The Man Who Read Everything

In my lifelong effort to keep up with H.B., I've read this, too. I recommend it to anyone who has already read much Bloom, and appreciates his critical audacity. The only surprise here is to discover how prone he was to bouts of depression and self-doubt.

Eid Mubarak wa Sumud!

 

Bloom on American Masters Discussing Gore Vidal

 

Blake's Apocalypse

This was Bloom's third book, I believe. It is a model of exegetical insight and clarity.

Eliot, Auden, Blake

 

T. S. Eliot spent his life re-inventing himself as a certain type of Englishman while managing a neurotic wife and writing some memorable verse.

 

 

W. H. Auden spent his life trying to rationalize his attraction to a religious tradition he could barely practice or believe while mourning an unfaithful lover and writing some memorable verse.

 

 

William Blake spent his life creating a mythology to live by and a psychology to live within while single-handedly attempting to usher in a New Age.

I don’t wish to minimize the achievements of Eliot and Auden but they pale in comparison to Blake’s.

How To Read And Why

 

W. H. Auden and Leonard Cohen