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There's very little authentic study of the humanities remaining. My research assistant came to me two years ago saying she'd been in a seminar in whic...more

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Terror and rapture to Emily Dickinson are alternative words for "transport".

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When critics surrender to the prevailing orthodoxy, the author says they adopt the rhetoric of an occupied country, "one that expects no liberation fr...more

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Characters carrying the playwright's disapproval is a un-Shakespearian burden.

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Great writing is always rewriting or revisionism, and is founded on a reading that clears space for the self.

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A poem, novel, or play acquires all of humanity's disorders, including the fear of mortality

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One mark of originality that can win canonical status for a literary work is strangeness that we either never altogether assimilate, or that becomes s...more

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Reviewing bad books is bad for the character – WH Auden

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One reads for oneself and for strangers.