that the novelist was playing. Do all novelists play games? No, only the better ones. It's not that novels that have nothing going for them beyond the plot are bad per se, but like a movie that goes from one chase sequence to showdown, a plot-only novel is one-dimensional.

The only thing missing in Foster's explication here is an understanding for novels of ideas, which often get short shrift from the academy, sometimes rightly (when the novel has no plot or characters and only presents the ideas) but often overlooked because the novelist eschews symbology for prognostication. It's only a slight misstep, and one easily forgiven for most college classes where this book will come in handy won't be covering those kinds of books anyway.

This book is full of great examples of how to interpret literature. Unfortunately, it falls short on imagination and coveniently slots themes, plots and characters into several well contrived but narrow definitions. It is a good read for those studying literature but does not hold the answers that it seems to promise from the title.

I saw the title of this book and thought, "Now why
would I want to read literature like a professor?"
which was probably a reflection of my professors
who sucked the passion for reading literature right
out of my veins. Too bad I didn't havev a
professor like the author if this book!

(I do have to mention the one section that upset
me, though - where he supposes that 45 year olds
are somehow to old to increase their self-knowledge
as a "Quester"...this was in his summary of
"Every trip is a quest." I beg to differ on this
one... and in fact, I wonder how many of this
books readers are over 45 years old and are
actually questing through reading this book
and applying the principles found therein?)

So now that this one opinion of "The Professiorial
Doubting Thomas C. Foster" set aside.... I will also
say that this book was eye-opening and evocative and
nearly each page had something wise that I could
immediately use and apply to my own learning
process and discovery as both a reader and a writer.

Writers would find a lot of gold here, too - so
I strongly suggest it be added to any writer's
library as well.

You will read smarter and write smarter after reading this book. A must for understanding the underpinnings of good literature. Foster's presents the material in a friendly, breezy, easy to understand and compelling way. I couldn't put it down, didn't want it to end.

Reading for hidden meaning in terms of symbolism, etc., has never been my strong point, which is why this book interested me. And I am certainly glad I read it. I did pick up a few ideas on how to look and what to look for in literature. I'm afraid that I did not delve so deeply or see everything there was in the test case at the end, so I probably will never be cut out to be a professor of literature. But this book definitely brought some things to the front of my mind. I imagine it will pay off in terms of deepened appreciation some day.

The author mentions in the last chapter that he realizes that his book might be a bit rambly and idiosyncratic. I'm glad he and I were on the same page! The chapters had a tendency to wander, and they were, on the whole, a little longer than they needed to be.

I had mixed feelings about his habit of pointing to specific examples. I realize that there was really no other way to go about illustrating his points. And sometimes it worked well, but other times I felt very annoyed and frustrated that I had not read the book and didn't always understand exactly what he was talking about. I couldn't really predict which way my feelings would go about the example texts, so I don't know if it was him or me. But it did seem sort of hit or miss.

I do appreciate the author's effort to keep his guide 'lively and entertaining'. He did a good job, in my opinion. It was a fun book to read. Lively, entertaining, and quite educational. He provided quite a bit of food for thought. My favorite tidbit? Both A Raisin in the Sun and Damn Yankees contain Faustian plot elements. Cool!

This book blows.

Well, let us start from the beginning. I got this book for a summer AP Lit reading assignment, looked at the cover, and the first thing I thought to myself was, "Hmm, that's strange, I don't recall Huck Finn ever having the phrase 'how to read literature like a professor' on any page." Then I decided I'd stop staring at the cover like a fool and open the book and start reading the pages.

What I discovered was every chapter read like ad-libs. Not just any ad-libs may I add, it was like reading the same penciled in story over and over. Pretty much, it was like reading an essay a gradeschooler wrote. (Thesis, Body Paragraph 1, 2, 3 etc., Conclusion, Repeat on a New Chapter, and every once in a while there would be a few big words you had to look up and some italic words that symbolized your thoughts)

Look, we all know writers are in a class of their own and decide that everything will either be (A) a symbol, (B) somehow sex related, (C) relate to the past or (D) relate to religion. Just because you read this book, it doesn't mean whatsoever that you will become proficient in the art of spotting these things out, or even a proficient reader. All I got out of this book was now I can go to my friends, pull up my suspenders and straighten out my pocket protector as I say with honor, "This summer, I read an entire book on how to read books." So if you're looking to be bored by Mr. Thomas C. Foster, look no further and pick up this book

If you're a voracious reader of novels or stories, but not an English Literature Major, and often find yourself thinking "there's more going on in this story, but I can't figure out what" then this book will provide a great starting point for expanding your reading. Foster takes the uninitiated on an easy to follow quest through literary symbology, allusion, and theory. It focuses almost exclusively on reading, not on writing (though one can vastly improve one's writing by becoming a better reader). And the intended audience is the beginner (though someone who has never read a novel might not fare too well).

Foster's ideas may strike some as "out there". He reads stories and symbols on a very mythological level. And this leads to his easy to misunderstand notion of "there's only one story". By this he doesn't mean "there's only one plot" or "all stories are the same story" but something more philosophical such as "all stories belong to and feed off of the one big story" (something ineffably akin to existence and history). Thus stories and symbols take on recognizable meanings over time. They get embedded in culture and interact with other stories. The best examples he discusses involve the Bible ("Christ figures", floods, etc), Shakespeare, Fairy Tales, and Greek Mythology. Stories have the ability to tap into these culturally embedded notions and heighten the meaning of a plot or a character. This only works because "we're all part of the same story" and, subsequently, because "there's only one story". Originality, then, becomes a measure of how well a story taps into this wellspring of meaning and exploits it for purposes of its own meaning.

Foster presents this idea of one story as the source of literary allusion. He gives numerous examples to support this theory with various symbols, including: quests, vampirism, eating, rain and snow, violence, flight, disease, the seasons, and geography. His approach isn't a tyrannical one, either. He doesn't, for instance, say "rain is ALWAYS cleansing!!" Foster accepts the notion that symbols only suggest meaning, they don't dictate it. Symbols have fluidity. Different people may interpret "snow" in different ways (though bad interpretations do exist, as Foster also recognizes). And irony also throws a wrench into the narrative machine.

Other topics that receive mention include politics and sex. Foster points out that many covert political stories exist (in defiance of the "don't put politics into your fiction!" dictum). He uses Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" to eludcidate this. As for sex, Foster finds symbolic literary sex far more satsifying than outright portrayals of intimacy in stories. Why? Because sexual intimacy typically carries symbolic meaning for a story. It carries the plot forward.

Foster's book most of all encourages the questioning of a story. Why is the main character short or tall? Why is the story set in winter rather than spring or summer? Why do references to birds keep appearing in a story? Such questions lead a reader down the path of reading a story in a more broad way. Which should heighten the experience of reading.

The book's final chapter presents a "test case" in the form of Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party". After reading the story (included as a whole), Foster asks the reader to consider some questions and return to the text. He then gives interpretations of some of his students and finally his own reading of the story. For those that have never taken a literature course, this chapter probably provides the most benefit, especially regarding the "tools" introduced in the preceding chapters. Here he puts theory to practice.

In the end, Foster claims that this book doesn't represent the only, or even necessarily the best, way to read and analyze a story. So those who already have a literary background may take issue with his approach. But for the beginner this book presents a possible new dimension for reading, understanding, and judging stories. It should help to dispell the notion that literary teachers and professors just "make it all up." Most of all, it should provide a good launching pad, not a landing pad, for further reading.

I read this book as an assignment for AP English summer reading, and I am SO glad. It is written with such great humor and style that you can almost picture the author sitting in front of you, telling you about reading, instead of looking at his words on the page. Not only are the ideas insightful and easy to understand, but they are presented in such a way that it is enjoyable to read about them. Foster also makes his points memorable, so that the tips just stick in your head to be used while reading anything else, instead of needing to use the book as a reference.

This readable and sometimes even entertaining series of essays is a good help for the one who must give a program for her book club and explain the author's use of symbols. It is especially helpful for the avid reader who has not taken many college courses in contemporary or classical literature and needs help in showing the similarities between the great works of fiction. I'm not sure it would be useful for anyone who doesn't feel compelled to draw mythic significance for every book he reads and who can appreciate without the constant search for archetypes.
On the positive side, the explanation of literary terms in the context of the works cited is a handy guide.

At last, you can become a literary expert right in your home..without taking classes in cramped classroom chairs and having to listen to other students drone on about lost loves, death, violence and the internet. The central thesis of Professor Foster's book is that to succeed at the art of close reading one has to search for the symbolism, invariably underlying, in the literary text. The principal benefit of this book is that Foster provides an array of examples demonstrating that a richer appreciation of the art is available to readers who are willing to work for it. Foster has a light touch, a welcome contrast to the ponderous, inscrutable tomes of many of his colleagues. He keeps the pace moving and his attempts to inject humor in the process are successful more often than not. I have to admit that, although I have long admired her work, what Foster says about Iris Murdoch is true: her characters drown at every opportunity; given have a chance, she'd drown the Pacific fleet!

I loved this book! It gave me confidence to trust my own judgment about what things mean in a literary work. The guidelines that Foster provides have been very helpful in deepening my reading experience. I liked reading "The Garden Party" and comparing my insights with his and those of his students. Highly recommended for anyone who loves to read, especially those who belong to book discussion groups. In fact, our group is reading AHAB'S WIFE for our next meeting, and I'm finding Foster's book extremely useful in getting ready for our discussion.

Who in their right mind wants to read a book like a professor? It is said that a bumblebee only flies because he doesn't know that he can't (aerodynamically speaking). Likewise, professors are notorious for destroying good reads in what I would call a paralysis by analysis. That said, this book plays a role in educating those who choose to analyze literature, but spare me the superlatives. The book is not "engaging" or overtly "humorous," as the publishers would have you believe.

I must admit however, that the book did open my eyes to some fairly obvious elements of literature that I knew intuitively, but had never consciously applied or analyzed. For example, literature is full of symbolism, motifs, archetypes, heroism, etc. Most avid readers are aware of this, but reading about it and learning how to recognize it in some of its more subtle forms was enlightening. Foster also postulates that a writer is impacted by everything he/she reads or learns, as it is "impossible to write in a vacuum." I thought that was fairly obvious, but I suppose it was good to hear.

On the more negative side of things, I disliked Foster's attempts to be conversational. For some reason it just didn't come off. This book is about learning how to analyze and interpret literature, not trying to become my friend, or convince me that the author is a nice guy. I was also bothered by some of the repetition of examples. In a world replete with outstanding literature, Foster seems to be fixated on Toni Morrison. Call it personal, but I can't stand her writing. Also, if one more jokester tells me to practice to get to Carnegie Hall, I think I'll puke.

I am not a professor nor an English Lit. major; just an avid reader. I seldom take the time to look for all the symbolism and significance in the books I read. According to Professor Foster, that makes me a "literal reader". This book pointed out some basic tenets of symbolism, irony and significance in an interesting and amusing manner that even a literal reader could see and appreciate. Mr. Foster foists no guilt on the literal reader - the foremost reason to read according to him is for enjoyment.

Mr. Foster has chapters entitled such things as "It's All Shakespeare..." and "Unless its the Bible" that track major themes and ideas in literature. He fills each chapter and substantiates each point with a myriad of examples.

He also brings to the table a refreshing view that it's okay to not see every symbol and theme in a book - again, the main thing is to enjoy reading. But reading this book has already made me try to be more aware of what an author is doing beyond the straight plot line.

One thing that truly made me feel as if I were back in college was the annoying politic correctness. There could have been a broader scope of fiction used (unless you believe that Toni Morrison's writings encompass virtually every literary theme). Also, every time Mr. Foster raised the spectre of a hypothetical author it was "she" who was doing this in "her" work.

This is an enjoyable book that is a good aid to any reader. It would also be a great help to high school and college readers.