An Un-Calibrated Centrifuge

The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia - Laura Miller This would be 3.5 if I could. The first two sections were really good, but it fell off a lot at the end (once Miller gets to Tolkien, the whole book starts to go downhill). Also, I lost the plot whenever she started referencing things I hadn't read. Her insights were easy enough to follow when I was familiar with the other works she was referencing, but when I didn't know the works I couldn't understand what her argument was.It wouldn't hurt to be versed in the works/history of Lewis (obviously), Tokien, their contemporaries (this was my downfall, I think), the Romantics, English medieval literature and classic children's literature (Miller mentions Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a lot). Also, don't read if you don't want to be spoiled for any of the above and a few other things (she spoils the end of Philip Pullman's HDM).