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Overview

The enthralling memoir on the art of living with books Phantoms on the Bookshelves considers how our personal libraries reveal our true natures: far more than merely crowded shelves, they are living labyrinths of our innermost feelings. The author, a lifelong accumulator of books ancient and modern, lives in a house large enough to accommodate his many thousands of volumes, as well as overspill from the libraries of his friends. While his musings on the habits of collectors from the earliest known libraries are learned, amusing, and instructive, his advice on cataloguing may even save lives. Phantoms on the Bookshelves ranges from classical Greece to contemporary Iceland, from Balzac to Moby-Dick and Google. Rich in wit and wisdom, it will be a lasting delight for all who treasure books.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781468301854
Publisher: ABRAMS, Inc.
Publication date: 09/01/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 141
Sales rank: 77,741
File size: 628 KB

About the Author

Jacques Bonnet is a publisher, translator and the author of novels and works of art history, including a monograph on the artist.


James Salter is an American novelist and short story writer whose work includes the classic A Sport and A Pastime. He has won the PEN/Faulkner award, and who was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2000.

Table of Contents

Translator's and editor's note viii

Introduction 1

Author's preface: Pessoa the Librarian 7

1 Tens of thousands of books 11

2 Bibliomania 21

3 Organizing the bookshelves 32

4 The practice of reading 48

5 Where do they all come from? 60

6 Reading pictures 71

7 Real people, fictional characters 80

8 The world within reach 97

9 Phantoms in the library 110

Acknowledgements 124

Bibliography 125

What People are Saying About This

John Sutherland

"This is a charming book full of erudition and wit, and is very nicely translated."

Jerome Garcin

"Part cataloging manual, part homage to books, adventure story and autobiography, this Borgesian account is a promise of happiness."

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