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A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel
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A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel
Paperback $30.00
Aug 26, 2014 | ISBN 9780143126713

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    Aug 26, 2014 | ISBN 9780143126713

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  • Aug 26, 2014 | ISBN 9780698178977

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Product Details

Praise

Praise for A History of Reading:

“Ingenious…a veritable museum of literacy. One feels envious of his passion…through it, his gift becomes our own.”—The New York Times Book Review

 “Manguel has taken on the daunting subject of our own passion for books and succeeded in turning it into a passionate book of his own.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“No one who follows Manguel’s narrative to its conclusion need ever again feel guilty about putting off errands, chores, the bills, the kids, sleep—whatever—and curling up with a good, or even a great, book.”—Newsweek

“Manguel is a generous companion…he remains, in the proper sense of the word, an ‘amateur,’ a lover rather than a specialist.”—George Steiner, the New Yorker

“Richly detailed and utterly fascinating…what lifts A History of Reading above mere charm and idiosyncrasy is Manguel’s reader’s soul. A few hours passed with [his] book will remind anyone who needs reminding that an astonishing bond exists between word and world.”—Sven Birkerts, Boston Magazine

“A highly entertaining overview that leaves us with both a new appreciation of our own bibliomania and a deeper understanding of the role that the written word has played throughout history.”—The New York Times

Manguel’s digressions are delightful, his anecdotes appealing, and his stories scintillating. What might have been no more than one dammed thing after another turns out to be, at the handsof this splendid raconteur, one divine thing after another….It is all utterly beguiling.”—The Boston Sunday Globe

“Impressionistic, engrossing.”—Time

“An entertaining, provocative, and informative book.”—The Washington Post

“Tickles, surprises, and amuses.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Impressive, engaging.”—The Washington Times

“Erudite and original.”—The Miami Herald

“Enormously entertaining.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A wonderful merger of scholarship and personal essay….Manguel writes so beautifully and felicitously that he infects us with enthusiasm again and again.”—Philip Lopate

“Manguel’s urbane, unpretentious tone recalls that of a friend eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. His book, digressive, witty, surprising, is a pleasure.”—Kirkus

“Highly enjoyable….I finished the book with a sense of gratitude to have shared this journey through time in the company of a mind so lively, knowledgeable, and sympathetic.”—P. D. James

“An eclectic and deeply felt history of reading. It is a history illuminated by an acute sensibility….An unfailingly engaging work.”—School Library Journal

“Unique, enlightening, and as captivating as a celebration of reading should be.”—Booklist

“Interesting, intriguing, and entertaining.”—Library Journal

“Erudition and memoir are beautifully wed in this stimulating and provocative book.”—Virginia Quarterly Review

Table Of Contents

The Last Page
The Last Page
Acts of Reading
Reading Shadows
The Silent Readers
The Book of Memory
Learning to Read
The Missing First Page
Picture Reading
Being Read To
The Shape of the Book
Private Reading
Metaphors of Reading
Powers of the Reader
Beginnings
Ordainers of the Universe
Reading the Future
The Symbolic Reader
Reading within Walls
Stealing Books
The Author as Reader
The Translator as Reader
Forbidden Reading
The Book Fool
Endpaper Pages
Endpaper Pages
Notes
Index

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