TITLE: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common ReaderAUTHOR: Anne Fadiman
STARTED: June 27, 2008
FINISHED: July 1, 2008
PAGES: 162
GENRE: Books about Books
FIRST SENTENCE: When the Irish novelist John McGahern was a child, his sisters unlaced and removed one of his shoes while he was reading.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] Anne Fadiman is--by her own admission--the sort of person who learned about sex from her father's copy of Fanny Hill, whose husband buys her 19 pounds of dusty books for her birthday, and who once found herself poring over her roommate's 1974 Toyota Corolla manual because it was the only written material in the apartment that she had not read at least twice.
This witty collection of essays recounts a lifelong love affair with books and language. For Fadiman, as for many passionate readers, the books she loves have become chapters in her own life story. Writing with remarkable grace, she revives the tradition of the well-crafted personal essay, moving easily from anecdotes about Coleridge and Orwell to tales of her own pathologically literary family. As someone who played at blocks with her father's 22-volume set of Trollope ("My Ancestral Castles") and who only really considered herself married when she and her husband had merged collections ("Marrying Libraries"), she is exquisitely well equipped to expand upon the art of inscriptions, the perverse pleasures of compulsive proof-reading, the allure of long words, and the satisfactions of reading out loud. There is even a foray into pure literary gluttony--Charles Lamb liked buttered muffin crumbs between the leaves, and Fadiman knows of more than one reader who literally consumes page corners. Perfectly balanced between humor and erudition, Ex Libris establishes Fadiman as one of our finest contemporary essayists.
THOUGHTS: What a gem of a book. I smiled and smirked the entire time I read it. Fadiman writes with such effortlessness that her wit and experiences just shine, sparkle, and leap off the page. Fadiman has composed more than just a series of essays, she has written a love story to books, reading, and readers.
I was dazzled by the various stories and themes that run throughout the book. Seemingly without meaning to, Fadiman has broken down the essence of what it means to be a booklover. She covers every facet of reading and books and libraries and and and. It just goes one. Any person who considers themselves a book lover with adore this book. Every essay, even if you've never personally experienced the topic, will resonate with you.
Thank goodness for small books, because this is on I may start toting with me.
RATING: 9/10 [Excellent!]
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