The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages

harold bloom

Literary critic Harold Bloom's The Western Canon is more than a required reading list—it is a vision. Infused with a love of learning, compelling in its arguments for a unifying written culture, it argues brilliantly against the politicization of literature and presents a guide to the great works of the western literary tradition and essential writers of the ages. The Western Canon was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Genres nonfictionliterary criticismhistoryliteraturecriticismbooks about booksphilosophyclassicsreferenceeducation

546 pages, Paperback

First published August 31,1994

Literary awards

national book critics circle award,

This edition

Format: 546 pages, Paperback
Published: September 1, 1995 by Riverhead Books
ISBN: 9781573225144
ASIN: 1573225142
Language: English

About the author

harold bloom

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.