Wendy Lesser is the founder and editor of The Threepenny Review, which Adam Zagajewski has called “one of the most original literary magazines not only in the U.S. but also on the entire planet.” She is the author of eight previous books of nonfiction and one novel. Her most recent book is the prizewinning MUSIC FOR SILENCED VOICES: Shostakovich and His Fifteen String Quartets. She has written for The New York Times Book Review, the London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement and other publications. She divides her time between Berkeley, California, and New York City.

Books by Wendy Lesser

Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books

by Wendy Lesser - Literary Criticism, Nonfiction

In WHY I READ, Wendy Lesser draws on a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing to describe a life lived in and through literature. As Lesser examines work from such perspectives as “Character and Plot,” “Novelty,” “Grandeur and Intimacy” and “Authority,” the reader will discover a definition of literature that is as broad as it is broad-minded. In addition to novels and stories, Lesser explores plays, poems and essays, along with mysteries, science fiction and memoirs.