My name is Lisa VanDamme and I am the founder of VanDamme Academy, a small private school in Southern California with big ambitions to provide students with an exceptional education and a joyful learning experience.
The single, animating element of my career – the one that provides me with an endlessly replenishing daily dose of endorphins – is teaching literature. I am not a literary scholar. I cannot classify works by “school” or “movement,” I cannot describe how they reflect the historical period in which they were written, I don’t know how to inventory their various literary devices. And I don’t care to.
If I have a unique talent as a teacher of literature, it boils down to this: I am passionate about great books. Hugo wrenches my heart and makes me weep tears of anguish and of wonderment. Rostand stirs me to noble ambition in work and love and life. Tolstoy challenges me to think – and to feel – on planes higher than I had ever known. Ibsen, Dostoevsky, Balzac, Jane Austen, Maupassant, Rattigan, Sinclair Lewis – all have helped me to see, in the words of English professor Mark Edmundson, “that life is bigger, sweeter, more tragic and intense—more alive with meaning than I had thought.” I derive profound personal joy from literature, and I have a knack for helping others do the same.
That is why I started Read With Me. I know so many people – thoughtful, intelligent, motivated people – who avoid reading the classics. And for understandable reasons: they’re busy, they don’t know what to read, they’ve never been taught how to enjoy it, they have unpleasant memories of tedious discussions in high school English…
If you are intimidated, uninitiated, jaded, disillusioned or just plain busy – read with me. Let me show you what reading can be.
We use Apple's standard terms of use: http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/appstore/dev/stdeula
Lisa’s Read With Me program is one of my gifts to myself. I am on the edge of my seat when I listen to her readings of Arrowsmith, Victor Hugo’s 93 and Notre Dame de Paris, and currently, Crime and Punishment. I had not read these works. She brings the characters to life and she is so easy to listen to! Her focused summaries of each chapter give more depth to her readings and they help me focus on details I otherwise might have missed. She is deeply passionate about the personal value of classical literature and has given me that joy. I like that her program is self-paced. You can start anytime.
Wonderful!
Zafferano
Lisa is an excellent reader and literary guide. It is a pleasure to listen to her reading and commentary, and inspiring me to read/listen to books that I know are incredible classics but which I likely would not be getting to because of life’s commitments. Whether you are an avid reader or an occasional one, get this app and try out a few chapters. I bet you stick with it.
Worth your time!!
mark a27
I just finished with “White Nights” and liked it a lot!I read “Crime and Punishment” years ago (back in college) and am finding it a much better experience this time around with the app. Love the commentary section too.
Outstanding!
Montessorinomad
I love listening to Lisa read these classic books.
A few minor bug fixes and aesthetic improvements with the most recent release.
Version 6.0.11
The developer, Joseph Tabenkin, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Financial Info
Contact Info
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Joseph Tabenkin
Size
112.8 MB
Category
Education
Compatibility
Requires iOS 11.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 11.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 11.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 11.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 11.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
