Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide

I have attempted to embark on a reading program of the great literature starting back with Homer. The Oxford Classics has over 700 books and one wonders where to start. All the literature seems to be intrconnected from Balzac to Grisham. As soon as one reads Chekhov, for example, one wants to read another earlier book by Flaubert, etc. There are about 5000 well know novels by great writers, such as 20 books by Hemingway alone. In the past few months I bought about 60 novels, mostly paperback from Penguin and Oxford by a variety of authors from Henry James to Jane Austen. The present book - the Bloomsbury Guide - attempts to sort out and identify all the great authors, and then pick and rate one book from each. It has short biographies on about 375 authors. In addition to the 375, there are many other authors and books identified for follow up. Also, the book identifies about a dozen key books that have shaped the thinking of writers that followed. The present book covers the main authors, the types of fiction, and the important novels, each with short biographies of the authors and descriptions of the books, but without giving away the plots. Key Points of the book: - 375 primary fiction writers, short biographies, list of key books, - example of, or simply, the "best book" by each author, - a star rating, for masterpiece and highly recommended, - secondary authors that follow from the primary 375, - 90 themes, - pathway books This is an excellent reading guide. It is a bargain and full of many reading ideas and explanations, and it is a great investment. Negatives: - a bit short, just 300 pages - misses some key authors such as Cervantes: "Don Quixote." I bought the book plus a second book, the 800 page book: "The Reader's Companion to World Literature" second edition, Hornstein et al, by Signet Classics.