Debates rage over what kind of literature we should read, what is good and bad literature, and whether in the global, digital age, literature even has a future. But what exactly is literature? Why should we read literature? How do we read literature? These are some of the important questions J. Hillis Miller answers in this beautifully written and passionate book. He begins by asking what literature is, arguing that the answer lies in literature's ability to create an imaginary world simply with words. He describes how his early reading of The Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe as a child led him to this view. He then discusses several famous writers who have used literature in this way, from Dostoevsky, Trollope, Proust and Henry James to Maurice Blanchot, Jacques Derrida and J. M. Coetzee. On Literature also asks the crucial question of why literature has such authority over us. Returning to Plato, Aristotle and the Bible, J. Hillis Miller argues we should continue to read literature because it is part of our basic human need to create imaginary worlds and to have stories. Above all, On Literature is a plea that we continue to read and care about literature.

J．希利斯·米勒（J.Hillis Miller），1928年生，哈佛大学博士。美国著名文学批评家、欧美文学及比较文学研究的杰出学者、解构主义批评的重要代表人物。曾任教于霍普金斯大学、耶鲁大学，现为厄湾加州大学英语与比较学系及批评理论研究所杰出教授，主要代表作有：《理论今昔》、《小说与重复》、《他者》等。