Harold Bloom

The western canon is biased, awkward, politically incorrect, arrogant, but mainly essential. One of the best books on Literature Criticism. Bloom is not a very sweet person, and never tryes to contemporize his opinions. His canon is based almost exclusively in English Literature, with some few glorious and obvious exceptions. He claims that is not bound to any party, clan, or Criticism School, and we may believe in it, based on the amount of ammunition he spends against his detractors, both real and imaginary. One of the real interesting points in his book is the criticism on aestetic analysis based on political grounds, such as what we see in Literature from "Minorities". Bloom´s basic criteria for the canon is literary originality, and the pleasure that one can savour from such readings. Sometimes bordering harshness, Bloom has the erudition, the expertise, and the strict criteria to justify his influence on the Literary community.