Review - The Whole Five Feet by Christopher R. Beha

The Whole Five Feet by Christopher R. Beha
Publisher: Grove Press 2009
Hardback 258 pages


There has always been something intriguing to me about reading a book about reading books. The motivations of why people read what they do may sound like a dull story to some, but in Beha's book; The Whole Five Feet, we see a moving memoir and how books have the power, not only to impart ideas, but to change lives.

In The Whole Five Feet, Christopher Beha attempts to read the entire shelf of the Harvard Classics. Ranging from such literary heroes like Thoreau, Homer and Milton, to lesser known names like John Woolman, the Harvard classics were meant to bring the liberal education, which was normally achieved through years at a university, to the masses.

While at first glance one would think this book is destined to be yet another humorous memoir, not unlike A.J. Jacobs The Know-It-All, the tragedies of Beha's life, his own illness combined with a death of a beloved family member, turn this into a touching journey of healing. I found the book to be both entertaining and inspiring, and at the very least in re-introduced me to authors I had long forgotten.