Synopses & Reviews
Curiosity has been seen through the ages as the impulse that drives our knowledge forward and the temptation that leads us toward dangerous and forbidden waters. The question andldquo;Why?andrdquo; has appeared under a multiplicity of guises and in vastly different contexts throughout the chapters of human history. Why does evil exist? What is beauty? How does language inform us? What defines our identity? What is our responsibility to the world? In Alberto Manguelandrsquo;s most personal book to date, the author tracks his own life of curiosity through the reading that has mapped his way.
Manguel chooses as his guides a selection of writers who sparked his imagination. He dedicates each chapter to a single thinker, scientist, artist, or other figure who demonstrated in a fresh way how to ask andldquo;Why?andrdquo; Leading us through a full gallery of inquisitives, among them Thomas Aquinas, David Hume, Lewis Carroll, Rachel Carson, Socrates, and, most importantly, Dante, Manguel affirms how deeply connected our curiosity is to the readings that most astonish us, and how essential to the soaring of our own imaginations.
and#160;
Review
Praise for A History of Reading: and#8220;Ingeniousand#8230;a veritable museum of literacy. One feels envious of his passionand#8230;through it, his gift becomes our own.and#8221;and#8212;The New York Times Book Review
and#160;and#8220;Manguel has taken on the daunting subject of our own passion for books and succeeded in turning it into a passionate book of his own.and#8221;and#8212;Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
and#8220;No one who follows Mangueland#8217;s narrative to its conclusion need ever again feel guilty about putting off errands, chores, the bills, the kids, sleepand#8212;whateverand#8212;and curling up with a good, or even a great, book.and#8221;and#8212;Newsweek
and#8220;Manguel is a generous companionand#8230;he remains, in the proper sense of the word, an and#8216;amateur,and#8217; a lover rather than a specialist.and#8221;and#8212;George Steiner, the New Yorker
and#8220;Richly detailed and utterly fascinatingand#8230;what lifts A History of Reading above mere charm and idiosyncrasy is Mangueland#8217;s readerand#8217;s soul. A few hours passed with [his] book will remind anyone who needs reminding that an astonishing bond exists between word and world.and#8221;and#8212;Sven Birkerts, Boston Magazine
and#8220;A highly entertaining overview that leaves us with both a new appreciation of our own bibliomania and a deeper understanding of the role that the written word has played throughout history.and#8221;and#8212;The New York Times
and#8220;Mangueland#8217;s digressions are delightful, his anecdotes appealing, and his stories scintillating. What might have been no more than one dammed thing after another turns out to be, at the handsof this splendid raconteur, one divine thing after anotherand#8230;.It is all utterly beguiling.and#8221;and#8212;The Boston Sunday Globe
and#8220;Impressionistic, engrossing.and#8221;and#8212;Time
and#8220;An entertaining, provocative, and informative book.and#8221;and#8212;The Washington Post
and#8220;Tickles, surprises, and amuses.and#8221;and#8212;The Philadelphia Inquirer
and#8220;Impressive, engaging.and#8221;and#8212;The Washington Times
and#8220;Erudite and original.and#8221;and#8212;The Miami Herald
and#8220;Enormously entertaining.and#8221;and#8212;San Francisco Chronicle
and#8220;A wonderful merger of scholarship and personal essayand#8230;.Manguel writes so beautifully and felicitously that he infects us with enthusiasm again and again.and#8221;and#8212;Philip Lopate
and#8220;Mangueland#8217;s urbane, unpretentious tone recalls that of a friend eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. His book, digressive, witty, surprising, is a pleasure.and#8221;and#8212;Kirkus
and#8220;Highly enjoyableand#8230;.I finished the book with a sense of gratitude to have shared this journey through time in the company of a mind so lively, knowledgeable, and sympathetic.and#8221;and#8212;P. D. James
and#8220;An eclectic and deeply felt history of reading. It is a history illuminated by an acute sensibilityand#8230;.An unfailingly engaging work.and#8221;and#8212;School Library Journal
and#8220;Unique, enlightening, and as captivating as a celebration of reading should be.and#8221;and#8212;Booklist
and#8220;Interesting, intriguing, and entertaining.and#8221;and#8212;Library Journal
and#8220;Erudition and memoir are beautifully wed in this stimulating and provocative book.and#8221;and#8212;Virginia Quarterly Review
and#160;
Review
andquot;How wonderfully appropriate that the endlessly inquisitive Alberto Manguel should consider the fascinating concept of curiosity. Fueled by a lifetime of reading, and with Dante as his guide, he embarks on an elegantly conceived excursion of the mind, driven by a single, timeless wordandmdash;why?andquot;andmdash;Nicholas A. Basbanes, author of On Paper and A Gentle Madness
Review
andquot;Manguel vaults over the traditional fences of genre, literary history, and discipline with breathtaking virtuosity. He is the Montaigne de nos jours and, as regards this latest effort, if they put another rover on Mars they should call it and#39;Manguel.and#39;andquot;andmdash;John Sutherland, University College London
Review
andquot;For Alberto Manguel reading is a pilgrimage, a secular-sacred encounter with mystery, and a way of reinvigorating the dead. Dante and Montaigne and Pinocchioand#39;s Collodi are his guides and his intimates in this passionate quest for knowledge, but it is the state of inquiry itself and even doubt that define for him the pleasures of curiosity. With his loving, keenly felt, highly enjoyable delving into writers and their writings, Manguel argues for literatureandrsquo;s revelatory illusions, its epiphanies and its testimony.andquot;andmdash;Marina Warner, author of Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights
Review
andquot;Alberto Manguel is a wanderer among books, immensely curious in such an intriguing way that he lets his readers easily discover the fruits of his curiosity.andquot;andmdash;Roberto Calasso
Review
andquot;This is a dynamic, lively book that leads the reader to appreciate the pleasures and the power of curiosity. In writing its remarkable history Alberto Manguel sees it both as a primary passion and as a force behind all intellectual experiences.andnbsp; In a sort of encyclopedic narrative Manguel journeys over the most distant placesandmdash;from Danteandrsquo;s Florence to Rome, Jerusalem, Athens, and Latin America, etc.andmdash;and he invites us to a grand tour of wonders and surprises.andquot;andmdash;Giuseppe Mazzotta, Yale University
Review
andquot;Manguel travels through books in the same way he travels through various countries. He meets new friends and asks questions of them about himself, and about life. In a style which is all his own, he delights us with the unlimited bounds of human curiosity.andquot;andmdash;Lina Bolzoni, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
Review
andldquo;An erudite analysis and exploration of curiosity through the authorand#39;s own works and those of countless others. . . . Among the fictional or mythical characters that readers meet on this journey through the history of mankind are Eve, Pandora, Ulysses, and Ebenezer Scrooge, as well as a host of real scholars, religious figures, authors, poets, artists, philosophers and even economists. Human beings are, Manguel notes, self-conscious animals, capable of experiencing the world by asking questions and putting our curiosity into words, then turning those words into stories that lead to further questions.andrdquo;andmdash;Kirkus Reviews
Review
andldquo;The search for knowledge, and the discontents associated with that search, provide a loose pretext for this rambling literary meditation.andrdquo;andmdash;Publishers Weekly
Review
andldquo;Certain books are so absorbing, and so wide-ranging, that even the index at the back becomes entertaining. Curiosity (Yale University Press), a new work by Alberto Manguel, falls in that category.andrdquo;andmdash;Robert Fulford, National Post
Review
andldquo;Elegant and erudite, his book is a celebration of critical readingandmdash;a challenging, enjoyable and essential craft that is in danger these days of becoming a lost art.andrdquo;andmdash;Glenn Altschuler, Psychology Today
Review
andldquo;A profound, insightful look into the human proclivity for questions, through literature.andrdquo;andmdash;Noah Cruickshank, Shelf Awareness for Readers
Review
andlsquo;Reading Mr. Manguel is like taking a city walk or an unhurried meal with an erudite, cosmopolitan friendandhellip; Few cultures or historical periods are closed to him. He hops knowledgeably and divertingly from topic to topic. Yet he never strays far from his true interest, reading itself.andrsquo;andmdash;
The Economist.
Review
andldquo;Curiosity is a book about the Talmud and the Mars rover, sophistry and knot-languages, David Hume and reading machines, Zoroaster and Pinocchio andmdash; and, periodically, curiosity and Dante. [Manguel] embraces the character of his own thinking andmdash; miscellaneous, excursive, fragmentary. . . . Closing the last page of this book, I wondered if perhaps Manguel intended to demonstrate curiosity in the behavior of his prose more than to discuss it. In many ways the book ought to be approached as a charming portrait of the curious man.andrdquo;andmdash;Robert Minto, Open Letters Monthly
Review
andldquo;[Manguelandrsquo;s] andlsquo;writing with what others have written,andrsquo; his insistence on being called a reader rather than a critic or an editor, is a noble stance, and he has been faithful to it. May he and his library long flourish.andrdquo;andmdash;Philip Marchand, National Post
Review
andldquo;An eloquent blend of philosophical review, literary audit and memoir. . . . There are plenty of intriguing images and illustrations embedded within the text that help to place us in an earlier time, but a readerandrsquo;s experience with language can also be constructively reset with the help of Manguel. . . . Reading Manguelandrsquo;s book is a pleasing reminder that time, as much as anything, changes our relationship with art, ideas, but also with language itself.andrdquo;andmdash;Iain Reid, Toronto Globe and Mail
Review
andlsquo;Alberto Manguelandrsquo;s dizzying account of curiosity is a fitting testament to his life as a literary evangelist.andrsquo;andmdash;Duncan White, the Daily Telegraph.andnbsp;
Review
andlsquo;Curiosity is amongst the most interesting parades of humane knowledge, wry speculation and intellectual versatility that any curious person might hope to readandhellip; Time and again Manguel retrieves dusty stuff from the out-trays of history and restores them to beguiling currency.andrsquo;andmdash;Frederic Raphael, Literary Review.andnbsp;
Review
andlsquo;Enormously enjoyable about the pleasures of readingandhellip; [a book] about how books help us to be thoughtful, feeling human beings.andrsquo;andmdash;Jonathan Bate, New Statesman.andnbsp;andnbsp;
Synopsis
At one magical instant in your early childhood, thepage of a book that string of confused, alien ciphers shivered into meaning, and at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, areader. Noted essayist and editor Alberto Manguelmoves from this essential moment to explore thesix-thousand-year-old conversation between wordsand that hero without whom the book would be alifeless object: the reader. Manguel brilliantly coversreading as seduction, as rebellion, and as obsessionand goes on to trace the quirky and fascinatinghistory of the reader s progress from clay tablet toscroll, codex to CD-ROM."
Synopsis
A book for book lovers by a true lover of books At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book--that string of confused, alien ciphers--shivered into meaning, and at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader. Noted essayist and editor Alberto Manguel moves from this essential moment to explore the six-thousand-year-old conversation between words and that hero without whom the book would be a lifeless object: the reader. Manguel brilliantly covers reading as seduction, as rebellion, and as obsession and goes on to trace the quirky and fascinating history of the reader's progress from clay tablet to scroll, codex to digital.
Synopsis
At one magical instant in your early childhood, theand#160;page of a bookand#151;that string of confused, alien ciphersand#151;shivered into meaning, and at that moment,and#160;whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, aand#160;reader. Noted essayist and editor Alberto Mangueland#160;moves from this essential moment to explore theand#160;six-thousand-year-old conversation between wordsand#160;and that hero without whom the book would be aand#160;lifeless object: the reader. Manguel brilliantly coversand#160;reading as seduction, as rebellion, and as obsessionand#160;and goes on to trace the quirky and fascinatingand#160;history of the readerand#8217;s progress from clay tablet toand#160;scroll, codex to CD-ROM.
Synopsis
At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a bookthat string of confused, alien ciphersshivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader. Noted essayist Alberto Manguel moves from this essential moment to explore the 6000-year-old conversation between words and that magician without whom the book would be a lifeless object: the reader. Manguel lingers over reading as seduction, as rebellion, as obsession, and goes on to trace the never-before-told story of the reader's progress from clay tablet to scroll, codex to CD-ROM.
Synopsis
An eclectic history of human curiosity, a great feast of ideas, and a memoir of a reading life from the internationally celebrated Alberto Manguel
About the Author
Alberto Manguel is a writer, translator, and editor of international reputation; his many books include The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (with Gianni Guadalupi), the award-winning novel News From a Foreign Country Came, and the short story anthologies Black Water, The Gates of Paradise, and (with Craig Stephenson) In Another Part of the Forest. Born in Buenos Aires, Manguel has traveled extensively and is now a Canadian citizen.
Table of Contents
The Last Page The Last Page
Acts of Reading
Reading Shadows
The Silent Readers
The Book of Memory
Learning to Read
The Missing First Page
Picture Reading
Being Read To
The Shape of the Book
Private Reading
Metaphors of Reading
Powers of the Reader
Beginnings
Ordainers of the Universe
Reading the Future
The Symbolic Reader
Reading within Walls
Stealing Books
The Author as Reader
The Translator as Reader
Forbidden Reading
The Book Fool
Endpaper Pages
Endpaper Pages
Notes
Index