{"title":"Michael Dirda","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"open-book-book-michael-dirda-9780393326147","title":"An Open Book","description":"\"All that kid wants to do is stick his nose in a book,\" Michael Dirda's steelworker father used to complain, worried about his son's passion for reading. In An Open Book, one of the most delightful memoirs to emerge in years, the acclaimed literary journalist Michael Dirda re-creates his boyhood in rust-belt Ohio, first in the working-class town of Lorain, then at Oberlin College. In addition to his colorful family and friends, An Open Book also features the great writers and fictional characters who fueled Dirda's imagination: from Green Lantern to Sherlock Holmes, from Candy to Proust. The result is an affectionate homage to small-town America—summer jobs, school fights, sweepstakes contests, and first dates—as well as a paean to what could arguably be called the last great age of reading. \"Dirda is a superb literary essayist.\"—Harold Bloom \"Michael Dirda's memoir—no surprise to me—is so good that I went up to the attic meaning to send him one of my antique Big Little books as a salute to excellence...A great job. I'll be buying An Open Book for my children and grandchildren.\"—Russell Baker, author of Growing Up \"Here, in An Open Book, is the show and tell of a wonderful American story, everything coming together in the immemorial dance of literature and memory, of history and gossip, and of the deeply felt, bittersweet story (his own) of a young life. Read it and rejoice.\"—George Garrett \"A lovely, unapologetically nostalgic remembrance of growing up in a more innocent America, but it is also the touching story of one person's lifelong love affair with words.\"—June Sawyer, San Francisco Chronicle \"Dirda inhabits each book he reads. Inhabits it—and makes a space alongside it for us to join him....He is a rare treasure.\"—James Sallis, Boston Sunday Globe","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49510361661713,"sku":"GOR008965072","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50349010878737,"sku":"CIN0393326144G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50352050045201,"sku":"CIN0393326144A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51002070794513,"sku":"NIN9780393326147","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51552287031569,"sku":"GOR009087643","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52401501405457,"sku":"NLS9780393326147","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52981293809937,"sku":"GOR011359823","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0393326144.jpg?v=1751358213"},{"product_id":"notes-on-reading-and-life-book-michael-dirda-9780805083385","title":"Notes on Reading and Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs warm and stimulating as a library to which one returns again and again.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e (Editor's Choice)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile books contain insights into our selves and the world, it takes a conversation--between the author and the reader, or between two readers--to bring them fully to life. Drawing on sources as diverse as Dr. Seuss and Simone Weil, P. G. Wodehouse and Isaiah Berlin, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda shows how the wit, wisdom, and enchantment of the written word informs and enriches nearly every aspect of life, from education and work to love and death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOrganized by significant life events and abounding with quotations from great writers and thinkers, \u003ci\u003eBook by Book\u003c\/i\u003e showcases Dirda's capacious love for and understanding of books. Favoring showing as much as telling, Dirda draws us deeper into the classics, as well as lesser-known works of literature, history, and philosophy, always with an eye to how we might better understand our lives.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49512102166801,"sku":"GOR009530681","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50151620706577,"sku":"CIN0805083383G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50361658605841,"sku":"CIN0805083383A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51007476171025,"sku":"NIN9780805083385","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51859111870737,"sku":"CIN0805083383VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51890784764177,"sku":"GOR009196932","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52124845310225,"sku":"NLS9780805083385","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0805083383.jpg?v=1751011765"},{"product_id":"classics-for-pleasure-book-michael-dirda-9780156033855","title":"Classics For Pleasure","description":"This is not your father's list of classics. In these delightful essays, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Dirda introduces nearly ninety of the world's most entertaining books.  Writing with affection as well as authority, Dirda covers masterpieces of fantasy and science fiction, horror and adventure, as well as epics, history, essay, and children's literature. Organized thematically, these are works that have shaped our imaginations. \"Love's Mysteries\" moves from Sappho and Arthurian romance to Sören Kierkegaard and Georgette Heyer. In other categories Dirda discusses not only Dracula and Sherlock Holmes but also the Tao Te Ching and Icelandic sagas, Frederick Douglass and Fowler's Modern English Usage. Whether writing about Petronius or Perelman, Dirda makes literature come alive. Classics for Pleasure is a perfect companion for any reading group or lover of books.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49516825772305,"sku":"GOR010082592","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345927770385,"sku":"CIN0156033852A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50999541399825,"sku":"NIN9780156033855","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51423125471505,"sku":"CIN0156033852VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52102888587537,"sku":"CIN0156033852G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52474272186641,"sku":"NLS9780156033855","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0156033852.jpg?v=1751164049"},{"product_id":"open-book-coming-of-age-in-the-heartland-book-michael-dirda-9780393057560","title":"An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland","description":"The acclaimed literary journalist Michael Dirda recreates his boyhood in rust-belt Ohio. The result is an affectionate homage to small-town America, as well as a paean to what could be called the last great age of reading.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49560446566673,"sku":"GOR008989639","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50440468758801,"sku":"CIN0393057569VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51615928779025,"sku":"GOR014346777","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52104004108561,"sku":"CIN0393057569G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0393057569.jpg?v=1750975422"},{"product_id":"on-conan-doyle-book-michael-dirda-9780691164120","title":"On Conan Doyle","description":"A passionate lifelong fan of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda is a member of The Baker Street Irregulars--the most famous and romantic of all Sherlockian groups. Combining memoir and appreciation, On Conan Doyle is a highly engaging personal introduction to Holmes's creator, as well as a rare insider's account of the curiously delightful activities and playful scholarship of The Baker Street Irregulars. On Conan Doyle is a much-needed celebration of Arthur Conan Doyle's genius for every kind of storytelling.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49592644272401,"sku":"GOR009957293","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50360024465681,"sku":"CIN0691164126G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51005787635985,"sku":"NIN9780691164120","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0691164126.jpg?v=1751168320"},{"product_id":"on-conan-doyle-book-michael-dirda-9780691151359","title":"On Conan Doyle","description":"A passionate lifelong fan of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda is a member of The Baker Street Irregulars--the most famous and romantic of all Sherlockian groups. Combining memoir and appreciation, On Conan Doyle is a highly engaging personal introduction to Holmes's creator, as well as a rare insider's account of the curiously delightful activities and playful scholarship of The Baker Street Irregulars. On Conan Doyle is a much-needed celebration of Arthur Conan Doyle's genius for every kind of storytelling.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49778384011537,"sku":"GOR003337823","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49917702865169,"sku":"CIN0691151350G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50681144377617,"sku":"GOR011283193","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52329602580753,"sku":"GOR007836671","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53509193302289,"sku":"GOR013460946","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0691151350.jpg?v=1751426603"},{"product_id":"readings-book-michael-dirda-9780393324891","title":"Readings","description":"Intimate, humorous, and insightful, Readings is a collection of classic essays and reviews by Michael Dirda, book critic of the Washington Post and winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for criticism. From a first reading of Beckett and Faulkner at the feet of an inspirational high-school English teacher to a meeting of the P. G. Wodehouse Society, from an obsession with Nabokov's Lolita to the discovery of the Japanese epic The Tale of Genji, these essays chronicle a lifetime of literary enjoyment.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49915359789329,"sku":"GOR002387771","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50486437347601,"sku":"CIN0393324893G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50920117371153,"sku":"GOR014123750","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51002066239761,"sku":"NIN9780393324891","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51161917489425,"sku":"CIN0393324893VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52123612709137,"sku":"NLS9780393324891","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0393324893.jpg?v=1750696564"},{"product_id":"book-by-book-book-michael-dirda-9780805078770","title":"Book by Book","description":"Once out of school, most of us read for pleasure. Yet there is another equally important, though often overlooked, reason that we read: to learn how to live. Though books have always been understood as life-teachers, the exact way in which they instruct, cajole, and convince remains a subject of some mystery. Drawing on sources as diverse as Dr. Seuss and Simone Weil, P. G. Wodehouse and Isaiah Berlin, Pulitzer prize - winning critic Michael Dirda shows how the wit, wisdom, and enchantment of the written word can inform and enrich nearly every aspect of life, from education and work to love and death. Organized by significant life events and abounding with quotations from great writers and thinkers, \"Book By Book\" showcases Dirda's considerable knowledge, which he wears lightly. Favouring showing rather than telling, Dirda draws the reader deeper into the classics, as well as lesser-known works of literature, history, and philosophy, always with an eye to what is relevant to how we might better understand our lives.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49980268347665,"sku":"GOR003655339","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50365238706449,"sku":"CIN0805078770G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51080575451409,"sku":"CIN0805078770VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0805078770.jpg?v=1750703116"},{"product_id":"browsings-book-michael-dirda-9781681772585","title":"Browsings","description":"From Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Michael Dirda comes a collection of his most personal and engaging essays on the literary lifethe perfect companion for any lover of books.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50056226242833,"sku":"CIN1681772582G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50748774646033,"sku":"CIN1681772582VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52976635347217,"sku":"GOR013022386","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1681772582.jpg?v=1751152357"},{"product_id":"classics-for-pleasure-book-michael-dirda-9780151012510","title":"Classics for Pleasure","description":"\u003ci\u003eClassics for pleasure?To some readers this may seem an oxymoron.Aren't classics supposed to be difficult, esoteric, and probably a little boring? . . . I sympathize with this common view, even if it is largely wrong. Classics are classics not because they are educational, but because people have found them worth reading, generation after generation, century after century. More than anything else, great books speak to us of our own all-too-real feelings, confusions and daydreams \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not, your father's or your mother's--list ofclassics. In these delightful essays, Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Dirda introduces nearly ninety of the world's most entertaining books.Writing with affection as well as authority, Dirda covers masterpieces of fantasy and science fiction, horror and adventure, as well as of biography and history, poetry and children's literature.Organized thematically, these are the works that have shaped our imaginations and inspired our dreams and adventures. Here are Sappho's yearnings and the Arthurian romances, the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the ghost stories of M. R. James, the classic fairy tales and the Regency romances of Georgette Heyer. \u003cbr\u003eDirda approaches each of his chosen titles as a passionate reader rather than as a critic or scholar.He points us to new authors, less familiar classics, and genre titles often excluded from the canon. Whether writing about Petronius or S. J. Perelman, H. P. Lovecraft or the Icelandic sagas, Michael Dirda makes literature come alive. Full of surprises and wit, \u003ci\u003eClassics for Pleasure \u003c\/i\u003eis a perfect companion for any reading group or lover of books.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50203111686417,"sku":"CIN0151012512VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50317284704529,"sku":"CIN0151012512G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51885722698001,"sku":"GOR003839952","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53360554279185,"sku":"GOR004578531","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0151012512.jpg?v=1751163794"},{"product_id":"browsings-book-michael-dirda-9781605988443","title":"Browsings","description":"Journalist Michael Kinsley has described Michael Dirda as the best-read person in America, then added but he doesn't rub it in. Michael M. Thomas called him, in the New York Observer, the best book critic in America. Nevertheless, no one named Michael was involved when Dirda was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his reviews in the Washington Post or when his recent book, On Conan Doyle, picked up an Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America. Dirda's latest volume collects fifty of his poignant and puissant essays about the literary life. The result is a celebration, a fan's notes, the perfect gift for any booklover or for one's own bedtime browsing. For readers who admire Janet Flanner, Joseph Mitchell, Edmund Wilson and M.F. K. Fisher, this volume is the ideal literary companion. As admirers of his earlier books will expect, there are annotated lists galore--of perfect book titles, great adventure novels, favorite words, essential books about books, beloved children's classics, and, not least, a revealing peek at the titles Michael keeps on his own nightstand.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50274593210641,"sku":"GOR007436029","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51417637159185,"sku":"CIN1605988448G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51422935810321,"sku":"CIN1605988448VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53143678451985,"sku":"GOR014772328","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1605988448.jpg?v=1751182248"},{"product_id":"bound-to-please-book-michael-dirda-9780393329636","title":"Bound to Please","description":"Surveying the dizzying universe of classic books, Michael Dirda, the Pulitzer Prize-winning literary essayist, proves himself to be one of the most engaging critics of our time--and great fun to read. Opening with an impassioned critique of modern reading habits, he then presents many of the great, and idiosyncratic, writers he loves most. In this showcase of one hundred of the world's most astonishing books, Dirda covers a remarkable range of literature, including popular genres such as the detective novel and ghost story, while never neglecting the deeper satisfactions of sometimes overlooked classics. Short-listed for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for criticism, Bound to Please is a glorious celebration of just how much fun reading can be.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50310224740625,"sku":"CIN0393329631VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50585794117905,"sku":"GOR010250438","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51002012139793,"sku":"NIN9780393329636","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415772037393,"sku":"CIN0393329631G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52454048760081,"sku":"NLS9780393329636","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0393329631.jpg?v=1751229263"},{"product_id":"readings-book-michael-dirda-9780253338242","title":"Readings","description":"Intimate, humorous, and insightful, Readings is a collection of classic essays and reviews by Michael Dirda, book critic of the Washington Post and winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for criticism. From a first reading of Beckett and Faulkner at the feet of an inspirational high-school English teacher to a meeting of the P. G. Wodehouse Society, from an obsession with Nabokov's Lolita to the discovery of the Japanese epic The Tale of Genji, these essays chronicle a lifetime of literary enjoyment.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50423751311633,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50423752786193,"sku":"CIN0253338247VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52103147258129,"sku":"CIN0253338247G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0253338247.jpg?v=1751005243"},{"product_id":"bound-to-please-book-michael-dirda-9780393057577","title":"Bound to Please","description":"A showcase of one hundred of the world's most astonishing books, Bound to Please is an extraordinary one-volume literary education.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50468889198865,"sku":"CIN0393057577G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50913913798929,"sku":"CIN0393057577VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51774894440721,"sku":"GOR011234299","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52765763633425,"sku":"GOR014611362","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0393057577.jpg?v=1751260189"},{"product_id":"browsings-book-michael-dirda-9781410485007","title":"Browsings","description":"Journalist Michael Kinsley has described Michael Dirda as the best-read person in America, then added but he doesn't rub it in. Michael M. Thomas called him, in the New York Observer, the best book critic in America. Nevertheless, no one named Michael was involved when Dirda was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his reviews in the Washington Post or when his recent book, On Conan Doyle, picked up an Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America. Dirda's latest volume collects fifty of his poignant and puissant essays about the literary life. The result is a celebration, a fan's notes, the perfect gift for any booklover or for one's own bedtime browsing. For readers who admire Janet Flanner, Joseph Mitchell, Edmund Wilson and M.F. K. Fisher, this volume is the ideal literary companion. As admirers of his earlier books will expect, there are annotated lists galore--of perfect book titles, great adventure novels, favorite words, essential books about books, beloved children's classics, and, not least, a revealing peek at the titles Michael keeps on his own nightstand.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53648970809617,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53648971202833,"sku":"CIN1410485005VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781410485007.jpg?v=1781137823"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/author-books-by-michael-dirda.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}