jacobsbook“And so,” says Powell’s City of Books, “we present to you 25 female writers we admire for their vision, their fearlessness, their originality, and their impact on the literary world and beyond.“

Choices range from Donna Tartt to George Elliot and Mary Shelley.

From a male viewpoint, I can see the usefulness of the list, beyond the literary value. Reading female writers just might be one way to better “read” women in person. One way. Most of TeleRead’s readers are female, incidentally, and I’d be curious what they and our male readers thought of the selections—listed in full in the linked item from Powell’s.

I myself was delighted to see Jane Jacobs, author of the The Death and Life of Great American Cities, make the list (as opposed to its simply being limited to fiction writers alone).

Of course, the older I get, the less fond I am of  the use of the phrase “before you die,” in lists of recommended books. Life’s got enough deadlines.

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