How to Read and Why

 By Harold Bloom – A Masterclass in Deep Reading from America’s Leading Literary Critic

In this essential companion to The Western Canon, Harold Bloom—the celebrated literary critic and champion of the written word—explores not just what we should read, but how and why we should read.

With his trademark intellectual clarity and passion, Bloom takes us on an inspiring journey through the power of literature to enrich the self. Drawing from a diverse and timeless selection—including Shakespeare’s sonnets, Hemingway’s short stories, Cervantes, Proust, Calvino, Sophocles, and even the Gospel of Mark—Bloom demonstrates how reading can become a personal act of inwardness, reflection, and transformation.

This is not a dry academic text; it’s a practical and inspirational guide that argues for reading as a way to reclaim individuality in a world dominated by noise and visual distraction. Literature, Bloom argues, is essential for fostering deep feeling, deep thinking, and a greater awareness of what it means to be human.

How to Read and Why is a passionate manifesto for anyone who wishes to reconnect with the written word. It’s a literary toolkit for students, teachers, and lifelong readers—an invitation to read more deeply, more meaningfully, and with renewed purpose.