Every book its reader

the power of the printed word to stir the world

360 pages

English language

Published Aug. 27, 2005 by HarperCollins.

ISBN:
978-0-06-059323-0
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OCLC Number:
1020437293

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3 stars (1 review)

Inspired by a landmark exhibition mounted by the British Museum in 1963 to celebrate five eventful centuries of the printed word, Nicholas A. Basbanes offers a lively consideration of writings that have "made things happen" in the world, works that have both nudged the course of history and fired the imagination of countless influential people.

In his fifth work to examine a specific aspect of book culture, Basbanes also asks what we can know about such figures as John Milton, Edward Gibbon, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Adams, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Henry James, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller -- even the notorious Marquis de Sade and Adolf Hitler -- by knowing what they have read. He shows how books that many of these people have consulted, in some cases annotated with their marginal notes, can offer tantalizing clues to the evolution of their character and the development …

2 editions

Review of Every Book Its Reader

3 stars

Quick impressions: Overall, I liked it, but I did not find it terribly memorable. While I marked a few quotes to remember, the book overall is not one that stayed with me. It was like listening to some academic lectures, but the lecturers were not always engaging. Serious bibliophiles and/or fans of the author may like the book better. I'd say this is one to borrow.

(Full review to be available on my blog.)

Subjects

  • Best books.
  • Books and reading.