ABSTRACT
A recent best-seller in France provides advice on how to talk about books without actually reading them. 1 The impossibility of devouring every page of all important works may leave us depending on reviews or flipping through the pages. There are many rumours about what authors have said, sometimes inspired by reputations earned in writing about other matters. Even those who actually get around to reading a book may see it through the lenses of such rumours.
