Where do I start with him /lit/? Is he a meme or worth the while?

>>9383471

The guy's famous for making lists of books.

What do you think?

He's a meme, but in a good way. Literary autism personified. Start with the Western Canon. As a critic he's a bit shit lately, though, and quickly approaches Scaruffi-tier.

He's nothing more than the Scaruffi of literature. Sad!

>>9392260

Watch or read some interviews to get a sense of his character and ideas. Then read How to Read and Why for an accessible introduction to his philosophies on reading. Then read The Western Canon for his idiosyncratic thoughts on the most famous authors to exist. Then read The Anxiety of Influence to learn about his theories on Influence and to read the book that got him famous in the first place. Then if you want to continue just read whatever sounds interesting to you.

File: 26-dfw-2.nocrop.w529.h746.jpg (167KB, 529x705px) Image search: [Google]

167KB, 529x705px

>>9392260

T U R G I D
U
R
G
I
D

>>9392260
Start with The Anxiety of Influence, and then proceed immediately to The Daemon Knows.

>>9392277
it's telling the list ends decades before the publication of his book

what a fucking hack

>>9393114
Makes sense if you understand what exactly a canon is (or what bloom defines it as)

>>9393114
>it's telling the list ends decades before the publication of his book

Are you talking about his Western Canon list? The latest one is Angels in America and that came out a year before the book was published. There are plenty of newer books in his list.

>>9393144
canon is a spook

>>9393356
Yes
But an unspookable spook.

>>9393394
that's just your opinion

>>9393408
My opinions are correct

>>9392260
It will be a good influence, just don't read it dogmatically: you should, instead, just try to understand the enthusiasm of Bloom, and apply it to the books you will read. The good part is that virtually all the books he mentions in his major summaries (I guess you will start with the Western Canon) are books that deserve to be read and understood. He will show you, partially, why, or at least how.

Read also his Shakespeare monography, that's probably the best way to hype yourself into having a working knowledge of his ouvre, which will be aesthetically and philosophically meaningful to you forever. It's worth doing so and he is able to transmit the mood necessary for this kind of appreciation.

>>9392260
Omens of the Millennium!

>>9392276
Why do people on here keep praising Gass? He's garbage, simple as that.