Daniel R. Schwarz is Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University, where he has taught since 1968. He is the recipient of Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences Russell Award for Distinguished Teaching. Schwarz has published numerous books, including Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890-1934 (2004), Broadway Boogie Woogie: Damon Runyan and the Making of New York City Culture (2003), Rereading Conrad (2001), Imagining the Holocaust (1999), Reconfiguring Modernism: Explorations in the Relationship Between Modern Art and Modern Literature (1997), and Reading Joyce’s Ulysses (1987; new ed. 2004).

“In Defense of Reading offers fascinating and rewarding insight into a scholar’s academic experiences, from which much can be learned.”  (Conradiana, 1 March 2012)"The book explores why we read, how we read and what we learn from reading imaginative literature." (Ezra Magazine, April 2009)

• Preface. Acknowledgments.1. The Odyssean Reader or the Odyssey of Reading: “Of Ourselves and of Our Origins”.2. How We Learn and What We Learn from Literary Texts.3. Towards a Community of Inquiry: Is There a Teacher in the Class?.4. Eating Kosher Ivy: Jews as Literary Intellectuals.5. Professing Literature in the Twenty-First-Century University.6. Reconfiguring the Profession: The (Uncertain) Path to a Professorship.Conclusion: The Future of Literary Studies.Selective Bibliography.Index

Daniel R. Schwarz is Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University, where he has taught since 1968. He is the recipient of Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences Russell Award for Distinguished Teaching. Schwarz has published numerous books, including Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890-1934 (2004), Broadway Boogie Woogie: Damon Runyan and the Making of New York City Culture (2003), Rereading Conrad (2001), Imagining the Holocaust (1999), Reconfiguring Modernism: Explorations in the Relationship Between Modern Art and Modern Literature (1997), and Reading Joyce’s Ulysses (1987; new ed. 2004).

“In Defense of Reading offers fascinating and rewarding insight into a scholar’s academic experiences, from which much can be learned.”  (Conradiana, 1 March 2012)"The book explores why we read, how we read and what we learn from reading imaginative literature." (Ezra Magazine, April 2009)

• Preface. Acknowledgments.1. The Odyssean Reader or the Odyssey of Reading: “Of Ourselves and of Our Origins”.2. How We Learn and What We Learn from Literary Texts.3. Towards a Community of Inquiry: Is There a Teacher in the Class?.4. Eating Kosher Ivy: Jews as Literary Intellectuals.5. Professing Literature in the Twenty-First-Century University.6. Reconfiguring the Profession: The (Uncertain) Path to a Professorship.Conclusion: The Future of Literary Studies.Selective Bibliography.Index

Daniel R. Schwarz is Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University, where he has taught since 1968. He is the recipient of Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences Russell Award for Distinguished Teaching. Schwarz has published numerous books, including Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890-1934 (2004), Broadway Boogie Woogie: Damon Runyan and the Making of New York City Culture (2003), Rereading Conrad (2001), Imagining the Holocaust (1999), Reconfiguring Modernism: Explorations in the Relationship Between Modern Art and Modern Literature (1997), and Reading Joyce’s Ulysses (1987; new ed. 2004).

“In Defense of Reading offers fascinating and rewarding insight into a scholar’s academic experiences, from which much can be learned.”  (Conradiana, 1 March 2012)"The book explores why we read, how we read and what we learn from reading imaginative literature." (Ezra Magazine, April 2009)

• Preface. Acknowledgments.1. The Odyssean Reader or the Odyssey of Reading: “Of Ourselves and of Our Origins”.2. How We Learn and What We Learn from Literary Texts.3. Towards a Community of Inquiry: Is There a Teacher in the Class?.4. Eating Kosher Ivy: Jews as Literary Intellectuals.5. Professing Literature in the Twenty-First-Century University.6. Reconfiguring the Profession: The (Uncertain) Path to a Professorship.Conclusion: The Future of Literary Studies.Selective Bibliography.Index