The Greatest Novel Never Read

Contemporary authors admit to the classics they've never tried—or tried and failed—to read
By Sophie Goldstein,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 31, 2007 8:10 PM CDT
The Greatest Novel Never Read
Moby Dick, or the White Whale, by Herman Melville.   (Earth Explorer)

Just because they're accomplished writers doesn't mean they've made it through Ulysses. Slate asks contemporary authors to confess to the must-read classics they've never read:

  1. Amy Bloom, Moby Dick
  2. Stephen Carter, Harry Potter
  3. Jennifer Egan, Buddenbrooks

  1. Curtis Sittenfeld, Harry Potter
  2. Laura Lippman, Ulysses
  3. J.D. McClatchy, Oblomov
  4. Angie Cruz, Middlemarch
  5. John Haskell, Slaughterhouse-Five
  6. Myla Goldberg, To The Lighthouse
  7. Jonathan Ames, The Bible
For the full list, follow the link below. (More book stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X