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Ex Libris

Confessions of a Common Reader

By Anne Fadiman

(31)

| Paperback | 9780374527228

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Book Description

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 writContinue

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.

Critics

  • Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

    , a humorous field guide to the culture and compulsion of reading, is a reassuring arrival. Elaborating on the capitulations and compromises inherent in blending book collections with a loved one, Fadiman, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner ... (read full critics)

    austinchronicle published on Sun, 5 Sep 2010

  • Ex Libris

    Over the last few years, there have been a plethora of "books about books" published--more specifically, "readers on reading." Each has its merits, but there are too many to read; after skimming a few of the titles, I decided that a true reader would ... (read full critics)

    raintaxi published on Fri, 3 Sep 2010

2 Reviews

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  • Some of the references she makes are too obtuse for me, but there were some parts that were - really - laughoutloud funny.

    A great read.

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    myorion said on Mar 12, 2007 | Add your feedback

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