If you had to make the choice, would it be books or food? Man, we’d love to say books, but to go without Chinese noodles? That’s a rough one. However, as evidenced by our garage (the repository of all that won’t fit in the house) and our office (the place where we lied to bring more bookshelves into the house) and our living room (room where we tuck extra books in unexpected corners) and our bedroom (where the unconfessable is not what you think), we have an issue with books. We take some solace in the fact we’re not alone (but not enough to stop cringing at the thought of all the books we’ve left unread for so long):
Anyone who collects old books knows that most of what we call “literature” is never read. Large collections of books are fetish objects rather than authentic scholarly resources. I’m like all those architecture students who feel compelled to buy a pair of expensive and uncomfortable Barcelona chairs
- My Own Private Library: An assistant professor suspects that he is a scholar because he is a bibliophile rather than the other way around
