An intelligent and idiosyncratic antidote to the "definitive" lists of twentieth-century classics.

In Pure Pleasure, John Carey, one of Britain's most respected literary critics, introduces us to what he believes are the fifty most enjoyable books of the twentieth century based on sheer reading pleasure. Mixing fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, Carey includes literary heavyweights like James Joyce, Thomas Mann, and T. S. Eliot, as well as more populist writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, Kingsley Amis, and John Updike. Carey also discusses masterpieces like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Günter Grass's The Tin Drum, alongside lesser-known works like D. H. Lawrence's Twilight in Italy and George Orwell's Coming Up for Air.

In a series of intelligent and fast-moving essays — each devoted to a single book — Carey mixes criticism, biography, and cultural context about each selection with illuminations on the author's inspiration and how each work was written. The end result is a book that no one who is passionate about reading should be without.

John Carey is Merton Professor of English at Oxford University. A distinguished critic, reviewer, and broadcaster, he is the author of several books, including The Intellectuals and the Masses.