Rating: 
Summary: Interesting subject, interesting facts, but bad writing
Review: The title, the subject matter, the presentation of the book - nearly everything about it is intriguing, which is of course why people buy the book. The problem is that they shouldn't (actually, I shouldn't have bought it...). Minguel's book claims to be a HISTORY of reading. Histories, however, should not only gather facts and mingle them with information about the author's personal experiences (why should anybody be interested in that?), but they should make a point, they should go somewhere. Minguel chooses not to go anywhere, but to give his reader an associative glance at different things that have been said about reading in the past, and adds scattered information about different ways of reading in past centuries. Minguel's book looks intriguing, it got good reviews and even manages, from time to time, to mention an interesting fact. For people, however, who are looking for a well-crafted study on the history of reading, A HISTORY OF READING can only be a major disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: An engaging and eclectic survey
Review: When I first saw Alberto Manguel's A History of Reading, two thoughts ran through my mind. First, what a wonderful topic for a work of non-fiction. Second, how can one possibly write such a book? I am thrilled to report that Manguel has succeeded beyond all expectations. Both a personal essay telling of Manguel's own learning to read and encounters with books and a highly eclectic survey of books and reading through the ages, History provides both erudition and levity, scholarship and wit. In broad outline, Manguel groups his books in two sections. In the first, "Acts of Reading", he tells how reading itself took different shapes during the ages, including being read to, picture reading (books made up of pictures for the non-reader), reading silently to oneself, and other matters. The second part is captioned "Powers of the Reader and deals with the forbidden reader (e.g., pre-emancipation slaves in the American south); translation; prophesy; and other matters. Manguel quickly becomes an old friend and companion. I hated to see this book end!
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