Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments - Tapa dura

Every month since 1993 the "Washington Post Book World" has published a column by Michael Dirda called 'Readings.' Serious, personal, playful, erudite, and sometimes whimsical, these columns cover a variety of subjects: classics in translation, intellectual history, children's books, fantasy and crime fiction, American and European literature, poetry, innovative writing, the joys of collecting first editions, rediscovering neglected novels, ghost stories, teaching of writing, and the challenges of parenthood and life in general.Dirda is a writer's reader and a reader's writer of grace, wit, learning, and charm. To discover him is to discover a fellow book lover and reader who gives wonderful observations and advice. He is, above all, a great guide to good reading from the light (he loves P. G. Wodehouse) to scholarly esoterica. His columns are always worth a pause, always worth reading, always worth coming back to. "Readings" presents his most memorable essays, including 'The Crime of His Life' (a youthful caper), 'Bookman's Saturday' (the scheming of a book collector), 'Weekend with Wodehouse,' 'Mr.Wright' (an exemplary high school teacher) 'Listening to My Father,' 'Turning Fifty,' and 'Millennial Readings. ' This is a book to keep on your bedside table and read whenever you want to end the day with pleasurable reading.

Michael Dirda is a writer and senior editor for the Washington Post Book World. For three years he was a board member of the National Book Critics Circle. His essays and reviews have appeared in numerous publications. In 1993 Dirda received the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism.