Phillip Lopate's Reading List

The essayist and critic Phillip Lopate says William Hazlitt is the greatest of essayists, and he returns to the Selected Essays again and again.

By the Book: Phillip Lopate (2016)

NYT By the Book column (2016-07-14).

Charles Dickens · Buy on Amazon

"Martin Chuzzlewit, by Charles Dickens, which I had avoided because I thought it a lesser Dickens. I was wrong."

Jose Revueltas · Buy on Amazon

"Earthly Days, by Jose Revueltas, a Mexican writer who spent years in prison for his political beliefs."

William Hazlitt · Buy on Amazon

"Selected Essays of William Hazlitt. Hazlitt is to me the greatest of essayists."

Charles Lamb · Buy on Amazon

"Essays of Elia, by Charles Lamb."

Virginia Woolf · Buy on Amazon

"Moments of Being, by Virginia Woolf."

James Baldwin · Buy on Amazon

"Notes of a Native Son, by James Baldwin."

Michel de Montaigne · Buy on Amazon

"The Complete Essays of Montaigne."

Robert Louis Stevenson · Buy on Amazon

"The first book I remember reading was Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson. I must have been about 8."

Thomas Mann · Buy on Amazon

"The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann."

Fernando Pessoa · Buy on Amazon

"The Book of Disquiet, by Fernando Pessoa, is one I could continue reading forever."

Nicholson Baker · Buy on Amazon

"Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids, by Nicholson Baker, about his year as a substitute teacher."