As the title suggests, the essays are intended for the average reader and deal with a variety of literary topics presented in layman's terms. The first series deals with various authors including Geoffrey Chaucer, Jane Austen, and Joseph Conrad, together with pieces on the Greek language and the modern essay.

"The Common Reader" is a collection of classic essays by Virginia Woolf, originally published in two parts in 1925 and 1935.

The common reader The Pastons and Chaucer On not knowing Greek The Elizabethan lumber room Notes on an Elizabethan play Montaigne The Duchess of Newcastle Rambling round Evelyn Defoe Addison The lives of the obscure: The Taylors and the Edgeworths. Laetitia Pilkington. Miss Ormerod Jane Austen Modern fiction "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" George Eliot The Russian point of view Outlines: Miss Mitford. Dr. Bentley. Lady Dorothy Nevill. Archbishop Thomson The patron and the crocus The modern essay Joseph Conrad How it strikes a contemporary