What Can I Get Out of This?

"Carlo Rotella has written a book about the art of teaching that doubles as a guide to being part of any community: a team, a company, a classroom. I wish I had this book when I was a student."--Reeves Wiedeman, author of Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork

"What Can I Get Out of This? is a lively story told by a superb writer and master storyteller. It's also the best guide to discussion-based teaching that I've ever encountered, a friendly and also precise primer on how to create and guide a collaborative learning community."--Leonard Cassuto, author of Academic Writing as If Readers Matter

"Rotella creates a feel for the classroom without disciplinary jargon. He shows how to teach the humanities in college today."--Michael S. Roth, author of The Student: A Short History

"This book is a gem. To my knowledge there is no book like it, even as the field of literary study--I might even say the culture at large--has been in need of such a volume for a long time."--Mark Edmundson, author of The Age of Guilt: The Super-Ego in the Online World

"Readers of Rotella know him as a strong and sensitive critic. This book makes clear that he is also a formidable teacher. A refreshing departure from the current trend of bashing students for their supposed inattention, indifference, or ideological certainty, it's the best kind of defense of the humanities: it shows--not tells--how a demanding yet generous teacher can make literature come alive for students as they embark on their adult lives."--Andrew Delbanco, author of College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be

Carlo Rotella is Professor of English at Boston College. A regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine, he has written books about cities, boxing, music, and literature.