I'm working my way through this -- slowly -- and am learning a great deal as I go along. If you read as someone within the field of literary studies, Guillory's work will prompt you to ask why we do what we do as literature teachers and scholars. I don't mean this in a contestatory way: it's simply that Guillory establishes that there is a context for this ambiguous thing called "the English professor." In this exquisitely researched book, Guillory explains that every facet of our current reality as literature professors came from somewhere: the structure of the academic department, the idea of "class discussion," the idea that criticism has a social or political function. Readers will relish little details like the history of the exam (what exam ever worked in literary studies?); the history of the fact (not particular facts, the idea that there is something called a "fact"). The dense footnotes require reading and appreciation of their own; that's where Guillory's wry humor comes out. You don't expect a scholarly book to nudge you in the ribs the way this one does. I'm only halfway through and I've identified numerous sources I feel I have to read, but I'm grateful that Guillory's done the hard work for me already.If you are reading this as a professor or one-in-training, try to be generous when you explain our field; I've learned that the defensiveness literary scholars might give off has something to do with the "uncertainty of aim" of our discipline. There is an urgent need to understand our own field and to explain what we do to others. While on some days, I'm still not sure what I do as an English professor, this deeply contextualized work has helped me understand my own profession--its strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities.