Harold Bloom (1930-2019)
Filed under the name Harold · February 18, 2026
Harold Bloom spent decades at Yale as one of the most influential literary critics of his era, championing what he considered the great works of world literature with a passion that apparently bordered on evangelical. I left an English degree unfinished for culinary school, no regrets, but I still read constantly, mostly cookbooks and the occasional memoir now, and I recognize something familiar in a person whose life's work was essentially convincing other people that certain books mattered enough to be worth their limited time. That's not so different from running a neighborhood bakery, honestly — trying to convince people, one taste at a time, that this particular loaf or this particular pastry deserves a place in their actual life, not just their to-do list. Bloom apparently did that with the entire literary canon, decade after decade, insisting certain books earned their reputation rather than merely inheriting it. I like anyone whose whole career is arguing, with real conviction, that quality is worth defending against whatever's simply convenient or trendy that year.