In wide-ranging and innovative criticism, Stan Persky examines international non-fiction and fiction to engage with both the triumphs and tensions of reading and writing today. Evaluating works by established authors Philip Roth, Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, and José Saramago, as well as emerging writers like Naomi Klein, Javier Cercas, and Chimamanda Adichie, Persky also showcases a remarkable group of reporters - Steve Coll, Dexter Filkins, and Rajiv Chandrasekaran - who have written essential books about global issues. An illuminating and accessible work about the present age, Reading the 21st Century introduces new ways of thinking about the world's most significant cultural, political, and moral problems.

Stan Persky is the author of more than a dozen books, including Topic Sentence, Buddy’s: A Meditation on Desire and The Short Version, which won a BC Book Prize for non–fiction in 2006. He teaches philosophy at Capilano University and lives in Berlin and Vancouver.

Brian Fawcett is a past editor of Books in Canada, a former columnist for The Globe & Mail, and a founding editor of the internationally-followed Internet news service, www.dooneyscafe.com. Born in Prince George, he has lived in Toronto since 1991.

Stan Persky's profile page

"Stan Persky is a subtle and tricky thinker. His work merits close attention, but at the same time, its tone is so relaxed and inviting, you can let things pass that will strike you as odd only after you've put the book down... Persky's tone is the most r

"There are many good things to say about Reading the 21st Century. It is personable, thoughtful, lively, cleanly and clearly written, amusing, and insightful. It is also up-to-date and serious." David Helwig, winner of the CBC Poetry Prize and the Atlantic Poetry Prize

"Persky's lively discussion of twenty-first century novels and non-fiction makes a compelling case for books readers may have missed. He also effortlessly illustrates the cultural merit of books themselves and the role reading them plays in creating an in

"There are many good things to say about Reading the 21st Century. It is personable, thoughtful, lively, cleanly and clearly written, amusing, and insightful. It is also up-to-date and serious." David Helwig, winner of the CBC Poetry Prize and the Atlantic Poetry Prize
"I can't remember when I last read a book that so made me want to go out and buy / read just about every title listed or referred to. Moreover, I cannot think of another volume that covers such a range of material. The subject matter of these pages is truly the stuff of our daily newscasts and the daily lives of millions of people. Its comparative, trans-boundary character makes it especially appealing … a literate, lustrous, fascinating, and illuminating reading experience." Sean Conway, Queen's University

"I can't remember when I last read a book that so made me want to go out and buy / read just about every title listed or referred to. Moreover, I cannot think of another volume that covers such a range of material. The subject matter of these pages is tru

"Reading the 21st Century is thought provoking, entertaining and, most of all, it makes you want to go out and find all these seemingly wonderful books and read them. The most inspiring thing about Persky's literary criticism is it inspires you to want to read, which is, more than likely his exit strategy." The Telegraph Journal