The Greatest Books You'll Never Read

摘要

There is no shortage of books that recommend other books. One well-known title suggests that there are one thousand and one books that we should and must read before we die. Another tells us that there are one hundred books which are not only 'must-read' but also 'life-changing'. A local bookshop sells mugs with the slogan 'so many books, so little time'. It is commonplace to say that to the making of books there is no end, and this sentiment applies equally to books about books. From Holbrook Jackson's magisterial Anatomy of Bibliomania to Anne Fadiman's delightful Ex Libris, let alone all the catalogues trying to sell us things, and all the messages saying that 'if you liked or bought this, you should like and buy that', we can and should conclude that books are very here to stay, even in the age of Kindles and their ilk. In the UK at least, sales trends in retail book-stores like Waterstones seem to confirm that 'books are us', and online second-hand and antiquarian bookselling continues to flourish worldwide.