A Passion for Books : A Book Lover's Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Love and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for, and Appreciating Books

Rating:
Summary: Plenty of obsession, not much passion
Review: Although I came close to purchasing this, I'm glad I borrowed it from the library first because I must admit to finding this book more than a little disappointing.

Firstly, I agree with the comment made by another reviewer that there is an obvious lack of women writers in this collection. Not only are most of the contributors male, but "The New Lifetime Reading Plan" lists 133 authors and their most well known works, and I counted only 7 or so female authors among them. Where are women's voices?

Before I'm accused of getting up on my feminist soap-box, my second criticism is that there is a strong slant towards American writers and their books. Certainly Dickens and Austen rank a mention or two, but overall I found a very strong bias reflected in the selections chosen, including "Ten Books that Shaped the American Character", "Books that Changed America" and "Norman Mailer's Ten Favorite American Novels". The rest of the world writes books too!

Thirdly - though this is more personal preference than anything else - quite of lot of the essays were written at least 50 years ago and focus almost entirely on the classics. Now I know classics are "classic" for a good reason, but this book barely acknowledges that any good literature has been produced since the middle of last century. Couple this with the emphasis on buying first editions at auctions, and one feels that there is a distinct air of "elite gentlemen's club" about this book. Whatever happened to the pure joy of picking up a much-loved but recent paperback at a secondhand bookstore and spending the weekend by the fire reading? I didn't see this passion and pleasure reflected much in this collection.

There are still interesting pieces in this book, but only a mere handful which I could say I truly enjoyed: the pieces by the editors Rob Kaplan and Harold Rabinowitz, Gustave Flaubert's "Bibliomania", Solly Ganor's "The Book Action", Anna Quindlen in "How Reading Changed My Life", and "Potch" by Leo Rosten. Of the rest I would say that a little goes a long way.

Rating:
Summary: Read It, Then Let It Go
Review: This anthology celebrates the physical book, not the idea of books, or reading books, or writing books. There is something special about shopping for books, whether in a used bookshop, a megastore, or at the library. It is really a different pleasure than the actual reading of the book.

I found this book in my local used bookshop, in the new arrivals section. The paperback cover is a bit curled where someone opened it and left it. Someone marked the lists of great books, indicating which they had read, or perhaps which they hadn't yet read. I didn't mind the marks, in fact I enjoyed comparing notes with this unknown reader.

In addition to the lists and the cartoons, and the bibliobibliography (not a misprint), I enjoyed many of the articles and essays, especially the more recent ones. A favorite was Harold Rabinowitz's (one of the editors) story of the day his friend didn't win the Pulitzer Prize.

I agree with another reviewer who wished that a few women had been included among the contributors here, there is an atmosphere of gentlemen's club here. And I'm afraid I really don't understand the compulsion to collect books. I love to read, but once I've read a book, out it goes. Of course, there are a few exceptions: if I am quite sure I'll want to read it again (unfortunately, most of those are library books), or if I want it for more-than-occasional reference. Most books are not hard to find and I don't see any reason to keep a book for years on the offchance I'll read it again. If I do decide to reread it, I can easily find a copy.

With that in mind, having enjoyed A Passion for Books, I will take it back to the used bookshop and trade it in for credit.

Rating:
Summary: If You Love Reading, You'll Love This Book
Review: This book is an absolute necessity for book lovers. The editors have put together a wonderful collection of essays, stories, lists, and cartoons all about books. Every aspect of books is covered: collecting, reading, borrowing, lending, caring for, the history of, and much more. If you are the type of person who can spend hours in a bookstore, if you feel as if you are losing an arm or leg when you lend out a book, or if you don't understand why nobody else around you shares your love for print, this book is for you. Enjoy.