Rereadings
Seventeen writers revisit books they love
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A Bibliophile's Journey: Revisiting the Books That Shaped Us
Is a book the same book—or a reader the same reader—the second time around? In this witty and poignant collection, seventeen renowned authors, including Sven Birkerts, Allegra Goodman, Vivian Gornick, Patricia Hampl, Phillip Lopate, and Luc Sante, revisit the books that made a deep impression in their youth. From Pride and Prejudice to Sue Barton, Student Nurse, and even the lyrics on the back of the Sgt. Pepper album, these essays explore the powerful relationship between reader and book, and how it evolves over time.
Edited by Anne Fadiman, author of the bestselling Ex Libris, Rereadings offers a unique blend of memoir and literary criticism. Each essay is a miniature memoir that focuses on the protean nature of love—the love between reader and book. These personal reflections reveal as much about the reader as the book itself, highlighting the ways in which our most beloved works shape and change us. A must-read for any bibliophile, Rereadings reminds us that no love is more life-changing than the love of a book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former American Scholar editor Fadiman (Ex Libris) has drawn from a column in that journal for a charming collections of essays on the varied ways book lovers read. The best of these entries Arthur Krystal's return to H.C. Witwer's boxing novel, The Leather Pushers; Dianna Kappel-Smith's assessment of the field guide that stirred an interest in the natural world; Michael Upchurch's consideration of Christina Stead's fictional financial world are written by masters of the essay form, revealing themselves at the different phases of their lives through the act of reading. All of the writers share a gratitude for the books that helped them navigate their lives, especially over the rocky shoals of adolescence. The return to beloved works is not always simple, especially when readers come to see the faults in books that they so closely identified with years earlier. As many note, the act of reading changes over the course of a lifetime, from an easy engagement with plot and character to an awareness of politics and style. They may bemoan their own loss of literary innocence, but each finds a new way to appreciate the texts that have accompanied them through life.
