Want to know what books Alexandra Harris recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Alexandra Harris's favorite book recommendations of all time.
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Valentine Cunningham | 2.84
This wide-ranging study of British writers and poets of the 1930s--including Auden, Isherwood, Spender, Waugh, and Greene-- examines the masterpieces of that momentous decade, not in linguistic isolation, but in the contexts--social, political, historical, ideological, and personal--in which they were composed. Cunningham maps out the dominant images and concerns, nothing less than the central obsessions and imposing images of the '30s imagination. He analyzes the obsession with violence, the "destructive element" of post-World War consciousness; the cult of youth, of schools and... more This wide-ranging study of British writers and poets of the 1930s--including Auden, Isherwood, Spender, Waugh, and Greene-- examines the masterpieces of that momentous decade, not in linguistic isolation, but in the contexts--social, political, historical, ideological, and personal--in which they were composed. Cunningham maps out the dominant images and concerns, nothing less than the central obsessions and imposing images of the '30s imagination. He analyzes the obsession with violence, the "destructive element" of post-World War consciousness; the cult of youth, of schools and schoolmasters; the infatuation with heroes--flyers, mountaineers, and racing car drivers--and the related concern about "being small," weak, or neurotic in an age of mass politics. In order to illustrate this kaleidoscope of themes, Cunningham examines not only the canonical texts, but also "minor" forms and writings, including detective stories, films, and popular songs, showing how these neglected genres also illuminate the work of this period. less 
Alexandra HarrisThis is a treasure trove book. It’s enormous and probably best not to be read in one fell swoop – it’s a wonderful dipping book. (Source)
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Twenty-five art-related essays by distinguished British art critic and painter reveal his wide-ranging interests. Writings explore relationships between ancient and modern art and between art and life, examining such diverse topics as the art of the Bushmen, African sculpture, ancient American art, Giotto and the art of Florence, the paintings of Dürer, El Greco and William Blake, the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley, the works of Paul Cézanne, and contemporary domestic architecture. Also includes Fry's most important theoretical statement, his "Essay in Aesthetics." 13 black-and-white... more Twenty-five art-related essays by distinguished British art critic and painter reveal his wide-ranging interests. Writings explore relationships between ancient and modern art and between art and life, examining such diverse topics as the art of the Bushmen, African sculpture, ancient American art, Giotto and the art of Florence, the paintings of Dürer, El Greco and William Blake, the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley, the works of Paul Cézanne, and contemporary domestic architecture. Also includes Fry's most important theoretical statement, his "Essay in Aesthetics." 13 black-and-white illustrations. less Alexandra HarrisEven if you are primarily interested in modernist literature, I would recommend having a good read of Fry on art. (Source)
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4
Early Modernism is a uniquely integrated introduction to the great avant-garde movements in European literature, music, and painting at the beginning of this century, from the advent of Fauvism to the development of Dada.
In contrast to the overly literary focus of previous studies of modernism, this book highlights the interaction between the arts in this period. It traces the fundamental and interlinked re-examination of the languages of the arts brought about by Matisse, Picasso, Schoenberg, Eliot, Apollinaire, Marinetti, Ben, and many others, which led to radically new... more Early Modernism is a uniquely integrated introduction to the great avant-garde movements in European literature, music, and painting at the beginning of this century, from the advent of Fauvism to the development of Dada.
In contrast to the overly literary focus of previous studies of modernism, this book highlights the interaction between the arts in this period. It traces the fundamental and interlinked re-examination of the languages of the arts brought about by Matisse, Picasso, Schoenberg, Eliot, Apollinaire, Marinetti, Ben, and many others, which led to radically new techniques, such as atonality, cubism, and collage. These changes are set in the context both of the art that preceded them and of a new and profound shift in ideas. Theories of the unconscious, the association of ideas, primitivism, and reliance upon an expressionist intuition led to a reshaped conception of personal identity, and Butler examines the representation of the modernist self in the work of figures including Mann, Joyce, Conrad, and Stravinsky.
Accessible and wide-ranging, the book is lavishly illustrated with over sixty illustrations, many in color. It provides an elegant and incisive guide to a momentous period in the history of European art.
less Alexandra HarrisIt was this book that showed me how it was possible to talk about art in a way which was quite alien to me then. (Source)
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This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a broad and representative collection of classic works. more This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a broad and representative collection of classic works. less 
Mona SimpsonWhat would female fiction be without Virginia Woolf? She picks out exactly the right details to reveal the character’s interiorities. (Source)
Alexandra HarrisIt’s a very ghostly book in that we have a very likable hero and want to get to know him a lot, but he keeps disappearing. (Source)
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