The Year of Reading Dangerously

A working father whose life no longer feels like his own discovers the transforming powers of great (and downright terrible) literature in this laugh-out-loud memoir.
Andy Miller had a job he quite liked, a family he loved, and no time at all for reading. Or so he kept telling himself. But, no matter how busy or tired he was, something kept niggling at him. Books. Books he'd always wanted to read. Books he'd said he'd read that he actually hadn't. Books that whispered the promise of escape from the daily grind. And so, with the turn of a page, Andy began a year of reading that was to transform his life completely.
This book is Andy's inspirational and very funny account of his expedition through literature: classic, cult, and everything in between. Beginning with a copy of Bulgakov's Master and Margarita that he happens to find one day in a bookstore, he embarks on a literary odyssey. From Middlemarch to Anna Karenina to A Confederacy of Dunces, this is a heartfelt, humorous, and honest examination of what it means to be a reader, and a witty and insightful journey of discovery and soul-searching that celebrates the abiding miracle of the book and the power of reading.

“an affecting tale of the rediscovery of great books...[by] a friendly, funny Brit.” — Boston Globe
“wonderfully elevating and entertaining…. A delightful read in its totality.” — Maria Popova, BrainPickings
“In his fanciful, endearing account of his experiences tackling classic works of fiction, Miller…conveys his love of reading, though the book is light on literary criticism.… There is plenty of hilarity in [this] intimate literary memoir.” — Publishers Weekly
“Absorbing….I found myself turning pages in the addictive way some folks eat barbecue potato chips (crisps to one from Miller’s culture)…. This is one…book that you can dare (dangerously!) to get for your favorite people instead of the ubiquitous gift card. Trust me on that.” — Bookreporter.com
“Funny and engaging throughout and, for all the author’s self-deprecation, perfectly erudite.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Amiable, circumstantial, amusing, charming…. [Miller’s] style owes something…in its love of footnotes, literary paraphernalia and ephemera to Joe Brainard and David Foster Wallace.” — The Times (London)
“A delightfully irreverent account of reading 50 classic books…. Often very funny….His thesis is universal…we can all be enriched by losing ourselves among the bookshelves.” — Daily Telegraph (London)
“[A] readable, often funny account.... It’s not so much the content of the books that brings rewards, but the process of reading them and the thought this inspires.” — The Independent (London)
“Andy Miller is a very funny writer. And this hymn to reading is a delight. The chapter on Herman Melville and Dan Brown had me howling with pleasure. PS. It will also make you feel a bit well-read.” — Matt Haig, author of The Humans