The Bibliophibian’s Backlog
BOOK LOVERS go by many names — bibliophiles, bibliomaniacs, bibliolaters, Larry (McMurtry, the Pulitzer and Oscar-winning author who runs a bookstore and has a personal library of 30,000 books). I prefer bibliophibians, which suggests that the species lives partly in the “real” world and partly in books, like salamanders with overdeveloped imaginations. If you belong to the species, or associate with them, you will have noticed certain behavioral patterns seemingly incompatible with an addiction to books. For instance, you would assume that when they walk into a well-stocked bookstore, they are vibrating with lust. After all, this is what they live for: being surrounded by books, knowing each book intimately, committing the literary equivalent of wanton adultery by reading several books at once.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
March 21st, 2016 at 10:04
I’m a completist. I have to buy everything by David Mitchell.
March 23rd, 2016 at 15:06
An hour ago, I received an email from The Book Depository giving me a 5% discount. I searched for The Sellout by Paul Beatty. This must be a good book; it just won the critics’ award. It’s the same award Motherless Brooklyn won. I must have it. But I have a book buying moratorium. And I haven’t finished A Little Life yet. Usually, TBD orders arrive at least two weeks. I should be done with it by then, and who knows, I’d have started reading another book.
And I haven’t bought a book for the past three months. I deserve a new book!
So I clicked Add to Basket, entered the coupon code for the discount, ordered the book, and got the confirmation email. Should I unsubscribe from TBD’s newsletters? Hmm.
March 24th, 2016 at 21:52
Angus: Our problem is not that we have too many books, but that our houses are too small. Motivation to get rich!