As book reviewer for NPR's Fresh Air and contributor to many publications, Maureen Corrigan literally reads for a living. For as long as she can remember, books have been at the center of her life, a never-failing source of astonishment, hard truths, new horizons, and welcome companionship. Now Corrigan has added a volume of her own to the shelf of classics, by reading her life of reading with all the attention to complexity, wit, and intelligence that any good book-or life-deserves. Part memoir, part coming-of-age story, and part reflection on favorite and influential books,Leave Me Alone, I'm Readingviews the world through an open book. From her unpretentious girlhood in the working-class neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens, to her bemused years in an Ivy League Ph.D. program, from the whirl of falling in love and marrying (a fellow bookworm, of course), to the ordeal of adopting a baby overseas, Corrigan has always had a book at her side. We read this life in reverse as Corrigan begins the book as a "professional reader" always conscious of the many people, like her own mother, who don't "get" the power of reading, and we end up as a fly on the wall of this only child in Queens, transported to exciting yet threatening worlds beyond her small apartment, a block from the #7 subway. Corrigan's references range from Richard Wright to Philip Roth to Chekhov, but certain themes emerge. Corrigan subverts the classic "man conquers mountain or ocean or battlefield" genre by juxtaposing it with what she calls "female extreme adventure novels"-books such as Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, the Collected Poems of Stevie Smith, and Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue, which feature women quietly fighting for their lives. Hard-boiled detective stories that cloak social criticisms of work and family beneath their protagonist's trench coat--Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers, Sara Paretsky's mysteries-are another abiding passion. More surprising, and perhaps more revealing, is her taste for tales of Catholic martyrs and secular saints, a holdover from her days in parochial school that left an indelible impression. Moving from page to life and back again, Corrigan writes ultimately of fashioning a complicated, sometimes contradictory self out of her class background, her classroom teaching, and her own classics of literature; a list of favorite books is also included. InLeave Me Alone, I'm Reading,Maureen Corrigan invites us to accompany her on the journey of a lifetime. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Corrigan, the book reviewer for NPR's Fresh Air and mystery columnist for the Washington Post, makes her own book debut with an often longwinded and tedious account of how books have shaped her life. It's clear from every page that Corrigan is obsessed with reading books. Her compulsion is a bit far reaching, however: she offers books as the reason why she delayed getting married and why she adopted her daughter in China. She intersperses lengthy descriptions and analysis of her favorite books, like Jane Eyre, Lucky Jim and Karen (Marie Killilea's memoir of her daughter) with stories from her own life. At times, the book reads like a feminist diatribe against the injustices female authors (and graduate students) have endured and the stereotypical portrayal of female characters. In its favor, the book allows readers to reexperience some perennial favorites, such as Pride and Prejudice and The Maltese Falcon. Corrigan does speak to the ability of books to provide escape and solace, and for the creation of characters we can relate to, but these few gems are buried deep in text so thick and analytical that the reader is often left gasping for air. Agent, Stuart Krichevsky. (On sale Sept. 6) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

This book purports to be a memoir about reading by NPR's Fresh Air contributor Corrigan, but is in fact a jumble of reading-related topics mixed in with memories of her personal life. In her introduction, Corrigan outlines the types of books she will discuss and why but often wanders off in seemingly unrelated directions. She always finds a way to tie her ramblings back into books, however, and very avid and eclectic listeners will enjoy accompanying her on her journey. Her narrative style is inconsistent as she alternates among personal accounts, in-depth descriptions of favorite books (revealing a bit too much of the plot for those who haven't yet partaken of that particular title), and lists of books of certain genres or subjects. Corrigan's tone is perhaps better suited for the four-minute reviews she delivers on NPR than an entire book. Despite the flaws in this audio program, the author's love of reading comes across clearly, and listeners will find themselves reaching for a pen to jot down titles for future reads. Recommended for large public libraries or libraries with book groups looking for ideas. Karen Fauls-Traynor, Sullivan Free Lib., Chittenango, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

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Introduction	p. xiii
Chapter 1 Ain't No Mountain High Enough: Women's Extreme-Adventure Stories (and One of My Own)	p. 3
"Books, what a jolly company they are"	p. 55
Chapter 2 Tales of Toil: What John Ruskin and Sam Spade Taught Me About Working for a Living	p. 61
Chapter 3 "They're Writing Songs of Love, but Not for Me": Gaudy Night and Other Alternatives to the Traditional "Mating, Dating, and Procreating" Plot	p. 93
Looking for a Ship/Looking for My Dad	p. 121
Chapter 4 Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition: What Catholic Martyr Stories Taught Me About Getting to Heaven-and Getting Even	p. 129
Epilogue: My New York: September 8, 2001	p. 173
Acknowledgments	p. 185
Recommended Reading	p. 189
Notes	p. 195

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