BOOKS: “1,000 Books to Read Before You Die” is the ultimate literary bucket list

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die By James Mustich, et al. (Workman)

Some years ago, former bookseller James Mustich asked himself: “What if I had a bookstore that could hold only 1,000 volumes, and I wanted to ensure it held not only books for all time but also books for the moment, books to be savored or devoured in a night? A shop where any reading inclination — be it for thrillers or theology, or theological thrillers — might find reward.”

This, he concluded, would be “a browser’s version of paradise.” It would also be an apt description of his deeply impressive “1,000 Books to Read Before You Die.”

What first strikes anyone who picks up “1,000 Books to Read Before You Die” is the freshness of what its subtitle calls this “lifechanging list.” Ac cording to Oscar Wilde, only an auctioneer can appreciate all forms of art, but Mustich comes a close second. Who else would have included Madeleine Kamman’s “When French Women Cook,” Eugen Herrigel’s “Zen in the Art of Archery” and “The 9/11 Commission Report”?

There have been plenty of previous guides for readers, though these have generally concentrated on longestablished authors and titles. Think of Charles W. Eliot’s Harvard Classics, Clifton Fadiman’s “The Lifetime Reading Plan,” Mortimer J. Adler’s oftenmocked “Great Books of the Western World” and, confusingly, “1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die,” edited by Peter Boxall with the help of many contributors. More personal, and the better for it, are Martin Seymoursmith’s exceptionally lively “The New Guide to Modern World Literature” and eminent critic Harold Bloom’s “The Western Canon,” while John Sutherland’s “How To Be Well Read” risks becoming almost too breezy in its otherwise aweinspiring familiarity with 500 great novels.

Still, Mustich’s “1,000 Books” more than holds its own against these distinguished predecessors, largely because of its scope and diversity. Here one finds children’s classics, such as William Steig’s “Abel’s Island” and Ruth Krauss’ “A Hole Is to Dig,” masterpieces of science fiction (the novels of Philip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delany’s “Nova”), polemics by Jane Jacobs, Betty Friedan and Tanehisi Coates, high spots of modern fantasy (Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy, Ursula K. Le Guin’s “A Wizard of Earthsea,” John Crowley’s “Little, Big”), science popularizations such as Paul de Kruif’s “Microbe Hunters” and Stephen Jay Gould’s “The Panda’s Thumb,” intellectual and military histories (Elaine Pagels’ “The Gnostic Gospels,” Shelby Foote’s “The Civil War,” John Keegan’s “The Face of Battle”) and inimitable humor from James Thurber, S.J. Perelman and Dawn Powell.

Let me quickly stress, though, that Mustich doesn’t neglect the usual golden oldies, such as Pla to’s dialogues, Shakespeare’s plays and Jane Austen’s novels. He does favor modern AngloAmerican literature and certain oncetrendy bestsellers, but he also celebrates dozens of idiosyncratic titles, among them some of my favorite books. For instance, he includes James Leesmilne’s hilarious autobiography, “Another Self”; Cyril Connolly’s reflections on the writing life, “Enemies of Promise”; Robert K. Merton’s Tristam Shandyish history of the phrase “On the Shoulders of Giants”; that great American novel about literary failure, Frederick Exley’s “A Fan’s Notes”; and even the best of all comic mysteries, Edmund Crispin’s “The Moving Toyshop.” Most surprising of all, there’s an entry on the six volumes of the addictive, deliciously bookish correspondence between retired Eton teacher George Lyttelton and publisher Rupert Hartdavis.

That said, most people will find that “1,000 Books to Read Before You Die” invites rapturous browsing even while eliciting, and expecting, argument.