--- product_id: 691367550 title: "On Close Reading" price: "€ 45.12" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 2 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/691367550-on-close-reading store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # On Close Reading **Price:** € 45.12 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** On Close Reading - **How much does it cost?** € 45.12 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/691367550-on-close-reading) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description On Close Reading [Guillory, John, Newstok, Scott] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. On Close Reading Review: A gem of a book - From the classical commentary tradition to the contemporary Common Core, Guillory brings into relief what’s at stake in “close reading” — the most enduring, yet also most contested practice in literary study across the past century. The amount of learning that he consolidates in short space can be staggering; some of his footnotes alone would be fodder for an entire book’s worth of insights by another scholar. As Guillory compellingly argues, close reading entails “showing the work of reading”; it’s an art, a craft, a technique, best learned (like all human practices) through “demonstrative modeling.” Review: Not Close Enough - Guillory does not wear his learning lightly. This article, expanded into a book and padded with an extensive and awkward bibliography, is really a footnote (with its own footnotes) to the professor's Professing Criticism. Guillory continues to make the point that the practice and objects of reading have expanded and shifted drastically. His lasting point is that close reading is a "techne" or method and a rather minimal one at that. This is a truism. Almost all great critics engage in some form of close reading, be they Marxist, feminist, post-structuralist, or Aristotelean. To me, the most conspicuous absence is Samuel Johnson. Johnson's landmark Lives of the Poets is a masterclass of quotation and close reading. Look again at Aristotle's poetics and you will see a lot of pragmatic criticism that anchors itself to quotations. On a side note, his abstruse style is a prime example of how academic writers have abandoned the educated common reader. Guillory is interested in the broader audience of readers, but he certainly doesn't write for them. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #603,311 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #361 in General Books & Reading #746 in Language Arts Teaching Materials #1,715 in Literary Criticism & Theory | | Customer Reviews | 3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars (9) | | Dimensions | 5 x 0.36 x 8 inches | | Edition | First Edition | | ISBN-10 | 0226837432 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0226837437 | | Item Weight | 1 pounds | | Language | English | | Print length | 144 pages | | Publication date | January 8, 2025 | | Publisher | University of Chicago Press | ## Images ![On Close Reading - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51snGqMA-zL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A gem of a book *by A***E on January 9, 2025* From the classical commentary tradition to the contemporary Common Core, Guillory brings into relief what’s at stake in “close reading” — the most enduring, yet also most contested practice in literary study across the past century. The amount of learning that he consolidates in short space can be staggering; some of his footnotes alone would be fodder for an entire book’s worth of insights by another scholar. As Guillory compellingly argues, close reading entails “showing the work of reading”; it’s an art, a craft, a technique, best learned (like all human practices) through “demonstrative modeling.” ### ⭐⭐ Not Close Enough *by M***E on April 22, 2025* Guillory does not wear his learning lightly. This article, expanded into a book and padded with an extensive and awkward bibliography, is really a footnote (with its own footnotes) to the professor's Professing Criticism. Guillory continues to make the point that the practice and objects of reading have expanded and shifted drastically. His lasting point is that close reading is a "techne" or method and a rather minimal one at that. This is a truism. Almost all great critics engage in some form of close reading, be they Marxist, feminist, post-structuralist, or Aristotelean. To me, the most conspicuous absence is Samuel Johnson. Johnson's landmark Lives of the Poets is a masterclass of quotation and close reading. Look again at Aristotle's poetics and you will see a lot of pragmatic criticism that anchors itself to quotations. On a side note, his abstruse style is a prime example of how academic writers have abandoned the educated common reader. Guillory is interested in the broader audience of readers, but he certainly doesn't write for them. ## Frequently Bought Together - On Close Reading - Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction - Criticism and Truth: On Method in Literary Studies (Thinking Literature) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/691367550-on-close-reading](https://www.desertcart.be/products/691367550-on-close-reading) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-04-28*