[.ca] Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers (ISBN 0312409958)

was there a point?:
unfortunately i am forced to read this book for an english class. very uninspiring and agrivating to read. so far all i have encountered is stories of pompous windbags and pointless observations written by people who obviously like to be noticed. its painful to read seeing as each story is all detail and no substance. if you are looking for something enlightening, don't pick up a book called, "the ways of reading".

This book is not good:
Ways of Reading is the textbook for the Freshman English class I am in. I generally enjoy English classes because they are usually a chance to discuss things and talk about differing opinions. Well, that's not the case with this book. Every essay in this book is by some radical leftist. The "varying perspectives" talked about in the other reviews are simply the different perspectives of a lesbian feminist and a Brazilian communist, not actual differences in their beliefs. This book is basically a leftist handbook meant to tell the "proper opinion" on every issue. These essays aren't even particularly good. Many are poorly written, ostensibly to make a point. Now, some of the essays do have value, but taken all together they constitute not an attempt to show the best and most useful works in the English language but rather to convince students of a certain point of view. I would advise any professor not to use this book exclusively, as the essays are really repulsive to anyone who doesn't agree with the premises therein.

Challenging, yet rewarding read:
I had to read this book for my upper division journalism class this fall and found it to be one of the best books that we used in the course. The editors have tried to collect well-written, intelligent documentaries that challenge traditional connections between words and photographs. Included are Edward Said's inspiring piece about the Palestinian holocaust and exile, a piece by Roland Barthes about the meaning of photograph, "Let Us Speak Now of Famous Men," and many others. Although some pieces are better than others, Barthes' piece is more exciting and informative than Marianne Hirsch's writing on the way that children are used in photography. Over all, the collection is a rewarding and challenge book that could be used for any upper division class. (Maybe the reason that previous reviewers did not like the book is that it was not intended for first year college composition classes.)

Brilliant and rewarding:
This tremendously rich and rewarding book is probably the best collection of essays, with the best apparatus (the most interesting questions, the best ideas for writing) of any teachable collection out there. I teach at the University of California, Berkeley, and use this book, as do a number of my colleagues. Each one of these essays will unlock a world. Some of them, like Clifford Geertz or Paolo Freire or John Edgar Wideman or Adrienne Rich are centerpieces of my courses. History, anthropology, literature (the new addition of Alice Munro is a brilliant stroke), fieldwork, sociology... but to say that one can introduce any of these fields using this book doesn't do it justice. These essays are complex and balanced, representing a wide variety of world views, whether political or aesthetic. Reading them requires some effort, but the essays will well repay that effort. They will transform any reader's ideas of what an essay can be.

Blah, Blah, Blah:
I had to read this book for my Freshman lit/comp class and it is by far the most pathetic collection of essays every gathered. It is almost unreadable, pretentious, and laughable. It is a collection of essays by writers who think considerably more of themselves then they are due. Subsequently they choose to use language that "shows" how much smarter they think they are.