Rating: 
Summary: An Essential Handbook
Review: I doubt that many of Nicholas Basbanes' readers will have the resources to emulate some of the collectors he describes in Among the Gently Mad (and in his earlier works A Gentle Madness and Patience and Fortitude.) I know I certainly won't be buying a Shakespeare First Folio, but nevertheless I value Among the Gently Mad for the perspective it gives me on my fellow bibliophiles. I enjoy reading about the book fairs and the lengths to which some collectors go to add to their libraries. Most of all I enjoy the tips Basbanes and his subjects give me about adding to my own collection. An absolutely essential addition to any gentle mad person's library.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Guide for any Book Collector
Review: If you are new to the book collecting game, or even if you are an experienced scout, you will find plenty of good information in Basbanes' new book. One aspect of this work that I appreciate (as a used & rare bookseller working in an open shop) is the equal importance that Basbanes places on "booking the heartland" and on utilizing internet resources, whereas a common opinion in recent years is to use the internet only. All in all, this is a very useful guide, with tips on book scouting, determining first editions, and many other aspects of book collecting that one has to learn in order to be successful. In my opinion, Basbanes has become one of the most eloquent and enjoyable authors of Books About Books.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Guide for any Book Collector
Review: If you are new to the book collecting game, or even if you are an experienced scout, you will find plenty of good information in Basbanes' new book. One aspect of this work that I appreciate (as a used & rare bookseller working in an open shop) is the equal importance that Basbanes places on "booking the heartland" and on utilizing internet resources, whereas a common opinion in recent years is to use the internet only. All in all, this is a very useful guide, with tips on book scouting, determining first editions, and many other aspects of book collecting that one has to learn in order to be successful. In my opinion, Basbanes has become one of the most eloquent and enjoyable authors of Books About Books.
Rating: 
Summary: An Indispensable Resource for Any Serious Book Collector
Review: In "Among the Gently Mad," Basbanes declares, "the more you read or read about reading, the more you will uncover about other books." And, the more, it seems, you will get to know an ever-expanding circle of people who collect and/or sell books. All their stories are here...what they collect, how they collect them, how much they spend and on and on until the value of this book is almost hidden under their weight.However, if you are serious about book collecting, "Among the Gently Mad" is a tremendous resource. Reading between the lines of other book collectors' stories, you will find out which web sites, bookstores, dealers, book fairs, organizations and other sources can help you fill out your collection. By the way, this is not just a book for those who collect rare books. An antiquarian book is simply described as any book that is worth more now than when first published. Basbanes's first rule of collecting books is to focus on subjects that hold your interest and, in fact, your collection should contain books you actually want to read. If you are gently mad, that is "taking delight in the pleasant touching of books long coveted," this book is an indispensable tool to fulfilling your own madness.
Rating:
Summary: An Indispensable Resource for Any Serious Book Collector
Review: In "Among the Gently Mad," Basbanes declares, "the more you read or read about reading, the more you will uncover about other books." And, the more, it seems, you will get to know an ever-expanding circle of people who collect and/or sell books. All their stories are here...what they collect, how they collect them, how much they spend and on and on until the value of this book is almost hidden under their weight. However, if you are serious about book collecting, "Among the Gently Mad" is a tremendous resource. Reading between the lines of other book collectors' stories, you will find out which web sites, bookstores, dealers, book fairs, organizations and other sources can help you fill out your collection. By the way, this is not just a book for those who collect rare books. An antiquarian book is simply described as any book that is worth more now than when first published. Basbanes's first rule of collecting books is to focus on subjects that hold your interest and, in fact, your collection should contain books you actually want to read. If you are gently mad, that is "taking delight in the pleasant touching of books long coveted," this book is an indispensable tool to fulfilling your own madness.
Rating:
Summary: An Indispensable Resource for Any Serious Book Collector
Review: In "Among the Gently Mad," Basbanes declares, "the more you read or read about reading, the more you will uncover about other books." And, the more, it seems, you will get to know an ever-expanding circle of people who collect and/or sell books. All their stories are here...what they collect, how they collect them, how much they spend and on and on until the value of this book is almost hidden under their weight. However, if you are serious about book collecting, "Among the Gently Mad" is a tremendous resource. Reading between the lines of other book collectors' stories, you will find out which web sites, bookstores, dealers, book fairs, organizations and other sources can help you fill out your collection. By the way, this is not just a book for those who collect rare books. An antiquarian book is simply described as any book that is worth more now than when first published. Basbanes's first rule of collecting books is to focus on subjects that hold your interest and, in fact, your collection should contain books you actually want to read. If you are gently mad, that is "taking delight in the pleasant touching of books long coveted," this book is an indispensable tool to fulfilling your own madness.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: In rapturous, elegant prose, the author envelops the reader in his consuming passion for books and the people who love to collect them; as the hours flew by while I curled up with Basbanes, I assuaged my guilt at forsaking mundane tasks with the right-on lines that end the book's first chapter: "... a sentiment that I confess I savor on a daily basis: Books are not Life, But then what is?"
Rating:
Summary: What Others Have Been Trying To Write
Review: Mr. Nicholas Basbanes is the author of two books that have been warmly received by any reader that is inquisitive, and have also become indispensable to any collector wherever they may be in their quest to create their own collections. The first book is, "A Gentle Madness, and the second Patience And Fortitude". He has now provided any booklover and aspiring collector a single volume that others have been trying to produce with miserable results over the past several years. This is a volume by and for people who enjoy collecting books, and a host of other collectables. This is not a major treatise on books and their history. Mr. Basbanes has written a book that is a guide, a cautionary tale, and has seeded the work with enough fascinating discoveries to make the read pleasurable whether you collect or you do not. Unlike the writing duo to which I refer and the rubbish they have offered prospective collectors, he has the experience and credentials to help a new collector begin intelligently, and he shares and even celebrates the inventiveness and ingenuity of persons who have created collections that no one before had ever thought of. He shares stories that include a doctor who has begun to document the history of HIV, an issue that has become a defining event for our world. Another traces a woman who collected all manner of implements used in teaching in the 19th Century. There are the collections of comic books and graphic novels, the collection and now library of Yiddish Literature, and even that of postcards that Mr. Basbanes became a collector of one snowy night without any plan to do so. Everyone has bits and pieces of life experience that can provide a niche for assembling information on a topic that interests them. And this is one of the most important points the author makes, no matter what you have heard everything worth collecting has not been collected, and further there are countless types of collections yet to be conceived. I used the phrase cautionary tale and that is perhaps a bit strident, but the author does repeatedly remind prospective collectors to collect what you enjoy, and do not collect with an eye only to a profit. In fact if that latter is your goal, you would be well advised not to collect at all. And finally he offers a section at the end of his book that lists resources for collectors at all levels, be they traditional or found in the new online world. And again it is the latter readers would be well advised to take seriously what he shares. The internet is an incredible tool, and Mr. Basbanes will suggest even the best search engine for you. But at the same time the internet removes the dealer from the buyer and by doing so magnifies all the traditional missteps a collector can make, and opens the online collector to a host of other perils if they are not careful. A great read and a wonderful resource. Finally, a bit of writing to hold those of us who are waiting for his third installment about those of us who are gently mad, and thrilled to be so.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have for Collectors, Old and New!
Review: Nicholas Basbanes has been a source of enjoyment for bibliophiles since publication of what is arguably the most enjoyable treatise on the book collecting culture, _A Gentle Madness_. In that book the heady heights of high-end collecting and the depraved depths of obsessive biblio-theft are expertly profiled. Equally delightful, his recent _Patience and Fortitude_ has a place of honor on my 'books-on-books' shelf. While I have enjoyed many hours reading these books, which allowed me to circulate vicariously in book circles currently beyond my reach, I always wondered when Mr. Basbanes would write a book focusing on the everyman collector. With the publication of _Among the Gently Mad_ my question has been answered, and the validity of the adage. "...be careful what you wish for..." has been affirmed for me. In a departure from his previous two works, the author not only provides delightful anecdotes on book culture, he has also constructed the most practical and up to date guide on the nuts and bolts of collecting available today. In the process he has laid bare nearly every trick and technique of collecting that I have picked up over the past several years. The internet has, in many ways, revolutionized book collecting. Mr. Basbanes describes in what ways, and provides helpful pointers on how to maximize the 'net's usefulness, including mentioning specific web sites of interest. This material is useful not only for the new collector, but the established collector as well. Additionally, traditional book collecting via catalogue, auction and scouting are not neglected - and testimonials of collecting technique from collectors and dealers abound. In short, if I were to begin book collecting today this is the first book I would buy, hands down. As a collector, it is one I have found very useful - and it goes without saying - entertaining. The only down side of the publication of this book is that those informed by its pages will create stiffer competition for the good books out there!
Rating:
Summary: The World Needs More Gently Mad Folks
Review: Nicholas Basbanes loves books. He loves everything about books. Their history. Their tactile feel. Stores, fairs and homes full of them. Hordes of them. The esoteric among them. And, he loves those who collect them. He loves us so much that he has written this little tome to help us. He wants us to have a focus. He wants us to love the search. He absolutley warns against collecting as a sure-fire investment (but, boy, has he lots of wildly improbable, but true, finds).
Basbanes' previous works A GENTLE MADNESS and PATIENCE & FORTITUDE discuss the myriad aspects of the book, and, apparently, he has a third in the series aborning. Yet in AMONG THE GENTLY MAD he tells stories illustrating "strategies and perspectives for the book hunter". Although readable in a day or so, this is one book on books I'm sure to reread again and again. It is that fun. And that good.
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