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Double Fold

Libraries and the Assault on Paper

Libraries and the Assault on Paper

By Nicholson Baker
On Tour

By Nicholson BakerOn Tour

By Nicholson Baker
On Tour

By Nicholson BakerOn Tour

Best Seller
Paperback $15.00

Apr 09, 2002 | ISBN 9780375726217

Ebook $11.99

Aug 13, 2002 | ISBN 9781400033041

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    Double Fold by Nicholson Baker
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    Apr 09, 2002 | ISBN 9780375726217

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    About Double Fold

    The ostensible purpose of a library is to preserve the printed word. But for fifty years our country’s libraries–including the Library of Congress–have been doing just the opposite, destroying hundreds of thousands of historic newspapers and replacing them with microfilm copies that are difficult to read, lack all the color and quality of the original paper and illustrations, and deteriorate with age.

    With meticulous detective work and Baker’s well-known explanatory power, Double Fold reveals a secret history of microfilm lobbyists, former CIA agents, and warehouses where priceless archives are destroyed with a machine called a guillotine. Baker argues passionately for preservation, even cashing in his own retirement account to save one important archive–all twenty tons of it. Written the brilliant narrative style that Nicholson Baker fans have come to expect, Double Fold is a persuasive and often devastating book that may turn out to be The Jungle of the American library system.

    About Double Fold

    The ostensible purpose of a library is to preserve the printed word. But for fifty years our country’s libraries–including the Library of Congress–have been doing just the opposite, destroying hundreds of thousands of historic newspapers and replacing them with microfilm copies that are difficult to read, lack all the color and quality of the original paper and illustrations, and deteriorate with age.

    With meticulous detective work and Baker’s well-known explanatory power, Double Fold reveals a secret history of microfilm lobbyists, former CIA agents, and warehouses where priceless archives are destroyed with a machine called a guillotine. Baker argues passionately for preservation, even cashing in his own retirement account to save one important archive–all twenty tons of it. Written the brilliant narrative style that Nicholson Baker fans have come to expect, Double Fold is a persuasive and often devastating book that may turn out to be The Jungle of the American library system.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

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    See all books by Nicholson Baker

    Also by Nicholson Baker

    Baseless
    Substitute
    The Paul Chowder Chronicles
    Traveling Sprinkler
    Checkpoint
    See all books by Nicholson Baker

    About Nicholson Baker

    Nicholson Baker is the author of ten novels and numerous works of nonfiction, including The Anthologist, The Mezzanine, and Human Smoke. He has won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Hermann Hesse Prize, and a Katherine Anne Porter Award from the American Academy… More about Nicholson Baker

    About Nicholson Baker

    Nicholson Baker is the author of ten novels and numerous works of nonfiction, including The Anthologist, The Mezzanine, and Human Smoke. He has won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Hermann Hesse Prize, and a Katherine Anne Porter Award from the American Academy… More about Nicholson Baker

    Product Details

    Category: Domestic Politics

    Paperback | $15.00
    Published by Vintage
    Apr 09, 2002 | 384 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780375726217

    Category: Domestic Politics

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Vintage
    Aug 13, 2002 | 384 Pages | ISBN 9781400033041

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    Praise

    “Got me, as he intended, hopping mad. Bless his obsessive-compulsive heart.”–David Gates, The New York Times Book Review

    “There’s no mistaking the passion and intelligence he brings to his task or the fiery zest with which he relays his most damning anecdotes.” –Chicago Tribune

    “Provocative . . . impassioned and compelling.” –Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

    “A magnificent crusade and he tells its story with a novelist’s flair. . . . This book is a thumping indictment of America’s great libraries. They have much to answer for” –Chicago Sun-Times

    Awards

    National Book Critics Circle Awards WINNER

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