Terrific from first to last, and is, as he liked to put it, quite up-cheering ... It is an ideally slim book. The Man Who Read Everything limits itself to eight of Bloom’s correspondents ... It’s worth mentioning this book’s editor, Heather Cass White ... You feel you are in good hands from the start. Her introduction is exemplary, brisk without being hurried: It’s packed with exactly the information a reader needs before entering.
Calling this an edition of Bloom’s 'literary letters' is misleading ... As much as I admire and enjoy his books, it seems like there were plenty of interesting life experiences that Bloom never really said much about ... Instead, Bloom was always ringing the same canonical bell: read and reread Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, Milton, Proust ... Always a Bardolator, poor Bloom, but never quite a bard.
