The List of Book Lists

Every book list should be taken with a grain of salt and lists can be more revealing about their creators than what they are supposed to be about. But lists are fun to read and even more fun make.

Harold Bloom, one of the giants of 20th c. literary criticism established his reputation with the monster of all book lists, The Western Canon. We have collected some of the better known lists here. Since these are mostly comprised of classics and seminal works, we have recommended the best available editions and in some cases secondary works and associated biographies.