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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
I liked this even though I am nothing like her. I don't re-read. I do not write in books. Most of my books come from the library. I am not a writer.
I usually don't even like books like this that are compilations of previously published columns, but I still liked this book. It was a quick, easy read.
I usually don't even like books like this that are compilations of previously published columns, but I still liked this book. It was a quick, easy read.
While not a fan of essays, I was gifted this beautiful little package by a woman who reads as voraciously as I do...and so I gave it a whirl...and found myself in every single essay...''twas a delightful easy read for those whose love of books and words and bookstores and literature truly fuel the soul.
"I came to realize that just as there is more than one way to love a person, so is there more than one way to love a book."
"...those children do not see their parents reading, as I did every day of my childhood."
And for that I'm eternally grateful...
"I came to realize that just as there is more than one way to love a person, so is there more than one way to love a book."
"...those children do not see their parents reading, as I did every day of my childhood."
And for that I'm eternally grateful...
I think I most appreciate this book because Anne Fadiman is an unapologetic lover of books and words. I definitely had to use the dictionary at several points and learned a few new words along the way. I really enjoyed the first essay about marrying her library to her husband's and the argumentation behind organizing a library in various ways. I currently follow more of George (her husband's) style due to a lack of space on my part but I would love to have the space to try out various styles.
I also found the distinction between carnal and courtly book lovers intriguing. I find myself to be a blend of the two. In some cases my books are pristine new editions with no earmarked pages, annotations, or broken spines, but in other cases my books are barely holding together and have nearly as much marginalia as they do printed text.
The essay "Nothing New Under the Sun" made me laugh, especially once I realized why it was the only essay in the book with foot notes. And overall, I found the book to be charmingly written with very funny grammatical one-liners and call backs.
I also found the distinction between carnal and courtly book lovers intriguing. I find myself to be a blend of the two. In some cases my books are pristine new editions with no earmarked pages, annotations, or broken spines, but in other cases my books are barely holding together and have nearly as much marginalia as they do printed text.
The essay "Nothing New Under the Sun" made me laugh, especially once I realized why it was the only essay in the book with foot notes. And overall, I found the book to be charmingly written with very funny grammatical one-liners and call backs.
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Yessssssss. Books about books remind me why I love reading and teaching ELA!
Charming collection of short essays about books and the author's family's relationship to them.
As a parliamentary orator, he was, according to Disraeli, "inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity," and as a writer, he may be the only man in history to have written a long-winded twenty-nine-page book. (p. 142)
This book was WAAY too much fun. Anne Fadiman is Clifton Fadiman's daughter, and she has collected this book of essays about book-love. She is funny and frank and the book is a delight. There are essays on merging her library with her husband's, on the delight of finding long, delicious words, on sonnets, on "carnal-love" book lovers versus "courtly-love" book lovers (for the record, I'm in the carnal-love category--my books know they are loved), ink pens, flyleaf inscriptions, the compulsive editing of the errors around us :-) , catalogs, even plagiarism. All are delightful. I recognized myself so often and kept reading parts to my dh, who doesn't always "get" it. It is so reassuring to read books by people as compulsive as I am about books, since in my "real life" I've often felt like the only book nut. I do have some delightful online friends who are fellow nuts, but most of the people in my real life have been perplexed by me since I was about 3. :-)
I had just finished Fadiman's memoir of her realtionship with her father, pre and post War Popular cultural critic Clifton Fadiman, "The Wine Lover's Daughter". Seeing this title in her list of previous publications, I ordered a copy and started reading it as soon as it hit my doorstep. It has been awhile since I have read a "Book on Books" - as she points out, a category most often seen in used/rare, rather than new, bookstores.
This is a collection of short (8-12 pp) essays she wrote for the LoC magazine "Civilization. As with most collections of essays, I wish each of them had ended with the year of original publication at the end of each. So simple to do, so few do it.
These are essays on things "bookish". Some of it was later reused in her memoir.
Lots of favorites here, but for me the best was "Nothing New Under the Sun" - an essay on plagiarism. It is filled out wth numerous, and humorous, footnotes. And a couple examples of John Hersey's blanant use of other writers' material - including her mother's! And who knew that one of novelist Thomas Mallon's first books was on plagiarism? A pretty decent "Recommended Reading" at the end, including some individual essays (read Orwell on working at a used bookstore in the '30's - things have not changed a bit since!).
Enjoyable, quick reads, and you can dip in anywhere. And I loved the pale green and yellow cover of the pb. I'll probably read the one other collection of essays she has published.
This is a collection of short (8-12 pp) essays she wrote for the LoC magazine "Civilization. As with most collections of essays, I wish each of them had ended with the year of original publication at the end of each. So simple to do, so few do it.
These are essays on things "bookish". Some of it was later reused in her memoir.
Lots of favorites here, but for me the best was "Nothing New Under the Sun" - an essay on plagiarism. It is filled out wth numerous, and humorous, footnotes. And a couple examples of John Hersey's blanant use of other writers' material - including her mother's! And who knew that one of novelist Thomas Mallon's first books was on plagiarism? A pretty decent "Recommended Reading" at the end, including some individual essays (read Orwell on working at a used bookstore in the '30's - things have not changed a bit since!).
Enjoyable, quick reads, and you can dip in anywhere. And I loved the pale green and yellow cover of the pb. I'll probably read the one other collection of essays she has published.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced