Episode 15: Books of the Century Season Finale

What makes a "book of the century"? And who gets to decide which books make the cut? Over the past two seasons of Literate, we have been asking these questions while reading through the New York Public Library's 1995 list of the books of the century. Each episode, we explore one book from that list and why it matters. This week, however, we do something a little different. We look back over our episodes and discuss the criteria that have emerged for what makes a book of the century. Plus, we tackle some tricky questions about the value of literary classics, canons, and "books of the century".

It is our great pleasure to also feature two experts on this episode. First, we interview Ankhi Mukherjee, who is Professor of English and World Literatures at the University of Oxford. She offers erudite insights into why the classic still matters in a world marked by competing cultural values. Ankhi is the author of the award-winning book What is a Classic? Postcolonial Rewriting and Invention of the Canon, and her next book, Unseen City: The Psychic Lives of the Urban Poor, is coming out later this year.

Later, we interview Lynn Lobash, who is the Associate Director of Reader Services at the New York Public Library. Lynn gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the process of making reading lists like the one our podcast explores. Having worked at the NYPL for eighteen years, she also explains how the approach to making these lists has changed over time. Today, the reading lists that she makes, and those produced by a staff that she trains across the library's 92 locations, are far more "reader centered". 

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