 Neenan says his list is "really a response to the question ´Have you read a good book lately?´" Each year, 27 books are selected for the list. [Click to enlarge]
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For Rev. William B. Neenan, S.J., it all started when he was 8.
"On a Saturday morning, I would get up to read the baseball almanac. I can still tell you that Elden Auker pitched for the Tigers, and that Joe Medwick was the last National League player to win the Triple Crown," Neenan said, laughing.
Now, several decades later, he is the creator of the Dean's List, a recommendation of 27 (what Neenan terms "the mystical three-cubed") books that the University annually compiles. The 2005 Dean's List marks the 25th anniversary of the project.
But it began largely by happenstance.
"When I first became dean of the College of Arts and Sciences after arriving from the University of Michigan, I was told that I had to go out and give a talk to incoming freshmen," said Neenan, explaining its origins. "In the course of the talk, I told them that we had gone to great effort to build up a large library collection at the University, and since they were going to have four years here, it might be good if they read a book or two. And I named a couple titles.
"I saw professor [Paul] Doherty in the faculty dining room the next day, and he said, 'That's a great idea Bill, why don't you put out a list and call it the Dean's List?'" Neenan continued. "So next year I did. I realized this would get cumbersome if I just kept adding without subtracting, so I added up how many books I had on the list - 27 - and that's what I kept it at."
So, what does it take to make the cut?
"These are not necessarily great books, though some of them are," said Neenan. "It's really a response to the question, 'Have you read a good book lately?'"
This year's list includes perennial stalwarts like James Agee's A Death in the Family and David McCullough's Truman, as well as some more recent additions. The latter category includes new members such as His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis and Big Russ & Me, a recent memoir by Tim Russert.
Spring Break
