“when I walk into an apartment with books on the shelves, books on the bedside tables, books on the floor, and books on the toilet tank, then I know what I would see if I opened the door that says Private - grownups keep out: a children sprawled on the bed, reading.” IfsKnowsChildrenBookReadingWalksDoorsBedTablesReading BooksApartmentShelvesToiletsTanksGrownups Author:Anne Fadiman
“Books wrote our life story, and as they accumulated on our shelves (and on our windowsills, and underneath our sofa, and on top of our refrigerator), they became chapters in it themselves.” BookStoriesOur LivesChaptersShelvesLife StoryRefrigeratorsSofas Book:Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader Source: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
“It has long been my belief that everyone's library contains an Odd Shelf. On this shelf rests a small, mysterious completely unrelated to the rest of the library, yet which, upon closer inspection, reveals a good deal about its owner.” LongBeliefDealsLibraryMysteriousOddOwnersShelvesInspection Book:Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader Source: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
“My brother and I were able to fantasize far more extravagantly about our parents' tastes and desires, their aspirations and their vices, by scanning their bookcases than by snooping in their closest. Their selves were on their shelves.” SelfAbleDesireParentBrotherTasteVicesMy BrotherAspirationClosestShelvesSnoopingBookcasesScanning Author:Anne Fadiman
“My daughter is seven, and some of the other second-grade parents complain that their children don't read for pleasure. When I visit their homes, the children's rooms are crammed with expensive books, but the parent's rooms are empty. Those children do not see their parents reading, as I did every day of my childhood. By contrast, when I walk into an apartment with books on the shelves, books on the bedside tables, books on the floor, and books on the toilet tank, then I know what I would see if I opened the door that says 'PRIVATE--GROWNUPS KEEP OUT': a child sprawled on the bed, reading.” IfsKnowsChildrenBookHomeReadingParentWalksPleasureRoomsDoorsChildhoodBedDaughterEmptyTablesSevenComplainingExpensiveGradesMy DaughterContrastApartmentShelvesToiletsTanksGrownups Author:Anne Fadiman
“...the reader who plucks a book from her shelf only once is as deprived as the listener who, after attending a single performance of a Beethoven symphony, never hears it again.” BookReaderPerformancesListenersShelvesDeprivedSymphonyAttendingPluck Author:Anne Fadiman
