Classics

Mark Twain defined a literary classic as 'something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read'. But what was true in the nineteenth century doesn't hold today. In our uncertain modern times, not only do books considered classics still fill the shelves of many bookshops, but these books continue to exert a powerful influence on contemporary culture.

When Jane Gleeson-White wrote an article on classic books for Good Reading magazine, she was amazed at the response it elicited: students, teachers and reading groups were eager for recommendations from 'the canon', the list of classic texts that until quite recently was compulsory reading in Australian schools.

The result is this beautiful book on why the greatest works of literature matter, and what they can give us today.

• Year of Publication: 2005
• Genre: Non-fiction
• Audience: Adult