I'll admit it, I read a lot of books from lists and canons of literature. A major flaw of these lists, however, can be summed up in this quote from Stephen Behrendt, "The Western literary canon has historically been dictated by economically secure, traditionally educated, socially privileged white men". No disrespect intended to these esteemed men, but their tastes don't necessarily reflect mine.
Another flaw of these lists is that they are the biased opinion of one person or a small group of like-minded people. This list is no exception. It is the opinion of one person (me). I don't profess to be an expert in literature, but I do read *A LOT*. This collection is comprised of literature from the Near East, Far East, and from indigenous people of the Pacific islands. It is a collection of classic literary works and well-written or culturally significant contemporary works. Most of these works were written by someone who would be in a marginalized population in the Western World.
