You Are What You Read: A Practical Guide to Reading Well

“You Are What You Read is simply a joy. The book enlarges our imaginations, yields moments of deepest pleasure, and helps us fathom the complexities of our own lives. DiYanni provides practical strategies that guide readers to a sustained, significant appreciation of literary works. The elegant applications of reading principles combined with engaging instructional approaches make this work required reading for all current and future English instructors.”—Linda Costanzo Cahir, Kean University

“Robert DiYanni’s You Are What You Read is an ardent, well-conceived guide to how readers can improve their experience of a diverse range of literary texts. At a time when skepticism about the humanities abounds, DiYanni offers a valuable window into the ways our inner lives flourish and expand under the influence of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction prose.”—David Haven Blake, author of Walt Whitman and the Culture of American Celebrity

“Ours is a time when reading books as an art of joyful self-expansion and self-liberation is in decline—and, among many of us, in danger of being lost. This book is a lifeline thrown to us all. DiYanni calls, enables, and even inspires us to retrieve a precious spiritual resource.”—Thomas L. Pangle and Lorraine Smith Pangle, University of Texas at Austin

“As we follow DiYanni through the world’s vast labyrinth of books, we are in the company of a seasoned, talented reader and an alert mind motivated by a heartfelt passion for reading and grounded in a genuine sense of humanity.”—William V. Costanzo, SUNY Teaching Professor of English and Film

“DiYanni’s skillful, nuanced, and stimulating analyses will open windows into books familiar and unfamiliar, offering all the satisfactions of a conversation with an intelligent guide.”—Maria Carrig, Carthage College