In any case, her book consists mostly of book reviews, magazine articles and introductions written for new editions of classic books. Her comments are almost entirely positive, so a reader might use the book as a kind of checklist, but had that been her intent, she no doubt would have included many other books. She does include just such a list at the back of another of her books, Reading Like a Writer.
Two of the books Prose writes about are less about "what to read" than "what to look at." These are photograph collections by Diane Arbus and Helen Levitt. Her analysis of their pictures is as impressive as her dissection of various works of prose.
These books are a diverse lot, from traditional classics like Little Women, Great Expectations and Pride and Prejudice, to works by more contemporary writers such as Charles Baxter and Stanley Elkin. She praises short stories by the likes of Mavis Gallant and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as some nonfiction books.
Three of the best essays in the volume are not about particular books or particular authors. In one, "Ten Things That Art Can Do," she argues that "it is neither the responsibility nor the purpose of art to make us better human beings." It can, however, help us understand what it means to be human beings, she says. It can also move us, transport us through time and give us pleasure, among other things.
In "On Clarity," she argues that clarity in writing is not just a literary quality but a spiritual one, because it involves compassion for the reader.
Then in "What Makes a Short Story?" she reflects on the puzzling truth that the short story defies simple definition. Although Anton Chekov does not have an entire essay devoted to him, he pops up frequently in Prose's book, especially in this chapter.
Francine Prose the reader impresses as much as Francine Prose the writer. In What to Read and Why, we get a good taste of both.
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