Lit critic and NYU professor Denis Donoghue has largely steered clear of last three decades’ theory wars in favor of writing for the “common reader” (like us!). This latest book? A wide-ranging run-through of what the author deems the high points of literary flair and “creative vitality for its own sake” in Western literature. Its spirit is neatly summed up in this Samuel Beckett quotation: “Over, over, there is a soft place in my heart for all that is over, no, for the being over, I love the word, words have been my only loves, not many.”