Customer Reviews

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books

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Maureen Corrigan, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading (Random House, 2005)

One of the best things about this book-- a no-brainer, really-- is that when morons try to strike up conversations with you in public while you're reading (were these people born in a barn, really?) by asking you what it is you are reading, all you have to do is show them the title. If you're lucky, they'll take the hint. Conversation ended, and you can get back to Maureen Corrigan's interesting dual meditation on books and life. (If the person persists, and asks the next obvious question-- "What's it about?"-- unload on that person with both barrels. They're obviously not going to pick up on subtlety.) Thus, keeping a copy of it close by is pretty much a necessity for any dedicated reader.

As to the book's content, it should be close to the heart of that same dedicated reader; it's half about books and half about life-- specifically, Maureen Corrigan's life. She starts off with the feminine version of the extreme-adventure tale (with women, the extreme-adventure tale isn't about climbing mountains or disappearing in the perfect storm, but about such mundane, but still horrific, tests as abuse, childbirth, the possibility of spinsterhood in the Brontes and Austens of the literary landscape). Everything stems from here; Corrigan's other chapters cover hardboiled detective fiction and Catholic martyr tales, variations on the extreme-adventure theme, all tied to Corrigan's life. Not that she (usually) compares herself to the heroines of these tales, but it's still pretty easy to trace the parallels. It also helps, for the dedicated reader, the Corrigan has pretty much the dream job-- she does reviews and interviews for NPR's premiere arts show, Fresh Air. Yes, there's a good deal to identify with.

Most of the criticisms of the book I've heard deal with the idea that the autobiographical bits don't hold up as well as the bits where she's talking about books. I didn't find that to be the case; I thought the whole book was rather engaging. Corrigan has led an interesting life; she doesn't take on the weepier-than-thou attitude of the run-of-the-mill memoir, instead looking at her life in the same way she's discussing the novels under consideration. It may be a small difference in the general scheme of things, but it's a valuable one, in my opinion.

A good, solid book. Worth your time. *** ½

If you love books, if you love to think about books, then "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading" should be at the top of that pile next to your bed. Corrigan's personal memoir/literary exploration is smart, interesting, opinionated, extremely well-written, frequently stimulating and thought-provoking, and always sharply - yet self-deprecatingly - funny. I found this rare combination of attributes impossible to resist.

Here are two specific examples of why I loved - rather than just "liked" or "appreciated" - "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading." Example No. 1: This book about the author's lifelong love of, and near obsession with, reading begins with the following epigraph, a quote from the contractor fixing the leaking, book-filled basement in Corrigan's home: "Bet you didn't learn anything about foundations when you were in graduate school for English." Example No. 2: describing the difference between herself and the people she knows who have no deeply felt appreciation for books (or the stacks of them that made her graduate school apartment look like the warehouse in the final scene of "Citizen Kane"), Corrigan writes: "They think I lack common sense; I think they lack a part of their souls."

The book moves seamlessly back and forth from the seminal episodes and people in Corrigan's life, to the most meaningful of the thousands (millions?) of books she has read. In both realms, Corrigan meanders effortlessly from the deeply significant (the adoption of her daughter from China) and the high-brow (the novels of Jane Austen and the Brontes), to the ridiculous (grad school in-fighting) and the (seemingly) low-brow (Nancy Drew and Dashiell Hammett). Like Stephen Jay Gould illuminating the beauty and complexities of evolution, Corrigan can explicate the deeper significance of literary masterpieces without talking down to her audience, and relate these timeless themes to the comedy and tragedy and absurdity of daily life.

Perhaps the best way to sum up how I felt about "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading" is to say that it left me wanting to spend a week or two on some beach with Corrigan and a group of friends, talking about life and books, books and life.

The title of the book, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading, immediately caught my attention. So did the opening line of the introduction: "It's not that I don't like people. It's just that when I'm in the company of others - even my nearest and dearest - there always comes a moment when I'd rather be reading a book."

But somewhere in the middle of the introduction, I realized that Maureen Corrigan was outlining what was to come in the rest of the book. She took about a page to describe each of the chapters that were to follow. I should have ended my reading there.

What followed were thesis papers merged with autobiographical information to create chapters. Even more disappointing was the fact that Corrigan gave away the endings to many of the books she discussed. Now I have an interesting list of books I'd like to read based on her recommendations, but I already know how each will turn out.

Corrigan warns readers in the introduction that "there's no such thing as travel insurance when it comes to reading." So I guess I have only myself to blame. I should have stopped reading when she gave away the ending to Bronte's Villette.

So why did I keep reading? Because this is a well-written, interesting book. Corrigan's autobiographical details of her "book life" and real life show such passion that it's difficult to put her book down.

From the first line, in which she confesses that she often prefers reading a book to spending time in even the best company, Maureen Corrigan had me hooked with this hilarious, honest, down-to-earth memoir of her life as a reader.

Corrigan is a genius at comically puncturing the pieties we all take for granted. When she and her husband, Rich, adopt their daughter from China, the story is especially moving because she keeps directing us to its more absurd aspects (the couple sit through bad adoption videos and stay in a Chinese hotel that also houses a bordello before finally bringing home their baby daughter). In telling the story of adopting Molly, Corrigan effortlessly evokes many different books from Ruth Reichl's sad adoption saga in Comfort Me with Apples to Blanche Wiesen Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Full of literary recommendations, snappy lines, and clever insights, Leave Me Alone I'm Reading is the best and funniest book I've read in a long time.

This is a book for anyone who loves reading; and perhaps, like me, needs a reason to remember what we can GET out of reading in the midst of juggling family, jobs, and all the other responsibilities that seem to interfere with what was for many of us our first love -- books. Corrigan, whose reviews on "Fresh Air" for NPR I've admired for many years, has a way of looking at books that is fresh and fascinating. She doesn't just tell us the story of HER life with books (although that part is really interesting and at points positively hilarious), she helped me remember my own growing up and learning about myself with books. She is not a snob about books -- she loves my favorite detective fiction as much as most people I know do, and even better, illustrates the deeper aspects of that genre that in a million years I never would have thought of myself. But, most important to me, reading this book made me want to really, really read again, and recapture the for myself the fascination with books and ideas that I grew up with.

Maureen Corrigan, book reviewer for NPR's Fresh Air, has written a terrific memoir of her life as a reader that is every bit as engaging, witty, and irreverent as her popular broadcasts. Here she tells the story of her own life while expounding on different extreme adventure stories women (and men) in literature undergo from Jane Eyre's endless trials to find a home with Mr. Rochester to the more swashbuckling adventures of Nancy Drew and other "girl" detectives. Although Corrigan offers many serious and sweeping insights into literature, the book is other things, too: the story of growing up Catholic and shy in Sunnyside, Queens; the extreme adventure story of graduate school at Penn, which spurred her to "escape" through mysteries; the story of infertility and (later) adopting her beloved daughter, Molly, from China; and an eclectic list of book recommendations ranging from The Maltese Falcon to Pride and Prejudice. What ties these idiosyncratic strands together is Corrigan's unflagging intelligence and her wonderful voice. I love this book and its boundless enthusiasm for literature of all kinds.

I loved Leave Me Alone I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books and could not put it down!
I wasn't surprised that Maureen Corrigan would write with great insight and humor about books because I've been a longtime fan of her weekly reviews on Fresh Air. What did surprise and delight me was the touching, and witty way she weaves together her talk about books with her talk about life. The chapter about adopting her daughter from China (which was excerpted as "Bringing Molly Home" in this month's Washingtonian magazine) was full of wonderful tender and funny details. Her discussion of detective fiction was especially satisfying because she goes into greater depth about this genre than any single review would allow. Corrigan's book is moving and hilarious, very smart but totally down to earth. I think that other book lovers will be as bowled over as I was by the book and will be thrilled to have the list of her favorites which appears at the end. It has changed the way I read and think about books.

It was wonderful reading Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air book critic, debut memoir book "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading." I was drawn to her book because the title is something that I say often to my family and friends who think I read too much. I tell them I learn something from everything I read and this book was no exception. Moreover, it was good to read a book by someone who is a compulsive reader like I am.

As an avid reader, the "mystery/ thriller/crime" genre is my favorite. This genre gives me a more realistic look into real world issues than other genres. Though people believe this genre is not as serious as others, I disagree. They only need to read Ms. Corrigan memoir to get more insight into what this genre has to offer.

The book was funny in many places and has a list of insightful books that I have ordered from the library or on-line to add to my reading pile. I loved it that she gives you just a snippet of information about a book that is so informative that you just want to stop reading her book and go get the book she just described. However, I did not do that. I just kept a list while I was reading so that I could get them immediately after reading her book, which I did. Ms. Corrigan knows how to analyze a book.

The reason that I gave the book a "4" instead of a "5" is because some chapters dragged a little when she gave a detailed analysis of the "female extreme adventure stories." Even though this information was good, it tended to go on for too many pages. I would have preferred a little more information on how she tackles the process of reviewing each book and the items she looks for. In addition, I would have liked her to talk more about the different genres and their literary merits.

Overall, this is the funniest book on reading that I can remember ever reading. Moreover, if you are a compulsive reader, buy this book! I hope that Ms. Corrigan publishes another book, specifically on reading insights and analyze of other books she has liked. If she does, I will certainly buy it.

I consider myself an avid reader - an English literature major in college and more recently polishing off more than a hundred books a year - so how is it that almost 3/4 of the books discussed in Corrigan's book, "Leave Me Alone I'm Reading," I have never read - and quite a few I have never even heard of!? Fortunatley, Corrigan didn't leave me out in the cold and almost always provides a thorough synopsis of the titles she discusses along with the much required "supporting evidence" for her thoughts and themes.

Like most of the reviewers here, I found "Leave Me Alone" to be more literary criticism than memoir and an enjoyable read for bookworms. I think, however, the average memoir reader will be left cold by the depth of literary discussion and lack of "plot."

More than anything, Corrigan reminds her readers how exciting reading can be. She reminds us that reading can reinforce our souls (regardless of the genre) and that literature keeps the themes of our lives alive and coming back to us in unexpected and surprising ways.

Finally, for some (like me) Corrigan has provided a whole new list of titles to read.

If the name of author Maureen Corrigan sounds familiar, it's because she's spent sixteen years hosting NPR's 'Fresh Air' book show, and writing of mysteries in The Washington Post. Her memoir isn't just for prior fans, however - though Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding And Losing Myself In Books might earn her many a new fan. It covers the books and authors who have influenced her own life and love of reading, and follows her life through her love of books, from childhood to an adult life as a book critic. A fine survey of not only exceptional books but their underlying themes.