Read Any Good Books Lately?

Think back. During the summer before freshman year everyone receives a lot of mailings and a lot of paperwork. It can be hard to keep track. But, somewhere between the notices about rack-raisers, rugs and roommates everyone received a sheet of paper containing the “Dean’s List.”

Nope, it’s not the kind of dean’s list that catalogs the academic over-achievements of your peers; it’s not even compiled by one of Boston College’s deans.

William B. Neenan, SJ, now a vice president and special assistant to the president, came to BC in 1979 as the first Gasson professor and was only meant to be on loan to BC from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. But, by 1982 he had made the decision to hang around the Heights and had been named Dean of Arts and Sciences.

“I was told that I had to give a talk to the welcome the freshmen,” says Neenan. “ So, I had to fill up the time. I told them welcome and that we have a big library here, you’re going to be here four years, you might want to read a couple books,” he recounts.

“I mentioned it the next day in the faculty dining room and some faculty member, I wish I could remember who, said, ‘Bill, why don’t you put out a list and call it the ‘Dean’s List.’”

The rest is BC history.

There were 26 books on the first list, including selections from James Joyce and Graham Greene. However, Neenan thought there were 27, a number which he deems an appropriate amount for the list because it’s the “mystical 3-cubed,” so, he added another title the next year and 27 books have appeared every year since.

Each year four are put on the list while four are taken off.

What started out as a simple comment in a run-of-the-mill welcome speech has become an annual event. The July release of the list is anticipated by both faculty and students, alumni send in requests and, this summer, an article about Neenan and his list ran in the Boston Globe.

The cumulative collection of titles numbers 105 suggestions to the BC community.

While the “Dean’s List” is meant to provide recommendations of reading material to undergraduates and others, do students really have time, or want to make the time, to read books other than the material assigned in classes?

Neenan suggests they make an effort.

He doesn’t say it in a didactic way; he simply advises that taking the time to read a good book, or even just reflecting on what you’ve read in the past is an occupation well worth its while. Besides, you probably have the time and just don’t realize it, he says.

“If you always have a book or two beside you, it’s amazing how many spare moments you really have,” Neenan says.

However, the Jesuit also admits that as a student of economics he didn’t have a lot of extra time to read either. But he’s quick to add that it was that kind of literary drought that inspired him to make reading an intregal part of his life.

“When I first started my graduate studies in economics I was reading a lot of technical journals and those kind of things,” he says. “For a few years there, I really didn’t read a novel or a historical book on anything and I said, ‘I don’t want to live like this.’ So, I started to read 20-25 minutes before going to bed.”

He hopes that students would get into the habit of reading books other than those required for class. Additionally, he stresses that looking back at what you have read and what you would like to read is part of the self-reflection emphasized in the Jesuit education offered here at BC.

“That could mean looking back and asking yourself what ten books have I read in the past ten years that I would hand to someone on answer to the question, ‘Have you read a good a good book lately?’”

Neenan’s list tries to provide a few answers for anyone who might be pondering that question.

In terms of the works he chooses, they need only be material he has enjoyed, although some common themes do appear. Three Jesuit authors show up, several books on Catholic themes, many titles are about Boston and a few works are by faculty authors.

“There is a little bit of bias there,” he says, but adds that it is a list for BC students, and the motifs in his selections are of interest to the BC community.

A number of books that have recently been made into movies make appearances on the list, most notably this past year, The Perfect Storm and The End of the Affair. Neenan has not seen The Perfect Storm and has no intention to, too many special effects.

However, he has viewed The End of the Affair twice and while he says it was a good movie, he says that Graham Greene’s novel portrayed a much more radical faith. “I think it’s a good movie up until the last ten minutes. Until then it’s very faithful to the book. I just want students to see what Graham Greene really had there.”

Those who know Neenan know that he’s an avid sports fan. This mean he’s a die-hard supporter of BC teams and has a wealth of sports trivia questions he’s willing to throw into a conversation.

But, the only conspicuously sports-related title on his cumulative list is Arthur Ashe’s Days of Grace. But it wasn’t chosen for the Ashe’s athletic connections.

“I have Arthur Ashe on not because of the sports, but because there was a beautiful letter in there to his daughter that he wrote, knowing he was going to die, when she was 4 or 5 years old. It was to be read when she was a young woman.”

It is because of that personal touch that Neenan appreciated Ashe’s words and he admits that he has an affection for memoirs and personal tales.

“I like memoirs, I like getting involved in other people’s lives. The homilies that touch me the most are the ones when the preacher says something about himself. That’s probably why I like the memoir genre … I find that much more interesting than something written in third person.”