ABSTRACT

This book, first published in 1986, contains a collection of remarkable essays analysing such topics as the nature of reading, the power of books, literary creation, libraries and technology, and the freedom to read.

part Section I|1 pages

The Nature of Reading: Joys, Pleasures, and Fears

chapter |4 pages

Of the Pleasure of Rereading

chapter |4 pages

A Disease Known as Bibliophobia

chapter |4 pages

Power of the Unread

chapter |4 pages

A Matter of Taste

chapter |4 pages

Jam for Today

chapter |3 pages

Good Books

chapter |3 pages

A Desert Island Test

chapter |3 pages

The Act of Reading

chapter |4 pages

Unexpected Pleasures

chapter |3 pages

Friends

chapter |2 pages

The Power of Books

chapter |3 pages

Surprised by Joy

chapter |4 pages

A Long Dinner

chapter |3 pages

Dialogue With the Author

part Section II|1 pages

Literary Creation and Types of Literature

chapter |3 pages

Exceptional Pleasures

chapter |6 pages

Books to Live Without

chapter |4 pages

Christmas Packages

chapter |5 pages

Counting Cats in Zanzibar

chapter |4 pages

Books and Winter

chapter |4 pages

Books About Books

chapter |4 pages

Family Sagas

chapter |2 pages

Literary Creation

chapter |3 pages

The Familiar Essay

chapter |3 pages

Books and Journeys

chapter |3 pages

What Makes A Good Book?

chapter |3 pages

Bibliographic Ghosts

chapter |3 pages

Too Many Books?

chapter |3 pages

Literary Criticism

chapter |4 pages

Across Canada

chapter |3 pages

Alone

chapter |3 pages

Classics and Bestsellers

chapter |2 pages

Secret Worlds

chapter |3 pages

The Debonaire

chapter |3 pages

Springboard Books

chapter |3 pages

Fairy Tales

part Section III|1 pages

Eleven Authors

chapter |4 pages

A Succeeding Pleasure: Constance Holme

chapter |5 pages

Last of the Procounsuls: John Buchan

chapter |4 pages

A Murderous Love Affair

chapter |4 pages

An Enemy of the Devil

chapter |3 pages

The Jewel Naulakha

chapter |3 pages

Charles Dickens

chapter |3 pages

Austin Tappan Wright

chapter |2 pages

Charles Williams

chapter |3 pages

Stephen R. Donaldson

chapter |4 pages

His People, His Country

chapter |2 pages

Edwin Way Teale

part Section IV|1 pages

Book Collecting

chapter |4 pages

Disreputable Scholarship

chapter |3 pages

Treasure Hunt

chapter |3 pages

Books as Treasures

chapter |3 pages

From Bibliomania to Bibliophobia

chapter |2 pages

Book Shops

chapter |3 pages

Book Hunting

chapter |2 pages

What Collectors Collect

chapter |3 pages

Disposing of Collections

chapter |3 pages

A Book Mystery

chapter |3 pages

When Is a Book Not a Book?

part Section V|1 pages

Libraries, Librarianship, and the Freedom to Read

chapter |3 pages

Information Retrieval

chapter |3 pages

Books in Unexpected Places

chapter |2 pages

Computers

chapter |3 pages

Libraries and Technology

chapter |3 pages

Humor in the Library

chapter |3 pages

The Coonskin Library

chapter |3 pages

Edwin W. Willoughby

chapter |3 pages

The Pierpont Morgan Library

chapter |2 pages

Conversations and the Freedom to Read

chapter |2 pages

Blanche McCrum

chapter |2 pages

Carnegie Libraries

chapter |2 pages

The Bookish Empire

chapter |3 pages

The Freedom to Read