Homer, Sophocles, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, and all the other great authors are still with us in countless ways we might not realize. Much more than embossed names on leather-bound tomes, they are the creators of the stories that mold our lives, our deaths, our dreams and our politics, not to mention our dining habits, our lovemaking and the new media.

The Golden Thread takes its readers on an exciting voyage of discovery through some of the most important works of Western literature: from the Bible, The Aeneid and The Odyssey to King Lear, A Room of One's Own and Ulysses, Bruce Meyer offers a fresh and accessible approach to reading and understanding the narratives that underlie our culture. Meyer gives his readers the keys to unlock the joys of both ancient and contemporary literature, and in doing so unearths the basis of many of our contemporary ideas and allusions. This is a guide that will enable the lover of literature, or the reader who has always felt intimidated by the classics, to navigate through the great works with confidence--and a sense of wonder.