The selections in this book are to encourage reading; they are arranged thematically, i.e. Thinking About Food; Remembering (Nabokov, E.B.White, Rodriguez, Eudora Welty); Explaining (Joan Didion, Forster, Bronkowski, McCarthy); Taking a Stand (Wollstonecraft, James Baldwin, Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell); etc. There is also a Thematic Guide to the readings. A good book for all interested in learning more about reading and writing and specific authors.