Description

A TIMES and SPECTATOR Book of the Year

‘A love letter to the energising thrill of literature’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘A lively book that seeks to enthuse us to read more deeply, more thoughtfully’ THE TIMES

‘The best book about reading I have read for a very long time’ STEPHEN FRY

A joyful and enlightening masterclass in how reading attentively can change our lives

For thirty years, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst has shared his passion for reading with students. In Look Closer, he brings fresh life to beloved books, from Wuthering Heights to Normal People, alongside poetry, plays and more.

With warmth, wit and clarity, he shows us how to slow down, notice more and enjoy reading on a deeper level. Engaging, illuminating and full of delight, this is a celebration of the simple pleasure of books – and a reminder of how reading can open doors, spark joy and transform the way we see the world.

‘A glittering gem of a book’ NATALIE HAYNES

‘Look Closer is akin to wandering through an art gallery with an expert on painterly detail by your side’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘A delightful and much-needed paean, in our attention-deficit era, to the pleasures of close and slow reading’ SPECTATOR

Publisher Review

Reading Look Closer is akin to wandering through an art gallery with an expert on painterly detail by your side: you see familiar shapes afresh and are introduced to new artists along the way * Financial Times * Absorbing, inspiring, open-hearted and welcoming, Look Closer is the best book about reading I have read for a very, very long time. Brilliantly clever without being even remotely academical or scholarly in its manner, this funny, warm and all-embracing book is for anyone and everyone — Stephen Fry A welcome intervention in the alarming decline of literacy . . . Douglas-Fairhurst is like that one teacher we had at school who, despite the years, was still hopelessly in love with their subject * The Spectator * A glittering gem of a book. This is a prism through which other books can be read more sharply, more meaningfully. I will be buying it for everyone I know who loves books — Natalie Haynes Look Closer . . . might be the book finally to get someone young (or old) off their smartphone. It digs away at literary classics of all sorts to find out why and how they work * Oldie, *Christmas Gift Guide 2025* * Look Closer is a masterclass in how to make academic writing fun, stuffed with erudite anecdotes about authors whom we rarely think of as three-dimensional characters… A must read * Country Life * I can’t recall reading a book that made me so immediately want to dive straight into a library… This is a wonderful book, packed with detail and knowledge but also intuition, warmth and infectious enthusiasm * Literary Review * Look Closer is a love letter to the energising thrill of literature, and the bracing challenge of it too * Sunday Times * A delightful and much needed paean, in our attention-deficit era, to the pleasures of close and slow reading * Spectator, *Books of the Year* * A lively book that seeks to enthuse us to read more deeply, more thoughtfully * The Times, *Books of the Year* *