A Feeling for Books

“The volume has great value as a history of the Book-of-the-Month Club and of the formation of middle class culture as ‘middlebrow’ culture. It offers special insight into the techniques by which American publishers managed to commodify books as objects which claim to reach beyond the world of commodities. But it is the best book I know on the mind altering powers of reading for pleasure.” — American Quarterly

“[A] complex and richly rewarding book.” — Epilogue

“Essential reading for scholars interested in the history of the book and popular culture . . . engaging and sympathetic.” — American Literature

“Radway has written one of the most important books in this decade. . . . Provides a persuasive explanation for a set of human behaviors librarianship cannot ignore if it expects to prepare a prudent and democratic agenda for the next century.” — Libraries and Culture

“[Radway’s] book is ambitious and engrossing, and it leaves us with much to ponder.” — Washington Post Book World

“What [Radway] sees most clearly is how those middlebrow books she read in her childhood gave her the appetite to keep on reading, until her mind grew powerful enough to produce this deeply penetrating book, which not only lays bare the forces that produced middlebrow reading but also explains a good deal of what is going on in the world of books today.” — Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

“A revealing and subtle account of the club’s business history and its cultural history. . . . This is a rich and absorbing study of the social formation of literary taste.” — Journal of American History

“The story that . . . unfolds is fascinating, and the cultural implications it touches on important.” — The Georgia Review

“This is a fascinating look at an important cultural institution and a passionate argument about books. It should be read.” — American Way

“A demanding but valuable contribution to our understanding of why and how people read what they read.” — Booklist