Advertisement
Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris: A Deep Dive into the World of Book Collecting
Are you fascinated by the quiet passion of book collecting? Have you ever wondered about the stories hidden between the pages, not just in the books themselves, but in the lives of those who collect them? Then Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader is a book you need to experience. This isn't just a book about books; it's a captivating exploration of human connection, obsession, and the enduring power of the written word. This in-depth article will delve into the heart of Fadiman's work, examining its themes, exploring its structure, and ultimately, revealing why it remains a cherished read for bibliophiles and casual readers alike. We'll uncover the compelling narratives woven throughout, showcasing Fadiman's masterful storytelling and insightful observations on the human condition as reflected in our relationship with books.
The Allure of the Annotated Page: Exploring Fadiman's Central Themes
Fadiman's Ex Libris transcends a simple exploration of book collecting. It's a poignant reflection on memory, identity, and the ways in which we connect with the past through the objects we cherish. Several key themes emerge throughout the narrative:
1. The Personal History Embedded in Books: Fadiman masterfully weaves together personal anecdotes and observations with historical context. She skillfully demonstrates how books aren't merely inert objects; they become imbued with the lives and experiences of their owners through annotations, inscriptions, and the very act of careful handling. Each book becomes a unique artifact, reflecting the personality and journey of its collector.
2. The Obsession and the Joy: Ex Libris doesn't shy away from the sometimes obsessive nature of book collecting. Fadiman acknowledges the passion, the thrill of the hunt, and the almost spiritual connection some collectors feel with their treasured volumes. Yet, she also highlights the joy, the intellectual stimulation, and the profound sense of community that arises from sharing this passion.
3. The Intersection of Personal and Public History: Fadiman expertly illustrates how individual collecting habits intersect with larger historical narratives. The books we choose to collect, the annotations we make, and the way we organize our libraries often reveal subconscious connections to our personal and collective pasts. This interwoven narrative enhances the overall richness of her exploration.
4. The Evolution of the Book Itself: Throughout the essays, Fadiman touches upon the physical evolution of books – from their printing to their binding to their eventual decay. This awareness of the book as a physical object, vulnerable to time and the elements, adds a layer of poignancy to her exploration of their enduring power.
5. The Power of Connection: Ultimately, Ex Libris is a testament to the power of human connection. Fadiman's insightful portrayals of various collectors and their unique relationships with books underscore the profound ways in which shared passions can bring people together.
Deconstructing the Narrative Structure: Essays, Chapters, and a Coherent Whole
Fadiman structures Ex Libris as a collection of essays, each focusing on a different aspect of book collecting or a specific collector's story. While seemingly disparate, these essays coalesce to form a cohesive and deeply resonant exploration of the subject. The lack of a rigid chronological structure allows Fadiman to explore various thematic threads organically, enhancing the book's intellectual richness and engaging the reader in a more dynamic way. This structure, while seemingly fragmented, ultimately reinforces the organic and multifaceted nature of book collecting itself.
A Deeper Dive into Fadiman's Masterful Storytelling
Fadiman's writing style is both erudite and accessible. She seamlessly blends scholarly research with personal anecdotes, creating a narrative that is both informative and emotionally engaging. Her ability to weave intricate details about book history and collecting practices into compelling human stories is a testament to her skill as a writer. She masterfully avoids overly academic language, ensuring the book is enjoyable for a broad audience, regardless of their prior knowledge of book collecting. Her insightful observations about human nature and the enduring power of books make Ex Libris a truly rewarding reading experience.
Book Outline: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
Title: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
Outline:
Introduction: Establishes the central theme of the book – the multifaceted world of book collecting and its significance in our lives.
Chapter 1-4 (Illustrative): Focuses on individual collectors and their unique approaches to collecting, highlighting the diversity of motivations and experiences.
Chapter 5-8 (Illustrative): Explores different aspects of books, including their physical form, the history of printing, and the evolution of libraries.
Conclusion: Reflects on the broader significance of book collecting as a means of connecting with the past, preserving history, and forging human connections.
Detailed Explanation of the Outline Points
Introduction: Fadiman sets the stage by introducing her own fascination with books and book collecting, laying the foundation for the exploration to come. She establishes the book's central premise: that the act of collecting books is not simply a hobby but a deeply personal and often revealing process.
Chapters 1-4 (Illustrative): These chapters delve into the stories of individual collectors, showcasing the diverse motivations and approaches to collecting. Each chapter will feature a distinct collector, highlighting their unique personality, collecting habits, and the stories embedded within their collections. This section would showcase Fadiman's ability to use specific examples to illustrate her points. For instance, she might profile a collector who focuses on first editions, another who specializes in signed copies, and yet another who amasses books based purely on their aesthetic appeal.
Chapters 5-8 (Illustrative): These chapters shift the focus from individual collectors to broader aspects of the book world. This section examines topics like the history of bookbinding, the impact of the printing press on book production, and the role libraries play in preserving and disseminating knowledge. Fadiman expertly interweaves historical context with personal anecdotes to make these seemingly dry topics engaging and accessible. For example, a chapter might discuss the challenges of preserving aging books, or the evolution of library cataloging systems.
Conclusion: This concluding section brings together the various threads of the book, emphasizing the unifying themes of memory, identity, and the enduring power of human connection. It reinforces the idea that book collecting is not a merely passive activity, but an active engagement with the past, the present and the very nature of human experience. It offers a thoughtful reflection on the lasting impact of books and the act of collecting them.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the main focus of Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris? The book explores the world of book collecting, focusing on the personal stories of collectors and the broader cultural significance of books.
2. Is Ex Libris a difficult book to read? No, Fadiman's writing style is clear, engaging, and accessible to a wide audience, regardless of their familiarity with book collecting.
3. What makes Ex Libris unique? Its unique blend of personal anecdotes, historical context, and insightful observations on human nature makes it a compelling and memorable read.
4. Who would enjoy reading Ex Libris? Anyone interested in books, collecting, history, or human stories will find this book rewarding.
5. Does the book cover only rare or valuable books? No, it features a wide range of books and collectors, showcasing the diverse world of book collecting.
6. Is Ex Libris primarily an academic work? While insightful and well-researched, it's written for a general audience and avoids overly academic language.
7. What is the overall tone of the book? It's a thoughtful and engaging read, blending curiosity, respect, and a touch of humor.
8. Can I find Ex Libris in different formats? Yes, it's widely available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.
9. Where can I buy Ex Libris? You can purchase it at most major booksellers, online retailers, and libraries.
Related Articles
1. The History of Book Collecting: A comprehensive look at the evolution of book collecting throughout history.
2. Famous Book Collectors and Their Collections: Profiles of notable individuals and their significant book collections.
3. The Psychology of Collecting: An exploration of the motivations and psychological aspects of collecting books.
4. Book Conservation and Preservation: Techniques for protecting and preserving valuable books.
5. Rare Books and Their Value: Understanding the factors that determine the value of rare books.
6. The Art of Bookbinding: A detailed exploration of the craft of bookbinding throughout history.
7. Building Your Own Personal Library: Tips and advice for starting and organizing a personal book collection.
8. The Role of Libraries in Society: The importance of libraries in preserving knowledge and promoting literacy.
9. Modern Book Collecting Trends: Exploring the current trends and practices in book collecting in the 21st century.
| anne fadiman ex libris: Ex Libris Anne Fadiman, 2000-11-25 A collection of essays discusses the central and joyful importance of books and reading in the author's life. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Ex Libris Anne Fadiman, 2011-04-01 Perfectly balanced between humor and erudition, Ex Libris establishes Anne Fadiman as one of our finest contemporary essayists. Anne Fadiman is--by her own admission--the sort of person who learned about sex from her father's copy of Fanny Hill, whose husband buys her 19 pounds of dusty books for her birthday, and who once found herself poring over her roommate's 1974 Toyota Corolla manual because it was the only written material in the apartment that she had not read at least twice. This witty collection of essays recounts a lifelong love affair with books and language. For Fadiman, as for many passionate readers, the books she loves have become chapters in her own life story. Writing with remarkable grace, she revives the tradition of the well-crafted personal essay, moving easily from anecdotes about Coleridge and Orwell to tales of her own pathologically literary family. As someone who played at blocks with her father's 22-volume set of Trollope (My Ancestral Castles) and who only really considered herself married when she and her husband had merged collections (Marrying Libraries), she is exquisitely well equipped to expand upon the art of inscriptions, the perverse pleasures of compulsive proof-reading, the allure of long words, and the satisfactions of reading out loud. There is even a foray into pure literary gluttony--Charles Lamb liked buttered muffin crumbs between the leaves, and Fadiman knows of more than one reader who literally consumes page corners. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Anne Fadiman, 1998-09-30 Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest. ______ Lia Lee 1982-2012 Lia Lee died on August 31, 2012. She was thirty years old and had been in a vegetative state since the age of four. Until the day of her death, her family cared for her lovingly at home. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Women and English Piracy, 1540-1720 John C. Appleby, 2013 Drawing on a wide body of evidence, the book argues that the support of women was vital to the persistence of piracy around the British Isles at least until the early seventeenth century. The emergence of long-distance and globalized predation had far reaching consequences for female agency. Piracy was one of the most gendered criminal activities during the early modern period. As a form of maritime enterprise and organized criminality, it attracted thousands of male recruits whose venturing acquired a global dimension as piratical activity spread across the oceans and seas of the world. At the same time, piracy affected the lives of women in varied ways. Adopting a fresh approach to the subject, this study explores the relationships and contacts between women and pirates during a prolonged period of intense and shifting enterprise. Drawing on a wide body of evidence and based on English and Anglo-American patterns of activity, it argues that the support of female receivers and maintainers was vital to the persistence of piracy around the British Isles at least until the early seventeenth century. The emergence of long-distance and globalized predation had far reaching consequences for female agency. Within colonial America, women continued to play a role in networks of support for mixed groups of pirates and sea rovers; at the same time, such groups of predators established contacts with women of varied backgrounds in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. As such, female agency formed part of the economic and social infrastructure which supported maritime enterprise of contested legality. But it co-existed with the victimisation of women bypirates, including the Barbary corsairs. As this study demonstrates, the interplay between agency and victimhood was manifest in a campaign of petitioning which challenged male perceptions of women's status as victims. Against this background, the book also examines the role of a small number of women pirates, including the lives of Mary Read and Ann Bonny, while addressing the broader issue of limited female recruitment into piracy. JOHN C. APPLEBY is Senior Lecturer in History at Liverpool Hope University. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: So Many Books Gabriel Zaid, 2003 Gabriel Zaid's defense of books is genuinely exhilarating. It is not pious, it is wise; and its wisdom is delivered with extraordinary lucidity and charm. This is how Montaigne would have written about the dizzy and increasingly dolorous age of the Internet. May So Many Books fall into so many hands.—Leon Wieseltier Reading liberates the reader and transports him from his book to a reading of himself and all of life. It leads him to participate in conversations, and in some cases to arrange them…It could even be said that to publish a book is to insert it into the middle of a conversation.—from So Many Books Join the conversation! In So Many Books, Gabriel Zaid offers his observations on the literary condition: a highly original analysis of the predicament that readers, authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and teachers find themselves in today—when there are simply more books than any of us can contemplate. With cascades of books pouring down on him from every direction, how can the twenty-first-century reader keep his head above water? Gabriel Zaid answers that question in a variety of surprising ways, many of them witty, all of them provocative.—Anne Fadiman, Author of Ex-Libris A truly original book about books. Destined to be a classic!—Enrique Krauze, Author of Mexico: Biography of Power, Editor of Letras Libres Gabriel Zaid's small gem of a book manages to be both delectable and useful, like chocolate fortified with vitamins. His rare blend of wisdom and savvy practical sense should make essential and heartening reading for anyone who cares about the future of books and the life of the mind.—Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Author of Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books Gabriel Zaid is a marvelously elegant and playful writer—a cosmopolitan critic with sound judgment and a light touch. He is a jewel of Latin American letters, which is no small thing to be. Read him—you'll see.—Paul Berman 'So many books,' a phrase usually muttered with despair, is transformed into an expression of awe and joy by Gabriel Zaid. Arguing that books are the essential part of the great conversation we call culture and civilization, So Many Books reminds us that reading (and, by extension, writing and publishing) is a business, a vanity, a vocation, an avocation, a moral and political act, a hedonistic pursuit, all of the aforementioned, none of the aforementioned, and is often a miracle.—Doug Dutton Zaid traces the preoccupation with reading back through Dr. Johnson, Seneca, and even the Bible ('Of making many books there is no end'). He emerges as a playful celebrant of literary proliferation, noting that there is a new book published every thirty seconds, and optimistically points out that publishers who moan about low sales 'see as a failure what is actually a blessing: The book business, unlike newspapers, films, or television, is viable on a small scale.' Zaid, who claims to own more than ten thousand books, says he has sometimes thought that 'a chastity glove for authors who can't contain themselves' would be a good idea. Nonetheless, he cheerfully opines that 'the truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more.'—New Yorker |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Ex Libris Michiko Kakutani, 2020-10-20 Pulitzer Prize–winning literary critic Michiko Kakutani shares 100 personal, thought-provoking essays about books that have mattered to her and that help illuminate the world we live in today—with beautiful illustrations throughout. “A book tailormade for bibliophiles.”—Oprah Winfrey “An ebullient celebration of books and reading.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) In the introduction to her new collection of essays, Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread, Michiko Kakutani writes: “In a world riven by political and social divisions, literature can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures and religions, national boundaries and historical eras. It can give us an understanding of lives very different from our own, and a sense of the shared joys and losses of human experience.” Readers will discover novels and memoirs by some of the most gifted writers working today; favorite classics worth reading or rereading; and nonfiction works, both old and new, that illuminate our social and political landscape and some of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to medicine to the consequences of digital innovation. There are essential works in American history (The Federalist Papers, The Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.); books that address timely cultural dynamics (Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, Daniel J. Boorstin’s The Image, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale); classics of children’s literature (the Harry Potter novels, Where the Wild Things Are); and novels by acclaimed contemporary writers like Don DeLillo, William Gibson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Ian McEwan. With richly detailed illustrations by lettering artist Dana Tanamachi that evoke vintage bookplates, Ex Libris is an impassioned reminder of why reading matters more than ever. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: How Reading Changed My Life Anna Quindlen, 2010-12-22 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Anna Quindlen presents a “swift and compelling paean to the joys of books” (Booklist). “Like the columns she used to write for the New York Times, [How Reading Changed My Life] is tart, smart, full of quirky insights, lapidary, and a pleasure to read.”—Publishers Weekly “Reading has always been my home, my sustenance, my great invincible companion. . . . Yet of all the many things in which we recognize universal comfort—God, sex, food, family, friends—reading seems to be the one in which the comfort is most undersung, at least publicly, although it was really all I thought of, or felt, when I was eating up book after book, running away from home while sitting in a chair, traveling around the world and yet never leaving the room. . . . I read because I loved it more than any activity on earth.”—from How Reading Changed My Life |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Opposite of Loneliness Marina Keegan, 2014-04-08 The instant New York Times bestseller and publishing phenomenon: Marina Keegan’s posthumous collection of award-winning essays and stories “sparkles with talent, humanity, and youth” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of writing that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story “Cold Pastoral” was published on NewYorker.com. Her essay “Even Artichokes Have Doubts” was excerpted in the Financial Times, and her book was the focus of a Nicholas Kristof column in The New York Times. Millions of her contemporaries have responded to her work on social media. As Marina wrote: “We can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over…We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.” The Opposite of Loneliness is an unforgettable collection of Marina’s essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to impact the world. “How do you mourn the loss of a fiery talent that was barely a tendril before it was snuffed out? Answer: Read this book. A clear-eyed observer of human nature, Keegan could take a clever idea...and make it something beautiful” (People). |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Crack-Up F. Scott Fitzgerald, 2009-02-27 A self-portrait of a great writer 's rise and fall, intensely personal and etched with Fitzgerald's signature blend of romance and realism. The Crack-Up tells the story of Fitzgerald's sudden descent at the age of thirty-nine from glamorous success to empty despair, and his determined recovery. Compiled and edited by Edmund Wilson shortly after F. Scott Fitzgerald's death, this revealing collection of his essays—as well as letters to and from Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, T.S. Eliot, John Dos Passos—tells of a man with charm and talent to burn, whose gaiety and genius made him a living symbol of the Jazz Age, and whose recklessness brought him grief and loss. Fitzgerald's physical and spiritual exhaustion is described brilliantly, noted The New York Review of Books: the essays are amazing for the candor. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Man Made of Rain Brendan Kennelly, 1998 This new long poem is a departure for Kennelly, a visionary work written out of the body, out of the self, out of the shadowlands between life and death.--Cover. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Howards End is on the Landing Susan Hill, 2010-08-06 Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her own collection again. A book which is left on a shelf for a decade is a dead thing, but it is also a chrysalis, packed with the potential to burst into new life. Wandering through her house that day, Hill's eyes were opened to how much of that life was stored in her home, neglected for years. Howards End is on the Landing charts the journey of one of the nation's most accomplished authors as she revisits the conversations, libraries and bookshelves of the past that have informed a lifetime of reading and writing. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Talmud and the Internet Jonathan Rosen, 2001-10-01 Examining the contradictions of his inheritance as a modern American and a Jew, the author blends memoir, religious history, and literary reflection while exploring the parallel between a page of the Talmud and the home page of a Web site, and reflects on the contrasting deaths of his American and European grandmothers. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Impact E. D. Morin, Jane Cawthorne, 2021-10-05 In Impact, 21 women writers consider the effects of concussion on their personal and professional lives. The anthology bears witness to the painstaking work that goes into redefining identity and regaining creative practice after a traumatic event. By sharing their complex and sometimes incomplete healing journeys, these women convey the magnitude of a disability which is often doubted, overlooked, and trivialized, in part because of its invisibility. Impact offers compassion and empathy to all readers and families healing from concussion and other types of trauma. Contributors: Adèle Barclay, Jane Cawthorne, Tracy Wai de Boer, Stephanie Everett, Mary-Jo Fetterly, Rayanne Haines, Jane Harris, Kyla Jamieson, Alexis Kienlen, Claire Lacey, E. D. Morin, Julia Nunes, Shelley Pacholok, Chiedza Pasipanodya, Judy Rebick, Julie Sedivy, Dianah Smith, Carrie Snyder, Kinnie Starr, Amy Stuart, Anna Swanson |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop Lewis Buzbee, 2010-10-19 In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Buzbee, a former bookseller and sales representative, celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore - the smell and touch of books, the joy of getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers. He shares his passion for books, which began with ordering through the Weekly Reader i... |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Reading With Patrick Michelle Kuo, 2017-07-13 As a young English teacher keen to make a difference in the world, Michelle Kuo took a job at a tough school in the Mississippi Delta, sharing books and poetry with a young African-American teenager named Patrick and his classmates. For the first time, these kids began to engage with ideas and dreams beyond their small town, and to gain an insight into themselves that they had never had before. Two years later, Michelle left to go to law school; but Patrick began to lose his way, ending up jailed for murder. And that’s when Michelle decided that her work was not done, and began to visit Patrick once a week, and soon every day, to read with him again. Reading with Patrick is an inspirational story of friendship, a coming-of-age story for both a young teacher and a student, an expansive, deeply resonant meditation on education, race and justice, and a love letter to literature and its power to transcend social barriers. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Word Pretty Elisa Gabbert, 2018 Literary Nonfiction. Women's Studies. Memoir. Cultural Criticism. In THE WORD PRETTY Elisa Gabbert brings together humor and observational intelligence to create a roving and curious series of lyrical essays on writing, reading, and living. Combining elements of criticism, meditation, and personal essay, this book reveals a poet's attention turned to subjects from translation to aphorism, from unreliable memory to beauty and the male gaze. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Middle of My Tether Joseph Epstein, 1983 |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Missing Ink Philip Hensher, 2012-11-27 When Philip Hensher realized that he didn't know what a close friend's handwriting looked like (bold or crabbed, sloping or upright, italic or rounded, elegant or slapdash), he felt that something essential was missing from their friendship. It dawned on him that having abandoned pen and paper for keyboards, we have lost one of the ways by which we come to recognize and know another person. People have written by hand for thousands of years— how, Hensher wondered, have they learned this skill, and what part has it played in their lives? The Missing Ink tells the story of this endangered art. Hensher introduces us to the nineteenth-century handwriting evangelists who traveled across America to convert the masses to the moral worth of copperplate script; he examines the role handwriting plays in the novels of Charles Dickens; he investigates the claims made by the practitioners of graphology that penmanship can reveal personality. But this is also a celebration of the physical act of writing: the treasured fountain pens, chewable ballpoints, and personal embellishments that we stand to lose. Hensher pays tribute to the warmth and personality of the handwritten love note, postcards sent home, and daily diary entries. With the teaching of handwriting now required in only five states and many expert typists barely able to hold a pen, the future of handwriting is in jeopardy. Or is it? Hugely entertaining, witty, and thought-provoking, The Missing Ink will inspire readers to pick up a pen and write. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Stranger in the Shogun's City Amy Stanley, 2020-07-14 *Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography* *Winner of the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award* *Winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography* A “captivating” (The Washington Post) work of history that explores the life of an unconventional woman during the first half of the 19th century in Edo—the city that would become Tokyo—and a portrait of a city on the brink of a momentous encounter with the West. The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in a rural Japanese village and was expected to live a traditional life much like her mother’s. But after three divorces—and a temperament much too strong-willed for her family’s approval—she ran away to make a life for herself in one of the largest cities in the world: Edo, a bustling metropolis at its peak. With Tsuneno as our guide, we experience the drama and excitement of Edo just prior to the arrival of American Commodore Perry’s fleet, which transformed Japan. During this pivotal moment in Japanese history, Tsuneno bounces from tenement to tenement, marries a masterless samurai, and eventually enters the service of a famous city magistrate. Tsuneno’s life provides a window into 19th-century Japanese culture—and a rare view of an extraordinary woman who sacrificed her family and her reputation to make a new life for herself, in defiance of social conventions. “A compelling story, traced with meticulous detail and told with exquisite sympathy” (The Wall Street Journal), Stranger in the Shogun’s City is “a vivid, polyphonic portrait of life in 19th-century Japan [that] evokes the Shogun era with panache and insight” (National Review of Books). |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Books Do Furnish a Room Anthony Powell, 1983 |
| anne fadiman ex libris: My Reading Life Anne Bogel, 2021-09-07 This stylish journal created exclusively for book lovers includes custom reading lists, charming literary quotes, and plenty of room to record what you've read and what you'd love to read. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.--Toni Morrison Designed by a book lover for book lovers, My Reading Life is the ideal companion for all your literary adventures. Anne Bogel, better known online as The Modern Mrs. Darcy, provides you with insightful reading lists for every popular genre and each season. She even helps you determine the kinds of books you'd most like to read based on your interests. You'll also appreciate the sleek, compact design, perfect for taking on the go to the library, bookstore, or your next book club gathering. So much more than just a journal, this book is a joyful celebration of the written word, one that will significantly enrich every day of your reading life. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Bright, Precious Days Jay McInerney, 2016-08-02 From the best-selling author of Bright Lights, Big City: a sexy, vibrant, cross-generational New York story--a literary and commercial triumph of the highest order. Even decades after their arrival, Corrine and Russell Calloway still feel as if they’re living the dream that drew them to New York City in the first place: book parties or art openings one night and high-society events the next; jobs they care about (and in fact love); twin children whose birth was truly miraculous; a loft in TriBeCa and summers in the Hamptons. But all of this comes at a fiendish cost. Russell, an independent publisher, has superb cultural credentials yet minimal cash flow; as he navigates a business that requires, beyond astute literary judgment, constant financial improvisation, he encounters an audacious, potentially game-changing—or ruinous—opportunity. Meanwhile, instead of chasing personal gain in this incredibly wealthy city, Corrine devotes herself to helping feed its hungry poor, and she and her husband soon discover they’re being priced out of the newly fashionable neighborhood they’ve called home for most of their adult lives, with their son and daughter caught in the balance. Then Corrine’s world is turned upside down when the man with whom she’d had an ill-fated affair in the wake of 9/11 suddenly reappears. As the novel unfolds across a period of stupendous change—including Obama’s historic election and the global economic collapse he inherited—the Calloways will find themselves and their marriage tested more severely than they ever could have imagined. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: A Man in Full Tom Wolfe, 2010-04-01 The Bonfire of the Vanities defined an era--and established Tom Wolfe as our prime fictional chronicler of America at its most outrageous and alive. With A Man in Full, the time the setting is Atlanta, Georgia--a racially mixed late-century boomtown full of fresh wealth, avid speculators, and worldly-wise politicians. Big men. Big money. Big games. Big libidos. Big trouble. The protagonist is Charles Croker, once a college football star, now a late-middle-aged Atlanta real-estate entrepreneur turned conglomerate king, whose expansionist ambitions and outsize ego have at last hit up against reality. Charlie has a 28,000-acre quail-shooting plantation, a young and demanding second wife--and a half-empty office tower with a staggering load of debt. When star running back Fareek Fanon--the pride of one of Atlanta's grimmest slums--is accused of raping an Atlanta blueblood's daughter, the city's delicate racial balance is shattered overnight. Networks of illegal Asian immigrants crisscrossing the continent, daily life behind bars, shady real-estate syndicates, cast-off first wives of the corporate elite, the racially charged politics of college sports--Wolfe shows us the disparate worlds of contemporary America with all the verve, wit, and insight that have made him our most phenomenal, most admired contemporary novelist. A Man in Full is a 1998 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Democracy in One Book or Less David Litt, 2020-06-16 New York Times–Bestselling Author: “Brings Dave Barry-style humor to an illuminating book on what is wrong with American democracy—and how to put it right.” —The Washington Post The democracy you live in today is different—completely different—from the democracy you were born into. You probably don't realize just how radically your republic has been altered during your lifetime. Yet more than any policy issue, political trend, or even Donald Trump himself, our redesigned system of government is responsible for the peril America faces today. What explains the gap between what We, the People want and what our elected leaders do? How can we fix our politics before it's too late? And how can we truly understand the state of our democracy without wanting to crawl under a rock? That’s what former Obama speechwriter David Litt set out to answer. Poking into forgotten corners of history, translating political science into plain English, and traveling the country to meet experts and activists, Litt explains how the world’s greatest experiment in democracy went awry. (He also tries to crash a party at Mitch McConnell’s former frat house. It goes poorly.) The result is something you might not have thought possible: an unexpectedly funny page-turner about the political process. You’ll meet the Supreme Court justice charged with murder, learn how James Madison’s college roommate broke the Senate, encounter a citrus thief who embodies what’s wrong with our elections, and join Belle the bill as she tries to become a law (a quest far more harrowing than the one in Schoolhouse Rock!). Yet despite his clear-eyed assessment of the dangers we face, Litt remains audaciously optimistic. He offers a to-do list of bold yet achievable changes—a blueprint for restoring the balance of power in America. “In the book’s strongest contribution, Litt shows how radically our democracy has been altered in recent decades . . . [making] the case that nearly all of these negative trends are occurring by design.” —The Washington Post “Wry, quickly readable, yet informed.” —The Atlantic “Equal parts how-to, historical, and hilarious.” —Keegan-Michael Key |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Seven Pleasures Willard Spiegelman, 2009-04-27 What does it mean to be happy? Americans have had an obsession with the pursuit of happiness ever since the Founding Fathers enshrined it—along with life and liberty—as our national birthright. Whether it means the accumulation of wealth or a more vaguely understood notion of self-fulfillment or self-actualization, happiness has been an inevitable, though elusive, goal. But it is hard to separate real happiness from the banal self-help version that embraces mindless positive thinking. And though we have two booming happiness industries—religion, with its promise of salvation, and psychopharmacology, with its promise of better living through chemistry—each comes with its own problems and complications. In Seven Pleasures, Willard Spiegelman takes a look at the possibilities for achieving ordinary secular happiness without recourse to either religion or drugs. In this erudite and frequently hilarious book of essays, he discusses seven activities that lead naturally and easily to a sense of well-being. One of these—dancing—requires a partner, and therefore provides a lesson in civility, or good citizenship, as one of its benefits. The other six—reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming, and writing—are things one performs alone. Seven Pleasures is a marvelously engaging guide to the pursuit of happiness, and all its accompanying delights. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Suicide Index Joan Wickersham, 2009-06-23 National Book Award Finalist: “Wickersham has journeyed into the dark underworld inside her father and herself and emerged with a powerful, gripping story.” —The Boston Globe One winter morning in 1991, Joan Wickersham’s father shot himself in the head. The father she loved would never have killed himself, and yet he had. His death made a mystery of his entire life. Who was he? Why did he do it? And what was the impact of his death on the people who loved him? Using an index—the most formal and orderly of structures—Wickersham explores this chaotic and incomprehensible reality. Every bit of family history, every encounter with friends, doctors, and other survivors, exposes another facet of elusive truth. Dark, funny, sad, and gripping, at once a philosophical and a deeply personal exploration, The Suicide Index is, finally, a daughter’s anguished, loving elegy to her father. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: A Loss for Words Lou Ann Walker, 2011-10-04 “A personal journey of introspection by a young woman whose childhood was spent as parent to her deaf parents” (Kirkus Reviews). From the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker acted as the ears and voice for her parents, who lost their hearing at a young age. As soon as she was old enough to speak, she assumed the responsibility of interpreter—confirming doctors’ appointments and managing her parents’ business transactions. While the Walkers’ family was warm and loving, outside the comfort of their home, they faced a world that misunderstood and often rejected them. In this deeply moving memoir, Walker offers us a glimpse of a different world, bringing with it a broader reflection on how parents grow alongside their children and how children learn to navigate the world through the eyes of their parents. In recounting her story, she encourages us to question the inequalities that shape our society, introduces us to the warm, supportive deaf community, and illuminates the creativity and kindness of humanity. Winner of the Christopher Award “A deeply moving, often humorous, and beautiful account of what it means to be the hearing child of profoundly deaf parents . . . I have rarely read anything on the subject more powerful or poignant than this extraordinary personal account by Lou Ann Walker.” — Oliver Sacks |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Beyond the Ladies Lounge Clare Wright, 2014-10-22 Clare Wright's award-winning research challenges the myth that the Australian pub is a male domain, revealing the enduring and dynamic presence of female publicans behind the bar. Wright takes the reader on a pub crawl through this history: from Sarah Bird, the 27-year-old convict who was Australia's first female licensee, to Big Poll the Grog Seller, the miners' darling on the goldfields, to Cheryl Barassi and Dawn Fraser in recent years. Handsomely illustrated and weaving oral history interviews, archival sources, folk songs, bush ballads and other popular literature throughout the narrative, this groundbreaking book exposes the remarkable visibility and dominance of women in Austalian hotel-keeping culture. Clare Wright is a historian who has worked as a political speechwriter, university lecturer, historical consultant and radio and television broadcaster. Her first book, Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australia’s Female Publicans, garnered both critical and popular acclaim. She researched, wrote and presented the ABC television documentary Utopia Girls and co-wrote The War That Changed Us, a four-part series commemorating the centenary of WWI for ABC1. The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka won the 2014 Stella Prize. Clare lives in Melbourne with her husband and three children. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Literary Gourmet Linda Wolfe, 2013-03-12 A unique cookbook for the avid reader, the award-winning Literary Gourmet has become an underground culinary classic. One of the first American works to anthologize dining scenes from literary masterpieces, the book also explores why so many of the world's greatest authors used dining scenes in their work, and provides recipes for recreating these sumptuous literary meals. The recipes gathered from classic cookbooks of the authors' own times and accompanied by histories of the chefs who wrote those books, have been adapted for our times and tested in the kitchens of New York's famed Four Seasons Restaurant. A succulent anthology of food literature. - Anne Fadiman, Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader An orginal idea beautifully carried out. - Boston Herald A feast for both the mind and the serious belly. -United Features Syndicate |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Practical Gods Carl Dennis, 2001-10-01 Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Practical Gods is the eighth collection by Carl Dennis, a critically acclaimed poet and recent winner of one of the most prestigious poetry awards, the Ruth Lilly Prize. Carl Dennis has won acclaim for wise, original, and often deeply moving poems that ease the reader out of accustomed modes of seeing and perceiving (The New York Times). Many of the poems in this new book involve an attempt to enter into dialogue with pagan and biblical perspectives, to throw light on ordinary experience through metaphor borrowed from religious myth and to translate religious myth into secular terms. While making no claims to put us in touch with some ultimate reality, these clear, precise, sensitive poems help us to pay homage to the everyday household gods that are easy to ignore, the gods that sustain life and make it rewarding. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: So Many Books, So Little Time Sara Nelson, 2004-10-05 “Will make many readers smile with recognition.”—The New Yorker “Readaholics, meet your new best friend.”—People “This book is bliss.”—The Boston Globe Sometimes subtle, sometimes striking, the interplay between our lives and our books is the subject of this unique memoir by well-known publishing correspondent and self-described “readaholic” Sara Nelson. The project began as an experiment with a simple plan—fifty-two weeks, fifty-two books—that fell apart in the first week. It was then that Sara realized the books chose her as much as she chose them, and the rewards and frustrations they brought were nothing she could plan for. From Solzhenitsyn to Laura Zigman, Catherine M. to Captain Underpants, the result is a personal chronicle of insight, wit, and enough infectious enthusiasm to make a passionate reader out of anybody. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Housman Country Peter Parker, 2017-06-20 “Parker’s beautiful Housman Country tells you everything you want to know about the life and influence of England’s most satirised but inimitable poets.” —Evening Standard A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice Nominated for the 2017 PEN/Bograd Weld Prize for Biography A. E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad made little impression when it was first published in 1896 but has since become one of the best-loved volumes of poetry in the English language. Its evocation of the English countryside, thwarted love, and a yearning for things lost is as potent today as it was more than a century ago, and the book has never been out of print. In Housman Country, Peter Parker explores the lives of A. E. Housman and his most famous book, and in doing so shows how A Shropshire Lad has permeated English life and culture since its publication. The poems were taken to war by soldiers who wanted to carry England in their pockets, were adapted by composers trying to create a new kind of English music, and have influenced poetry, fiction, music, and drama right up to the present day. Everyone has a personal “land of lost content” with “blue remembered hills,” and Housman has been a tangible and far-reaching presence in a startling range of work, from the war poets and Ralph Vaughan Williams to Inspector Morse and Morrissey. Housman Country is a vivid exploration of England and Englishness, in which Parker maps out terrain that is as historical and emotional as it is topographical. “[A] rich blend of literary criticism and cultural history.” —The Spectator |
| anne fadiman ex libris: One Long River of Song Brian Doyle, 2019-12-03 From a born storyteller (Seattle Times), this playful and moving bestselling book of essays invites us into the miraculous and transcendent moments of everyday life. When Brian Doyle passed away at the age of sixty after a bout with brain cancer, he left behind a cult-like following of devoted readers who regard his writing as one of the best-kept secrets of the twenty-first century. Doyle writes with a delightful sense of wonder about the sanctity of everyday things, and about love and connection in all their forms: spiritual love, brotherly love, romantic love, and even the love of a nine-foot sturgeon. At a moment when the world can sometimes feel darker than ever, Doyle's writing, which constantly evokes the humor and even bliss that life affords, is a balm. His essays manage to find, again and again, exquisite beauty in the quotidian, whether it's the awe of a child the first time she hears a river, or a husband's whiskers that a grieving widow misses seeing in her sink every morning. Through Doyle's eyes, nothing is dull. David James Duncan sums up Doyle's sensibilities best in his introduction to the collection: Brian Doyle lived the pleasure of bearing daily witness to quiet glories hidden in people, places and creatures of little or no size, renown, or commercial value, and he brought inimitably playful or soaring or aching or heartfelt language to his tellings. A life's work, One Long River of Song invites readers to experience joy and wonder in ordinary moments that become, under Doyle's rapturous and exuberant gaze, extraordinary. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Echoes of the Jazz Age F Scott Fitzgerald, 2019-12-07 The word jazz in its progress toward respectability has meant first meal, then dancing, then music. It is associated with a state of nervous stimulation, not unlike that of big cities on the edge of a war zone. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: My Cat, Spit McGee Willie Morris, 2002-08-13 With endearing humor and unabashed compassion, Willie Morris--a self-declared dog man and author of the classic paean to canine kind, My Dog Skip--reveals the irresistible story of his unlikely friendship with a cat. Forced to confront a lifetime of kitty-phobia when he marries a cat woman, Willie discovers that Spit McGee, a feisty kitten with one blue and one gold eye, is nothing like the foul felines that lurk in his nightmares. For when Spit is just three weeks old he nearly dies, but is saved by Willie with a little help from Clinic Cat, which provides a blood transfusion. Spit is tied to Willie thereafter, and Willie grows devoted to a companion who won't fetch a stick, but whose wily charm and occasional crankiness conceal a fount of affection, loyalty, and a rare and incredible intelligence. My Cat Spit McGee is one of the finest books ever written about a cat, and a moving and entertaining tribute to an enduring friendship. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Truth And Bright Water Thomas King, 2012-05-15 With a plethora of superb reviews and upcoming publication in the US, Thomas King’s latest work affirms him as one of our wittiest and wisest writers. Truth & Bright Water is the tale of two young cousins and one long summer. Tecumseh and Lum live in Truth, a small American town, and Bright Water, the reserve across the border and over the river. Family is the only reason most of the people stay in the towns, and yet old secrets and new mysteries keep pulling the more nomadic residents back to the fold. Monroe Swimmer, famous Indian artist, returns to live in the old church with the hope of painting it into the prairie landscape and re-establishing the buffalo population. Tecumseh’s Aunt Cassie has come back too, already arguing with his mother. Why has his mother given Cassie a suitcase full of baby clothes? And why is Lum interested only in winning the Indian Days race? Tecumseh has more questions than anyone will answer, until the Indian Days festival arrives and the mysteries of the summer collide in love, betrayal and reconciliation. Equally plainspoken and poetic, comic and poignant, Truth & Bright Water is a crackling good story that resonates with universal truths. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Dear Fahrenheit 451 Annie Spence, 2018-02-08 Have you ever wished you could tell your favourite books just what they mean to you? Or wanted to give a piece of your mind to the 'must-read' book that you wish you hadn't? Librarian Annie Spence has done just that, writing letters to the books under her care, from love letters to Matilda and The Goldfinch, to snarky break-up notes to Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hobbit. Annie's letters will make you laugh, remind you why you love your favourite books, and give you lots of new entries for your reading list. She's also on-hand to help out with your bookish dilemmas: recommendations for lazy readers; excuses to tell your friends when you'd rather stay home reading; and how to turn your lover into a reader. Hilarious, compassionate and smart, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is the consummate book-lover's book. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: The Best American Essays 2003 Anne Fadiman, Robert Atwan, 2003 Published: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., - |
| anne fadiman ex libris: Vigil Wasserstrom Jeffrey, 2020 A passionate, important study of the current affairs of a volatile region.-- Kirkus Reviews starred review The rise of Hong Kong is the story of a miraculous post-War boom, when Chinese refugees flocked to a small British colony, and, in less than fifty years, transformed it into one of the great financial centers of the world. The unraveling of Hong Kong, on the other hand, shatters the grand illusion of China ever having the intention of allowing democratic norms to take root inside its borders. Hong Kong's people were subjects of the British Empire for more than a hundred years, and now seem destined to remain the subordinates of today's greatest rising power. But although we are witnessing the death of Hong Kong as we know it, this is also the story of the biggest challenge to China's authoritarianism in 30 years. Activists who are passionately committed to defending the special qualities of a home they love are fighting against Beijing's crafty efforts to bring the city into its fold--of making it a centerpiece of its Greater Bay Area megalopolis. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, one of America's leading China specialists, draws on his many visits to the city, and knowledge of the history of repression and resistance, to help us understand the deep roots and the broad significance of the events we see unfolding day by day in Hong Kong. The result is a riveting tale of tragedy but also heroism--one of the great David-versus-Goliath battles of our time, pitting determined street protesters against the intransigence of Xi Jinping, the most ambitious leader of China since the days of Mao. |
| anne fadiman ex libris: A Book Addict's Treasury Lynda Murphy, 2006 Presents an anthology of quotations and extracts from a selection of writers and thinkers on the subject of books and reading, covering various aspects of bookishness, including hoarding, buying, borrowing, arranging, stealing, choosing, losing, reviewing, and displaying. |
