How to Read and Why

　　在英美文學界，卜倫的大名可說是無人不知、無人不曉，他博聞強記、著述不輟，談作品不假理論，直接探求其內涵，每有論戰，卜倫無役不與，久而久之， 更因他樹大招風，常常成為他人集中火力的對象。卜倫大概會說：「余豈好辯哉，余不得已也。」對於像卜倫這樣熟讀、精讀作品的讀者，也難怪會對這二十多年來 那種拿個博士（其實是「窄士」）、作品沒好好讀過幾部，又急忙拿性別、宰制、顛覆諸般不相干的理論帽子到處亂套的所謂「專家」感到不耐。卜倫從來都不掩飾 對這些「學者」的敵意與蔑視，但這麼一位滿腹經綸、歷經百戰的大學者，碰到網路當道、文學式微的年代，心裡也不禁焦急起來，他不怕與人論戰，但怕人不讀書，尤其不讀經典作品，所以他才寫了這本原名為「如何讀、怎麼讀」的導讀手冊。

　　他心裡的目標讀者，當然就是消費社會當道的一群：從小浸在電視裡，接著又沈迷電腦、電玩，聲光世界何其刺激，幹嘛讀那些緩慢、迂迴的文學作品呢？為了回應這個問題，卜倫分成短篇故事、詩歌、小說、戲劇分類講述。他面對文學的中心理念是：要讀就要讀最好的一流作品，而卜倫就是要說明這些作品妙在哪裡，針對新世紀的讀者，說明為何要讀這些作品、又要如何讀才能得其精髓。這本書沒有《西方正典》的龐然博雜，其輕薄短小的體積正說明了卜倫處心積慮要與現代讀者溝通的企圖。

　　本書中譯本《如何讀西方正典－盡得其妙》由「時報」出版。

　　Superb...A wonderful, entertaining book...extraordinarily wise, nourishing, and beautiful.
--- Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

　　Harold Bloom is one of the great literary critics of his time...How to Read and Why is...the testament of a veteran.
--- John Sutherland, The Washington Post Book World

　　Bloom is one of the last...of his kind...one of the greatest educators of our time...Wonderful...Bloom writes with passion of those writers whom he loves, and whose work for him affirms life.
--- John Banville, The Irish Times

　　Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?” is the crucial question with which renowned literary critic Harold Bloom begins this impassioned book on the pleasures and benefits of reading well. For more than forty years, Bloom has transformed college students into lifelong readers with his unrivaled love for literature. Now, at a time when faster and easier electronic media threatens to eclipse the practice of reading, Bloom draws on his experience as critic, teacher, and prolific reader to plumb the great books for their sustaining wisdom.

　　Shedding all polemic, Bloom addresses the solitary reader, who, he urges, should read for the purest of all reasons: to discover and augment the self. His ultimate faith in the restorative power of literature resonates on every page of this infinitely rewarding and important book.