Feb. 27

Bookshelf and Self

“It is unacceptable to display any book in a public space of your home if you have not read it.” So runs the “prime directive” for bookshelf etiquette, as issued by a blogger for Time magazine named Matt Selman. At The American Prospect a couple of weeks ago, Ezra Klein responded in terms that are no less categorical – though hardly more sensible, it seems to me.

“Bookshelves are not for displaying books you’ve read,” says Klein; “those books go in your office, or near your bed, or on your Facebook profile. Rather, the books on your shelves are there to convey the type of person you would like to be. I am the type of person who would read long biographies of Lyndon Johnson, despite not being the type of person who has read any long biographies of Lyndon Johnson. I am the type of person who is very interested in a history of the Reformation, but am not, as it happens, the type of person with the time to read 900 pages on the subject. More importantly, I am the type of person who amasses many books, on all sorts of subjects. I’m pretty sure that’s what a bookshelf is there to prove. The reading of those books is entirely incidental. The question becomes how we’ll project all of this when Kindles takes off and all our books are digital.”

There is bravery in such candor. The word “poseur” is still around, after all, even if the people who study consumer behavior, and try to channel it, have coined the kinder and gentler term “aspirational taste” for this sort of thing. David Brooks could probably get a best-selling analysis of the American middle class out of the contrast between Selman’s moralistic injunction and Klein’s jaunty expression of dandyism. Just throw in some references to the difference between Blue and Red states, and the thing writes itself.

But after a grueling weekend of trying to impose some order on my study, I’m struck, not by the contrast between Selman and Klein, but by the degree to which they share common assumptions. Those assumptions are foreign to my own experience; and so it proves impossible to extract from either of them any maxim applying to local circumstances.

Klein and Selman seem to share a belief that book ownership can, and indeed should, serve as a medium for displaying something important about yourself. They signify either what you already know or whom you would like to be — and (this is the major point) they do so for someone else. By this logic, bookshelves are a medium of social interaction. As a format for the “performance of self,” they transform one’s books into a way of attaining, or at least claiming, status. Hence the need to come up with rules, however informal, for what is permissible.

All of which makes perfect sense if and only if you are not a total nerd. Which, all things considered, is a pretty big “if.” A very different set of principles is in effect if you are someone for whom reading itself actually counts as one of the primary forms of social interaction. It’s not that you don’t have “aspirational taste,” of a kind. But the aspiration plays itself out in a very different manner — with different consequences for how your living space is organized.

My experience (which can’t be unique) is that some books end up accumulating out of a misguided attempt to win the approval of authors already well-entrenched on my shelves. A few years back, for example, Slavoj Zizek started to insist that I had to be familiar with the work of Alain Badiou – a French poststructuralist philosopher whose work I had never heard of, let alone read. Well, OK, sure. Thanks to some busy translators, Badiou volumes started crowding in, next to all the Zizek titles.

But in short order, Badiou lets it be known that I am expected to understand something about mathematical set theory — and furthermore should come to appreciate one particular approach to formalizing the basic axioms. Chances are, that second part is just not going to happen. I am willing to try to learn to recognize a formalized axiom when I see one, but can promise no more, and even that much is probably pushing it. So, anyway, off to the nearby secondhand bookshop in search of a couple of introductory works. They are terrifying. The shelf in question is starting to turn into a neighborhood I am afraid to visit.

But that is not the real problem. Around here, the “prime directive” is that there should not be any books on the floor. If a marriage is its own little civilization, this is among the basic clauses in our social contract. Insofar as “aspiration” comes into play, I find it operating at the level of daydreams about replacing one of the closets or windows with another set of shelves.

Clothing and the outside world are much overrated, in my opinion, which does not carry very much weight in this particular case. Bookshelves are storage; that is all. The idea of using them for “display” seems cute and improbable.

The online conversation generated by Selman’s and Klein’s remarks has at times reflected a kind of guilt that no really bookish person would feel. For there are, it seems, people who feel stress about owning volumes they haven’t read. Evidently some of them believe a kind of statute of limitations is in effect. If you don’t expect to read something in, say, the next year, then, it is wrong to own it. And in many cases, their superegos have taken on the qualities of a really stern accountant — coming up with estimates of what percentage of the books on their shelves they have, or haven’t, gotten around to reading. Guilt and anxiety reinforce one another.

All of this reminds me of a friend who, while in high school, got about a hundred pages into Atlas Shrugged and realized that she loathed both Ayn Rand’s prose and ideas. But she kept slogging through the book, as often as she could work up the will to do so, and finally finished it sometime around her junior year of college. Persistence is a virtue, but it is not the only virtue, and sometimes it is really not good for you.

Beyond any particular virtue is the wisdom to know when and how to keep it in check. Just as persistence can get warped into a vice, so can the urge to be exhaustive, or the impulse to follow up the leads indicated in every footnote. The latter impulse is dangerous, for it leads to misanthropy: A scholar’s seemingly authoritative citations will sometimes turn out to have been pilfered directly from someone else’s seemingly authoritative citations — without any actual reading of the texts involved, since given that the mistakes are preserved intact. It can be a sad day for one’s sense of human nature to discover this.

If you are going to have a moralizing voice in your head, maybe it’s best for it to sound like Francis Bacon, whose essays from the beginning of the 17th century are so much more sermon-like than the ones by Montaigne he was imitating. But “Of Studies” seems like a reasoned statement by a man of the world. “Some books are to be tasted,” writes Bacon, “others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”

Likewise for bookshelves. Many items there are staples. Others are ingredients that, like salt, are only good in combination with something else. Some things you keep around are healthy, if not very tasty, while a few might count as junk food. (A couple of scholarly presses are indeed known for their Pop-Tarts.) And it’s hardly a decent pantry if you don’t have a few impulse purchases you later regret, or gourmandizing experiments that didn’t quite pan out. No formal rule can determine what belongs on the shelf and what doesn’t. It is, finally, a matter of taste.

Scott McLemee writes Intellectual Affairs each week. He also blogs at Quick Study.

Want it on paper? Print this page.
Know someone who’d be interested? Forward this story.
Want to stay informed? Sign up for free daily news e-mail.

Comments

You can’t have too many

I don’t know about most people, but my books overflow the shelves and tables and end up every flat surface in the house and office. There is a certain comfort knowing there is always a new book to read, a reference tool to consult, an author to experience, knowledge to gain. You cannot have too many books to consult, savor, and read over and over again.

Miriam Kahn, at 7:55 am EST on February 27, 2008

Personal Library

I very much enjoyed this piece. My partner and I are known for our massive book collection, but that is not why we have it. We have a large personal library because we have to read for our jobs, like to read for pleasure, and because I like to collect certain kinds of books (dictionaries, children’s books—we have no kids—and cookbooks). We have read most of the books on our shelves, but there are many we have not.

Having a selection of books I haven’t read makes it easier for me to escape the dissertation occasionally without having to go to the bookstore. I have my own bookstore readily available with pre-selected books. I have certainly picked up things I shouldn’t have. I am still at war with White Teeth because it is far too depressing to get through. And there are a couple of things that must have been gifts because I would never have bought them myself.

As for what our books say about us...well, ours tell the truth. They reveal areas of difficulty for us and things we needed to learn more about. They reveal our politics and our educational backgrounds. They say A LOT about our professions. And they give some indication that there is generally something good to eat for dinner. But you could learn that in a three-minute conversation.

That anyone would take the time to establish rules or ‘bookshelf etiquette’ means that s/he doesn’t have enough to do. Ultimately I agree with the author, it’s all a matter of taste. But we have to remember that shelves are utilitarian—they are for storage not for making statements.

Adriane, at 8:15 am EST on February 27, 2008

The Book on the Bookshelf

“The Book on the Bookshelf” is the title of Henry Petrokski l999 text. I bought it new, it sits on my shelf in a privilege place, and I look forward to reading it but for now I like having it.

My point is that if our reading lives are lively, we are in and out of texts all the time. I am fortunate enough in space and money for books, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather be close to. I rarely show my shelves to guests. I’m a bit embarassed about how much of my time and money I’ve put into reading and writing and owning books and don’t care to show them off. In fact, my mentor, Richard Hugo told me once that if I loved a book I should never loan it and always keep it close. However, what I really want to point out is that the stuff to show off is really between the shelves and in the white space of the pages. Any reader knows that. However, only great readers have shelves that consistently speak back to them!

Will Hochman, at 10:10 am EST on February 27, 2008

Other Joys of Collecting Books

Oh, yes, there are many reasons for displaying, collecting, or simply owning books. To wit (in no particular order):

- books add color to the decor of most rooms - their purchase supports worthy authors, whom some of us long to join in real or imagined companionship - book cases provide insulation from drafy walls and serve well as room partitions - books stand as a protest against over-reliance on Google and Wikipedia - books bring out the latent librarian in some of us - books on diverse subjects nourish unplanned intellectual excursions - book “collections” sustain lifelong intellectual quests — even when not all are read — and in some instances find permanent homes in institutional libraries - books signal to children the importance of reading and writing - quality books are an investment, a usable asset waiting one day to be cashed out on Ebay - abiding satisfaction comes to those who “rescue” books from individuals who would abandon them or trash them - book collections, especially if large, are a reminder that moving from home to home is a weighty decision- books are the better alternative to a medicine cabinet full of drugs — in a moment of need find one to assist sleep, nourish hope, escape burdens, seek adventure, or enjoy the fruits of another’s creativity.

In case you are wondering, my wife and I are the proud owners of 5,000+ volumes. We would not have it any other way!

Dick Yanikoski, at 10:10 am EST on February 27, 2008

My Name Is Frizbane And I’m A Book-aholic

Three things ...

First, I own waaay more books than makes sense, but they almost all reside on both stand-alone and built-in bookshelves that I constructed myself. The shelves are deep and, in some locations, I have run out of space to put new shelves. I have, therefore, taken to pushing rows of books to the back of the shelves and stacking new books in front of them. This practice just drives some of my book-loving friends crazy. When I ask why, they always answer in terms of what MY behavior should be ... not theirs.

Second, I only purchase paperback books when it is absolutely necessary. There is something about a paperback that I find distasteful. To me they are pretenders to books ... pseudo tomes. And by the way, one of the best things to happen to those of us who take some care in purchasing books is the presence of on-line used-book shops. I have purchased hundreds (probably thousands) of used books on-line have been disappointed very, very infrequently.

Third, having extensive professional and personal libraries, and I have both, is an illness. “Hello, my name is Frizbane, and I am a book-aholic.”

The number of books I own that I intend to read more than once is a tiny fraction of my holdings (“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” “Don Quixote,” poetry, cookbooks, lots of children’s books (usually read to children), professional stuff, “The Origin of the Species,” the usual stuff). Yet there they sit. Many books I intend to read – and own — could be checked out of the several public and academic libraries to which I have access. Reading a book and then shelving it – and I do “lend out” a great many books to friends who either feign interest in reading something I have recommended or genuinely intend to read something I lend them but never get around to it – is so impractical and inefficient it is ridiculous. This winter, a close friend returned one of my “treasures” after it sat in a stack of books next to her nightstand for more than twenty years ... unread. Before reshelving it I gently fondled it, I imagine the way a pot-head fondles and tests the aroma of a joint before lighting up.

I will die within the next twenty years and my son will have the very distasteful task of sorting through my thousands of books and (1) deciding what small proportion he wants for himself, his family, and friends, (2) separating out those he does not want that can be sold to used-book dealers, and (3) sending the rest on to whatever local charity has an annual book sale. He did promise me just this month that he would write a program that would produce a quite spectacular database of my holdings if I would spend the next year or so recording each and every ISBN ... so you can see he’s already worrying about it. I think I’ll hold out for a barcode reader so I can improve my efficiency by reading the ISBN from the barcode. But what about my pre-1966 tomes? Life is soooo complicated.

I am well aware of – and am in complete denial about – my book-aholism. I’m certain my son and his wife have discussed subjecting me to an intervention. Thank god they have decided that hiring an arsonist or renting a front-loader for a long weekend are less hassle, less expensive, and less painful than forcing me to own up to my illness.

Frizbane Manley, at 10:25 am EST on February 27, 2008

book and socket wrenches

Students invariably ask, on the first visit to my office, “Have you read all these books?"My answer is that I have read all of some of them and some of all of them. I suggest that they think of the bookshelves as the tool board in an auto menchanic’s bay. Hanging there are tools s/he uses every day, tools s/he needs for the occasional Mercedes tuneup, and tools s/he once used to adjust the timing on a ‘76 Honda but now has no idea how they function. My job as a professor is to know what’s in the books and how and when to use them, all of them or parts of them. Socket wrenches du jour.

jon-christian suggs, at 10:45 am EST on February 27, 2008

Here’s a radical idea that puts me squarely in the nerd camp: I borrow books from the library and read them. If they pass the audition, then I buy them for my bookshelf.

Reluctant Librarian, at 11:00 am EST on February 27, 2008

There is a lovely little book by Tom Raabe (?) called _Biblioholism_ that discusses the topic at length. One of my favorites has to do with owning a book BEFORE the movie was made.

booklover, at 11:10 am EST on February 27, 2008

On the Topic of Books and Self

“A room without books is as a body without a soul.” Ovid. Truer words were never spoken.

There is no room in my house, including the three bath rooms, that doesn’t contain books. I even keep books in the car to read at lunch or while waiting for an appointment. As a child, I’d read the cereal boxes to amuse myself. There are books I’ve carried with me everywhere, including to a stint as a summer camp counselor (how would I have survived without the Ballentine boxed set of “The Lord of the Rings?")

Some books are old friends, to be read and reread. Others are there as reference—if I get interested in a topic, I’ve got to read about it. I collect cookbooks, hoping one day to exceed the collection that Phyllis Richman used to have at the Washington Post (and yes, Andy Rooney, I do read them when I go to bed.) That’s beyond my collection of law books and books on photography, the subject I teach. As a writer, my husband is constantly bring reference material home and our garage is filled with about half a million comic books of which several thousand are ones he wrote.

We have long since run out of shelf space or wall space for any more shelves. The three stacks of “must get to” books next to my husband’s bed are almost as tall as I am (I fear the next big earthquake.)

This is all to say that if there is any such thing as book display etiquette, I’ve never heard of it. I feel very uncomfortable in a home which does not have books on display. Harlan Ellison, whose collection of books exceeds ours (he builds additions to his house when he starts running out of shelf space), has been known to respond to the question “have you read all these books?” by saying “Of course not. Who wants a house full of books you’ve already read?”

Christine Valada, at 11:50 am EST on February 27, 2008

The books that got away

Books represent the overriding point of conflict in my marriage. My wife constantly urges me to get rid of books. As a result, I have not read many of the books on my shelves on display simply because I had to give away many of the books I have read. Recently, we moved, and I must have given away 100-200 books. Since then, I seem to have accumulated more, which I want to get around to reading. Invariably, I end up reading the books I took out of the library first, because, after all, they have to GO BACK at a certain time, thus giving me a deadline. So for me the bookshelves in my house are a combination of the asperational (yes, I’m going finish Stephenson’s Baroque trilogy THIS YEAR, I promise, really) and the books so beloved that I could not part with them (also books by people I went to college with or are autographed).

Richard LeComte, at 1:15 pm EST on February 27, 2008

As a relatively transient 30-year-old, every move to a new apartment is torture because it means I sort through my books. The resistance and subsequent pain of weeding them is located somewhere between pulling teeth and giving up a firstborn. I give them away to properly appreciative friends and the rest to the local library. And then I have to move the remaining books and shelves, requiring a strong back and even stronger friendships. My joy is restored once the books are back on their shelves and I am reminded of which I still need to read. One would think I would only hold onto the books I love best if I move every 18 months. Yet I own books I’ve moved four or five times but have never read. I have hope, optimism for that future life in which I can read these books that once caught my eye and still hold my interest. But until then, I’ll keep moving them.

Kim Bryant, at 1:30 pm EST on February 27, 2008

I found the piece and the comments so far interesting, but bewildering. My bookshelves are full of books I haven’t read but which I think I might like to read some time in the future when they are out of print and not readily available in a convenient library.

Having read a book I see little point in keeping it except those rare books that I might want to consult or those even rarer ones I might re-read.

Gavin Moodie, Principal Policy Adviser at Griffith University, Australia, at 3:50 pm EST on February 27, 2008

I’m with the Reluctant Librarian here — the vast majority of books that pass through my life spend at most a month or two with me before returning to their shelves of my local university or public library. My personal collection probably amounts to less than 200, split roughly between the useful but hard to find and the relentlessly consulted.

I have arrived at this equilibrium through the agnony and expense of moving regularly, plus an overwhelming preference for the atmosphere of libraries versus that of (most) bookstores. I think I love Powells in Portland because it reminds me so much of a library.

Historian, at 4:30 pm EST on February 27, 2008

Wow, you have addressed one of my favorite topics, and one of my biggest problems. Thankfully, I now have enough space to keep most of my books in one place. Reading books is an essential part of life, if you want to be smarter than you are. Books help you to comprehend what you read, and then they help you to become a more profound thinker by helping you to organize information in your mind. It helps you to understand the associations between ideas, and how to develop ideas. Bottom line, keep your books and read them because they can be precious to you.

Harry, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

What’s on my shelves

I’ve read a lot more books than I have room for, and periodically, often tangent to a move, out go the ones I know I’ll never look at again, but which got to the shelf instead of the trash. One thing I’ve done is save the ones I’ve enjoyed the most. Now that I have small children, I’m glad I kept them and that the kids will have those titles gazing at them from the walls over the time to come. I really can’t think of a greater gift for them in terms of potential pleasures or a foundation for lives to be well spent.

Seneca, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

bookshelf etiquite

What, no mention of Gatsby with his bookcase of uncracked books?

I’m convinced office Law Libraries are actually all cigar boxes filled with various things unmentionable and best kept out of sight yet still handy.

bour3, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

Books

My appetite for books far outpaces my time to read them, which has resulted in books and taking over my home, a good portion of them yet to be read. A tall bookshelf of books I intend to read looms over my bed with an accompanying pile of homeless books next to it for which there is no shelf space. I don’t like to think they indicated my pretentiousness but rather the person I aspire to be. Currently, I’m buying those luscious leather-bound Easton Press books once every six weeks which I know I shouldn’t, but they are like porn for me.

I hate to give away books I’ve read any more than I’d give up a good friend. This is tempered by my experience giving books away immediately before a house fire ruined all the ones I kept. The books I gave away were the only ones which survived. There is a lesson there.

I’ve also made trips to the library to give away books. Sometimes I walk in the front door with a hundred books and make an overt donation. Sometimes, I make a covert donation in the middle of the night, slipping them in the book return slot for the library staff to sort out. I simply can not throw books away any more than I could toss a kitten out of a car onto the shoulder of the road. They must be given homes.

Steve Gregg, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

The Books On Display

TO: Scott McLemeeRE: Book Shelf Etiquette

Why am I suddenly reminded of Woody Allen in Play It Again, Sam?

Regards,

Chuck(le)[Friends, n., People who borrow my books and put wet glasses on them.]

Chuck Pelto, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

Buchhandling

If you haven’t seen the classic Myles nGopaleen bits on buchhandling services, you have no right to be opining on the subject.

Dan Collins, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

I have actually read all the books on my shelves (including several textbooks, one of which wasn’t even required reading for any of the classes I am taking in college). However, this is due to the simple fact that I read faster than I acquire books.

On the other hand, my father, who likes to collect classical literature, hasn’t read all of the books on his shelf. Probably not even half. It does give me a nice mini-library to turn to when all of the books on my shelf have been exhausted, however. I’m currently borrowing Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and the “Art of War” from him.

Regolith, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

Missing the point...

Is everyone missing the point? Bookshelves are to store books. If I haven’t read them yet, where am I supposed to put them? Should I hide them in shame in a box somewhere? Worrying about what someone thinks about your bookshelves indicates a certain shallowness on the part of both the book owner and the potential commenter.

Charles, at 7:05 pm EST on February 27, 2008

I find I’m MORE likely to get rid of a book I’ve read —-Especially if it’s not worth a second read or an occasional perusal.

Also, there are certain books that seemed like a good idea at the time (last day of the library sale, a dollar a bag, certainly worth the nickel!) which later turn out not to be a good idea after all. (We can’t justify throwing out the kids’ toys to make room for another bookshelf— therefore some of the “worth a nickel” books aren’t when they keep us from finding a place to put the books we actually love...)

But books are a means of social interaction too —- For instance, I have several shelves of books I keep simply for the friends who love to read them. And duplicate copies of beloved books so that I can lend without putting myself at risk for loss. And I enjoy rearranging the shelves into odd combinations that give my husband and guests a reason to giggle.

So books are both friends and a means of interacting with friends.

Luckily, I married a fellow book-lover, so we DO turn closet space into book-space. =)

But we also have a “no books on the floor” rule—- it makes them too vunerable to toddlers!

Deirdre Mundy, at 7:15 pm EST on February 27, 2008

I keep books I’ve read, and display as many as I can, because I like to dip back into them on occasion. Just reading a book is a pleasure to me and to be reacquainted with one I’ve previously read is like drinking a cold beer after a hard day at work.

There are books I’ve abandoned reading, generally because I’m getting no joy from the author’s prose. I’m too far along in life to suffer a book that I don’t like.

Pete, at 7:15 pm EST on February 27, 2008

books on display?

I like paperbacks. They cost less and they take up less space. I get a hardcover only when I have a reasonable expectation of rereading a book several times, or of consulting it often.

Bookshelves are for books one hasn’t read yet, but intends to, and for books which one will read again.

Persons who display their books for visitors to their homes may have an insecurity about themselves. “Look at my books!” Yeah? And your point is? Did you read any of them; and am I supposed to draw any conclusions about that, one way or another? I am reminded of those companies who sell gorgeous gold-leafed leatherbound editions of Great Works, so that the purchaser can appear erudite.

When I conclude that I will never open a particular book again, I pitch it, to make room for new stuff. Wondrous is our civilization, in that there is always an abundance of new stuff. There is not enough time in our lives to read them all; they accumulate at several orders of magnitude faster than we can digest them.

Books are friends, books are tools, books are lots easier to read than display screens, but few rate glassed-in display cases.

Jeff Perkins, at 8:45 pm EST on February 27, 2008

Not reading is fraud

Displaying books on your shelf that you have not read because “that’s the type of person I am” tells me the type of person you are is dishonest.

All of the books on my shelfs have been read, at least in part (I have a lot of technical reference books that are not the sort you read cover to cover). I have hundreds of books of all types and they get read or are used as reference material. Any exceptions end up getting tossed to make room for a better book.

Thus, my bookshelf does not contain a copy of “Modern Existentialism” since I’m not trying to pass myself off as a pretentious jerk with airs of superiority since that subject bores me to tears.

Ogre, at 8:45 pm EST on February 27, 2008

Storing books I haven’t read is not a problem for me; I’ve never managed to have such a book for a full fortnight. So, by definition, my bookshelves are full of books I’ve read. And I only keep the ones I suspect I’ll re-read at some point. Accordingly, I can get by with only about 45 linear feet of bookshelves.

Bibliomaniac, at 8:45 pm EST on February 27, 2008

I might need them

Since high school I have collected science fiction and mysteries to read, history to read and to have when I really needed them. That strategy has worked. I can not count the number of late nights when the paper or lecture or kid’s assignment was saved because I had a book ready on the shelf.

Like others, the topic of the library has come up with my partner. The current compromise is that I can have a third of the basement and when that is full, a book goes to let another in. Personally, I am waiting for the kids to leave with an eye on the playroom, game deck room for the chance to reopen negotiations.

KEL, at 9:35 pm EST on February 27, 2008

Boy, it’s almost unnerving to see so many of my own personality quirks (and those of my family) reflected here.

Yes, the books in the public rooms of the house have almost all been read by at least one of us, except the ones I inherited from my great grandfather, but he had read all of those. But the 100+ unread books in the special case in our bedroom attest to an inability to curb buying. I try to impose moratoria till some space clears in the bedroom case, but it doesn’t work very well. Even the kids have hundreds of books in each of their rooms, and there’s barely an un-booked horizontal surface in the house.

I joke that we bought our vacation home because we needed someplace else to put our books, but it’s not entirely a joke. And on those rare occasions when I can part with a book, I donate it to the local library for their annual book sale, but then I just go to the sale and come back with more than I gave away.

I buy only mysteries in paperback. Everything else is in hardcover unless there is no hardcover available. I just like the permanence. And let’s not even discuss a couple of decades’ worth of genealogical journals, all bound to keep some order.

But the books aren’t displayed for the benefit of others. They are shelved for the benefit of the family. We read, we scribble in the margins, we re-read.

The cleaning lady says she’s never seen a house with “so much book clutter.” Perversely or not, we’re kind of proud of that.

A reader, at 9:35 pm EST on February 27, 2008

I’ve significantly paired down my library over the past few years, from perhaps 5-6,000 volumes to about 2,500-3,000 — it’s so hard to have more than an approximate count if they’re not fully catalogued.... I like the comment of one poster that he’s read “some of all of them and all of some of them” — that’s really pretty much the way my library has grown. Lots of books I’d call parts of several semi-professional libraries in intellectual history and philosophy, economic theory, law, etc. as well as all sorts of literature ranging from bales of (now almost always out of print) science fiction to novels, poetry and plays in four languages.

One of the things I have found is that unless one has access to a major university library, lots of books, even classic works in important fields such as history and economics, are not so easy to come by (especially on short notice). When one of my daughters was at a well-known liberal arts college, there were many occasions when neither the college library nor available bookstores had books she was looking for ... but copies of the best editions were right here at home.

And, of course, every bookaholic has to have things for browsing, such as the first Encyclopaedia Britannica (quite a decent reprint was available 30 years ago) and the 11th Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I once had a chance to get a set of the plates volumes for Diderot’s Encyclopedie, but just couldn’t justify the expense... I’ve regretted that one more than once.

The idea that, in a personal library, one can accumlate a solid cross-section, in depth, of human knowledge, is both challenging and daunting. But, it’s wonderful to be able to put your hand on one of the most respected sources on almost any topic (or at least any topic you’ve cared to look into) to learn or to inform, or to check a point under discussion.

CatoRenasci, at 5:10 am EST on February 28, 2008

Support your local small college

Steve and others who go to the library to donate books, let me suggest that if you do that the library will probably sell them for a dollar or two. But if you really want to do something worthwhile, and your books are free of markings, then find a small college (or even a high school) that you’d like to support, check their catalog and offer them the ones they don’t have and that are in good enough condition to be used.

And then after a while check their catalog for that magic moment when your books have been added to their collection

It just doesn’t get any better than that.

Such a philanthropist he is, at 5:10 am EST on February 28, 2008

My husband and I (we’ve been married a little over 19 months) each made major cross-country moves about 2 years ago. My husband is retired and mostly reads paperback mysteries that he buys for 10-50 cents at library book sales, and then gives right back to them for the next sale. He did bring a number of photography books and home remodeling/repair books, plus some books from his childhood that his mother had saved for him.

In my case, I had to fit almost everything I wanted to move into a 6′x7′x8′ container. I did not know at the time of the move where I would end up, and that I’d have to put almost all of my things in storage (5′x10′x10′)I had to sell/give away a lot of stuff, including many of my books. I ended up keeping paperback Folger Shakespeare Library editions of all of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, and paperbacks of nearly all of Irving Stone’s books, plus a few other odd paperbacks and hardbounds that I really liked.

My weakness is Friends of the Library book sales; especially the last day when almost everything goes for $5 a box. I did grab a lot of excellent-condition hardbounds to give to my university library (we don’t have a lot to spend on a recreational reading collection), but I had to fill that box, so in went a lot of paperbacks with interesting titles and covers. I’m still hanging on to those in hopes of reading them someday (I can’t retire for 11 more years!).

However, we are now out of space, so I guess I’d better stay away from the library book sales.

Amanda, at 5:15 am EST on February 28, 2008

Books read and unread

At the moment my wife and I have, perhaps, 1500-2000 books. Not that many. This is my third library. The first two lost to divorce.

We buy, perhaps, four new books a month. But we haunt thrifts, garage sales and rumage sales. We buy what is good and what we have either read, might read or books which fit sub-collections. We rarely pay more than a couple of dollars a book.

Because we are at the will of the “donators” when we come across a good run of books we’ll buy them all. On the weekend we picked up 60 books for $40.00. three were duplicates, about twenty I have read, a few were cookbooks or reference books.

There is no part of our house without books. So there is really no sense of public display. If you come to our house you will see our books, our kids and, quite possibly, some laundry or our big black dog.

Our books say something very basic about us: we like to read.

Jay Currie, at 5:15 am EST on February 28, 2008

Guilt?

“If you don’t expect to read something in, say, the next year, then, it is wrong to own it.”

This sounds like it comes right out of one those stupid trendy cable shows where a “professional” clears everything out of your house, lets you pick one thing to keep, and throws the rest of it away. I’m not sure when owning things and deriving pleasure from them became “wrong", but that’s one 21st century concept that should never ever be applied to books.

I’ve cleared out bags of books—often to used bookstores, where I come home with half again as many as I took away—but only when I’ve realized I was no longer interested in an author or a subject as passionately as I was years ago.

Heather, at 8:35 am EST on February 28, 2008

book bad habits

My collection has grown, in part, because of the ease of acquiring books on line. It is almost criminal that I am allowed to make impulse purchases from the comfort of my own home.

Of course my collection includes some books that I have not yet read. What person of inquisitive mind does not have an intellectual reach that exceeds his grasp?

I stack books on the floor – right next to my easy chair. Top to bottom they include the book I am currently reading, the book I interrupted in order to read the book I am currently reading, and the book I interrupted to read the latter. The volume second from the top doubles as a platform for my beverage of choice.

Law books, especially case reporters, tend to be beautifully bound, the older ones in leather. They make beautiful interior decor, which is the only reason lawyers (and others who never read them) so often display them. For years, nearly all serious legal research has been conducted on-line.

I always spend a few minutes perusing my host’s library whenever I first visit a home or office. To me it is part and parcel of taking an interest in the bookshelf’s owner. It tells me about my host’s interests, whether he has read all those books or not.

I share my bookshelves with my wife, but I wish those shelves were off-limits to her, frankly. I love my collection of history, biography and the Western Canon, and wish to have it neatly organized for ready access. Unfortunately, my books are double shelved and stacked in chaos among the mysteries and espionage novels with which Betterhalf pollutes her mind. Shallow diversions like those should be passed along to a friend, after reading, not kept to clutter your spouse’s collection of worthwhile reading.

Henry, at 3:35 pm EST on February 28, 2008

Statements like this;

“I am the type of person who would read long biographies of Lyndon Johnson, despite not being the type of person who has read any long biographies of Lyndon Johnson. I am the type of person who is very interested in a history of the Reformation, but am not, as it happens, the type of person with the time to read 900 pages on the subject. More importantly, I am the type of person who amasses many books, on all sorts of subjects. I’m pretty sure that’s what a bookshelf is there to prove.”

make me want to smack someone. I’m sorry but this sort of attitude just belittles books by making them into even more of a “status symbol” than uneducated academophobics already do in this country. I don’t use my bookshelves to show off what a smart motherf**ker I am, I use bookshelves to store books. Books I’ve read, re-read, will be reading (though those usually sit on the desk), and cherish. Not books that are used to show off what kind of person you think you should be. If you need to do that, then do us all a favor and jump off a bridge. Will your books to the library so some of us can actually read them.

Costa, at 4:10 pm EST on February 28, 2008

I’ve read everything on my shelves, not as a moral issue, but more because I read more that I could ever afford to buy. Stuff will sit unread for a time, but eventually I’m out of library books and looking for something to read over breakfast. And not loaning books? Being able to loan is one of the points of buying a book I like. If you buy enough books to have an opinion on this, you might as well just loan and replace if necessary...what’s one more bought book? Exceptions made for rare or fragile books, obviously.

Annie, at 4:25 pm EST on February 28, 2008

Stanley Marcus & books

The story I pass along is one I read years ago in Texas Monthly. It seems the department store magnate was a compulsive book collector and each day would bring home books. The old home he and his wife occupied in North Dallas had been added onto repeatedly over the years to accomodate his addiction.

Mrs. Marcus tired of the books and constant construction eventually and put her foot down. She reportedly took to standing at the door each evening and frisking poor Stanley before he was allowed to enter sans volumes. Mr. Marcus then discovered miniature books which he could more easily conceal. It is said he even bought a publisher of such books and greatly expanded its volume and selection.

I completely sympathize with Marcus’ affliction as I also suffer from and greatly enjoy it.

Texpat, at 5:40 pm EST on February 28, 2008

Bookshelf and Self

A person’s bookshelf or the lack of one tells us a lot about the person or family I’m visiting. I go into too many middle class and upper middle class homes where the family or individual has few books or if they do, it’s the lasted best seller by Danielle Steele or Stephen King (not to denigrate their prodigious output).

Unfortunately there are too many people in our society who can read but don’t. Unfortunately this trend is hitting libraries hard. Too many municipal and county libraries are cutting funds to public libraries because of the dearth of readers in this country.

Dan H, at 5:40 pm EST on February 28, 2008

“gourmand” is the opposite of “gourmet”

Some parallels might be drawn to the airs people put on when using (or misusing) vocabulary.

Take, for example the following sentence from the piece above:"And it’s hardly a decent pantry if you don’t have a few impulse purchases you later regret, or gourmandizing experiments that didn’t quite pan out.”

Experiments in gluttony?

Don’t put the word “gourmand” on your linguistic bookshelf if you don’t know what it means. A gourmand is the opposite of a gourmet. Whereas a gourmet is a selective eater with refined tastes, a gourmand is a glutton who’ll indiscriminately consume anything put before him.

I’ve seen this mistake in print with increasing frequency, lately.

Jake, at 5:00 am EST on February 29, 2008

Not That I Read This Book, You Understand...

“The book borrower of read stature whom we envisage here proves himself to be an inveterate collector of books not so much by the fervor with which he guards his borrowed treasures and by the deaf ear which he turns to all reminders from the everyday world of legality as by his failure to read these books. If my experience may serve as evidence, a man is more likely to return a borrowed book upon occasion than to read it. And the non-reading of books, you will object, should be characteristic of collectors? This is news to me, you may say. It is not news at all. Experts will bear me out when I say that it is the oldest thing in the world. Suffice it to quote the answer which Anatole France gave to a philistine who admired his library and then finished with the standard question, ‘And you have read all these books, Monsieur France?’ ‘Not one-tenth of them. I don’t suppose you use your Sevres china every day?’"Walter Benjamin, “Unpacking My Library,” in Illuminations, p. 62.

JP, at 5:00 pm EST on March 1, 2008

gourmandizing used correctly

In French usage “Gourmand” is a positive word for someone who enjoys food. It is not a glutton.

harold, at 2:30 pm EST on March 5, 2008

Jobs Related to Bookshelf and Self

or search for jobs directly.

Humanities (Adjunct) Instructor
Hillsborough Community College

Hillsborough Community College is a public, comprehensive multi-campus, state-supported community college located in the ... see job

Assistant or Associate Professor of Archaeology
Wheaton College, IL

Located thirty miles from Chicago, Wheaton College is an Evangelical Protestant Christian liberal arts college whose emphasis ... see job

Faculty, Reading
Anne Arundel Community College

Join Anne Arundel Community College’s creative, collaborative and supportive faculty and instructional professionals. Get to ... see job

Adjunct Faculty, Geography
Elgin Community College

We’re committed to our vision of becoming the best comprehensive community college in the United States. see job

2008/09 Teaching Specialist or Lecturer-Arabic-African American & African Studies
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota is a premier employer and a talent magnet attracting leading faculty and staff from around the ... see job

Adjunct Instructor, Humanities
Lone Star College System

Located just north of Houston, Texas, our five campuses serve 1,400 square miles. Our student enrollment is nearly 50,000 in ... see job

2008/09 Teaching Specialist or Lecturer — Gender, Women, Sexuality Studies
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota is a premier employer and a talent magnet attracting leading faculty and staff from around the ... see job

Associate Professor or Professor of Art History — East Asian Art
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota is a premier employer and a talent magnet attracting leading faculty and staff from around the ... see job

Adjuncts- Humanities
DeVry University

As one of the largest degree-granting higher education systems in North America, DeVry University provides high-quality, ... see job

University Based Programs Manager
University of Pennsylvania

Creates and supervise operational plans: scheduling and staffing. Manage and utilize resources, staff, and budgets. Set ... see job

Bookshelf and Self

Related stories

Comments

You can’t have too many

Personal Library

The Book on the Bookshelf

Other Joys of Collecting Books

My Name Is Frizbane And I’m A Book-aholic

book and socket wrenches

On the Topic of Books and Self

The books that got away

What’s on my shelves

bookshelf etiquite

Books

The Books On Display

Buchhandling

Missing the point...

books on display?

Not reading is fraud

I might need them

Support your local small college

Books read and unread

Guilt?

book bad habits

Stanley Marcus & books

Bookshelf and Self

“gourmand” is the opposite of “gourmet”

Not That I Read This Book, You Understand...

gourmandizing used correctly

Jobs Related to Bookshelf and Self

Humanities (Adjunct) Instructor Hillsborough Community College

Assistant or Associate Professor of Archaeology Wheaton College, IL

Faculty, Reading Anne Arundel Community College

Adjunct Faculty, Geography Elgin Community College

2008/09 Teaching Specialist or Lecturer-Arabic-African American & African Studies University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Adjunct Instructor, Humanities Lone Star College System

2008/09 Teaching Specialist or Lecturer — Gender, Women, Sexuality Studies University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Associate Professor or Professor of Art History — East Asian Art University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Adjuncts- Humanities DeVry University

University Based Programs Manager University of Pennsylvania

Humanities (Adjunct) Instructor
Hillsborough Community College

Assistant or Associate Professor of Archaeology
Wheaton College, IL

Faculty, Reading
Anne Arundel Community College

Adjunct Faculty, Geography
Elgin Community College

2008/09 Teaching Specialist or Lecturer-Arabic-African American & African Studies
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Adjunct Instructor, Humanities
Lone Star College System

2008/09 Teaching Specialist or Lecturer — Gender, Women, Sexuality Studies
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Associate Professor or Professor of Art History — East Asian Art
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Adjuncts- Humanities
DeVry University

University Based Programs Manager
University of Pennsylvania