The Masters Comp List from Hell

Bookslut's Jessa Crispin talks to Peter Boxall, one of the editors of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I saw the book in the Oak Park Borders the other day and was impressed by the occasional fustiness of some of its selections (John Lyly, Smollett) but put off by its weight (I'd have to lug it home); by the cover, which looks like the reader is already dead, albeit happily; and by the masters comps from hell feel of the whole enterprise. I'm mildly surprised Crispin took the book home. The canonical nature of 1001 Books seems at odds with the non-mainstream lit ethos of Bookslut and a lot of other lit blogs. Then again, I guess a true book slut would read anything.

I still might buy the book if only because of my old grad student reliance on reading lists. As the you-must-read-this genre goes, 1001 Books is pretty amiable and reticent. The book offers the pleasures of marking progress and determining if one really has to rush to read a book before one dies (surely Chuck Palahniuk will drop off the list before I go to the great library in the sky) and self-righteously stray off the list (no Pamuk? Are you kidding me?).