I just got a copy of The Western Canon by Bloom from the library, and I think it is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read in my life. He is a very convoluted writer that goes for as much high emotional impact as possible, because his theories are generally ridiculous and only make sense when you're lost in his fog of anger and disdain for everything. He also has a weird tendency of using "Western Civilization" and "America" as synonyms, even though most of his pet authors died before the US existed. It's like reading a book by a cartoon parody of an English professor, and it's hard to believe that he was even a real person. It all seems like an elaborate joke.

If you want the actual story of the Western Canon - which includes things like Euclid, Fourier, Darwin, etc., not just the fiction that American English professors like - try "Great Books Of The Western World":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_Wor...