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Books that Changed the World: Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Toni Morrison’s Beloved with Dr. Joseph Luzzi
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- Books that Changed the World: Dante’s Divine Comedy and Shakespeare’s Othello with Dr. Joseph Luzzi
- Books that Changed the World: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises with Dr. Joseph Luzzi
- Books that Changed the World: Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Toni Morrison’s Beloved with Dr. Joseph Luzzi
Joseph Luzzi received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is a Professor of Comparative Literature and Faculty Member in Italian Studies at Bard College, where he has taught since 2002 after being a visiting faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. A frequent contributor to publications including the New York Times, TLS, and Chronicle of Higher Education, he is the author of 5 books, including "My Two Italies," a New York Times Editors' Choice selection and "In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love," a Vanity Fair “Must-Read” selection. His work has been translated into multiple languages and his many awards include a Yale College Teaching Prize, Dante Society of America Essay Prize, and Wallace Fellowship at Villa I Tatti, Harvard's Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. In 2017 he was named Cittadino Onorario/Honorary Citizen in Acri, Calabria, his Italian parents' birthplace. His next book is "Botticelli's Secret: The Lost Drawings and the Rediscovery of the Renaissance," which will be published by W. W. Norton. Professor Luzzi is the founder of the Virtual Book Club, an online community of readers dedicated to exploring some of the best books ever written. Learn more at JosephLuzzi.com.
This conversation is suitable for all ages.
60 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.
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Fantastic talk! An in-depth and nuanced look at pertinent themes in 20th-century literature.
Dr Luzzi is passionate about the two books discussed and provided background information on both authors to help understand the impact of both works. He is an animated, joyful presenter and his classes are always valuable and exciting.
Thought provoking, fascinating, informative, well presented and organized by an outstanding scholar.
Professor Luzzi is obviously intelligent, sincere, and charismatic. His challenge in this format is primarily one of audience: first-time readers of these books, or those thinking about reading them, may very well be encouraged by his generalizations and passions. However, if you already know anything at all about these books, this kind of approach is unlikely to challenge you to think more deeply. Or even to re-read them.