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Resources Related to Our Core Book

Resources related to Breaking Bread With the Dead

In the Preface to Breaking Bread with the Dead, Jacobs writes: “Among the fruits of that vow [to live out his calling as a teacher] has been a series of books, of which this is the third, that attempt to communicate to the general reader much of what I have learned over the years by taking my students’ questions and boredom seriously. The first is called The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, and the second is called How to Think, and now here we are discussing the value of paying attention to old books that come from strange times and are written in peculiar language and frankly don’t make a whole lot of sense” (p. xii).

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction

Oxford University Press, 2011
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In this book Jacobs draws from his many years of teaching literature to college students, and from his observations of the culture of reading in our society today. Jacobs offers an insightful guide to readers, in particular readers who worry that they are not reading the right books or are not reading books in the right way. Jacobs challenges the popular belief that serious readers only read the “great books”–books that will be good for them. He describes this as “the intellectual equivalent of eating your brussels sprouts.” Jacobs gives readers permission, or, more strongly, he exhorts readers to read books that give them delight, and to do so proudly, “without shame.” Jacobs’s central advice is to read at whim, for the sheer pleasure of it. And, we also should never apologize for rereading books that bring delight. Although lists of great books can indeed be helpful, and there are books that are true classics and should be read, Jacobs warns against the pretentiousness of being that person who relishes telling people how many books, and which ones, they have read. Instead of taking pleasure in the many great, challenging, and classic books we have read, Jacobs encourages us to take pleasure in the very reading of the books themselves.

How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds

Currency, 2017.
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This book grew out of the bitter disagreement on display–from all sides–during the lead up to the 2016 Presidential election. Jacobs writes as a citizen concerned about his country. What concerned him the most was how people–from all sides of the political spectrum–were so eager to think the worst of the people who disagreed with them, and to interpret the things these other people were doing in the most uncharitable way possible. In this book, Jacobs delivers the hard news that we are not as good at thinking as we assume. He suggests that in many ways we really do not want to think, because thinking is difficult. Thinking makes us uncomfortable, it will require us to entertain things that are unfamiliar, and it will open us up to the possibility that we just might need to change our mind. Jacobs is an able guide in helping us learn how not to think, even as he guides us in learning how to think. In our world of information overload and calls for immediate judgments, real thinking is counterculture, since it is slow and requires patience. Who has time for this today, in the world of rapidly changing news cycles?! In order to truly think – to think together so we can live together – Jacobs suggest that we need to identify and do away with bad habits – rushing to judgment, vilifying people we disagree with, being unwilling to change our minds, and resisting measured and civil engagement – while at the same time cultivating good habits – patience, intellectual humility, charity and generosity towards others.

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