A Book Lover`s Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Lore, and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for, and Appreciating Books
by Harold Rabinowitz
Published: Jan 23, 2001 by Three Rivers Press
ISBN: 9780812931136
Format: Hardcover (US)
[star]
The Subtitle for this book is pretty much the most accurate synopsis of the book possible. It’s an excellent collection of bits: cartoons, lists, quotes, poems and essays that range in length from one page to twenty. I think there’s even a curse upon those who steal books in here somewhere.
Everything included revolves around the simple love (or obsession) for books, as objects more than the stories they contain. That’s not to say the joy of reading isn’t part of the whole, but this collection focuses on the joy, the need, of owning the books themselves. Readers who’ve gone wholly digital, or prefer a minimalist housekeeping approach won’t find much to love here.
As with any collection of writings from various authors and times, some are better than others, but there were very few I just didn’t care for and then only because I either found the writing too dense or dated or the subject matter not quite interesting enough to enthral me. There were maybe three all up that I wouldn’t have missed if they were left out. Given the table of contents runs to two and a half pages, that’s a pretty good ratio.
The authors also include a 6 page bibliography at the end of other books about books, with the ones they used to create A Passion for Books marked with an asterisk.
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