How to Read Literature Like a Professor

The New York Times bestseller is now available for the first time in hardcover. Thomas C. Foster’s classic, a lively and entertaining introduction to literary basics, including symbols, themes, and contexts, is an indispensable guide for instilling a love of reading and unlocking the hidden treasures of literature.

While many books can be enjoyed for their basic stories, there are often deeper meanings interwoven in these texts. How to Read Literature Like a Professor helps us to discover those hidden truths by looking at literature with the eyes—and the literary codes—of the ultimate professional reader: the college professor.

What does it mean when a hero is traveling along a dusty road? When he hands a drink to his companion? When he is drenched in a sudden rain shower?

Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, Thomas C. Foster provides us with a broad overview of literature—a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal signifies a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just a shower—and shows us how to make our reading experiences more enriching, satisfying, and fun.

With wit and charm, Foster makes the modes and meanings of authors from Shakespeare and Woolf to Steinbeck and Faulkner accessible. Whether it’s Hamlet delivering a soliloquy or the glorious Twelfth Night feast in Joyce’s “The Dead,” in Foster’s capable hands the joys of reading are opened. 

Foster spent his career teaching literature and now puts the tools into your hands.