num_pages: 146
description: A best-selling author and world-renowned bibliophile meditates on his vast personal library and champions the vital role of all libraries In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in Frances Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattans Upper West Side. Packing up his enormous 35000volume personal library choosing which books to keep store or cast out Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers books and collectors order and disorder memory and reading. In this poignant and personal reevaluation of his life as a reader the author illuminates the highly personal art of reading and affirms the vital role of public libraries. Manguels musings range widely from delightful reflections on the idiosyncrasies of book lovers to deeper analyses of historic and catastrophic book events including the burning of ancient Alexandrias library and contemporary library lootings at the hands of ISIS. With insight and passion the author underscores the universal centrality of books and their unique importance to a democratic civilized and engaged society.
language: English
title: Packing My Library: An Elegy and Ten Digressions
publisher: Yale University Press