Professor of English Henry Abelove is well-known for his published works, which include “The Evangelist of Desire: John Wesleyan and the Methodists” and “Deep Gossip.” He is also co-editor of “The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader.” With his affinity for words, it is no surprise that Abelove is an avid reader.

Hannah Berkman: What book are you currently reading?
Henry Abelove: I’m actually re-reading a book I first read about five years ago. It’s titled “The Friend,” and the author is Alan Bray. I’d recommend it to all students.
HB: Is this an author you’ve read before?
HA: Alan died young in 2001. This was his last book. I’ve read his earlier writings, too. He was a great scholar—immensely learned and very original—but he didn’t make his living as a university teacher. He worked as a senior administrative civil servant in England, I believe in the Inland Revenue Office. His distance from university life was very enabling for him. I doubt he would have liked to teach on a regular basis. And he distrusted the guilds that universities are made to fortify—the history guild, the English guild, the psychology guild, the religious studies guild. His writing fits the canon of none of them.
HB: What is his book about?
HA: It’s about the history of human intimacy in Europe throughout the last millennium.
HB: Is this a genre you usually read?
HA: When I’m alert, I read scholarship or poetry. When I’m dozy, I read detective stories.
HB: How did you choose this book, and how do you usually select your books?
HA: I’m disposed to disagree with much of what the book argues. But the argument is so smart, so thoughtful, so resonant, that as I re-read, I find I have to justify my views to myself, or revise them, or maybe even relinquish them. Alan challenges me in a really rewarding way. I re-read him for the challenge.
HB: Are you currently doing any research? Is this book related to your research?
HA: Yes. I write about many of the same issues and problems as Alan did.
HB: What are some other books you have read recently that you would recommend?
HA: I like Londa Schiebinger, “Plants and Empire,” and Andreas Kalyvas and Ira Katznelson, “Liberal Beginnings.”
HB: Do you take notes on a book when you read it?
HA: I read every day—I’m a scholar, after all—and I rarely take notes. As my students know, I think that note-taking is usually a way of giving oneself permission to forget.