"The Whole Five Feet" by Christopher Beha

Liberal Arts Majors: Here is yet another opportunity to put that learning to good use.

Christopher Beha has written a memoir that has as its hook the author's vow to read all 51 volumes of the Harvard Classics. The Harvard Classics is an anthology of classic literature assembled in the early 1900s by the then-president of Harvard. This collection, called the “Five-Foot Shelf", sold millions of volumes.

In a clever promotion for his book, Mr. Beha is running a contest at his web site. Each day for the next few weeks he is giving away a volume of the Harvard Classics to an individual who correctly answers a question relating to the volume in question.

For example, the June 4 question relates to Volume 23, Two Years Before the Mast: What was the name of the ship on which Richard Dana completed the second leg of his two-year trip?

If you want to participate in the drawing, email your answer by 5 p.m. Eastern to thewholefivefeet AT gmail DOT com.

And to think, some people pooh-poohed the utility of all those English courses we took as undergrads; of course, those folks didn't understand the joy in those classes.



(Via The New York Times Paper Cuts)