So Many Books: Reading Andpublishing in an Age of Abundance

This brief guide argues that, in the future, books will be less precious than the time it takes to read them. It addresses how to tackle personal "must read" lists and pare them down to the books that will truly benefit their readers -- which ones to start this year, which to put on hold, and which to pull off the sagging shelves. This witty volume describes the importance of books, the way they deepen conversations, and how they create a special hold on their readers. Rather than attempting to answer the question "What should we be reading?", it encourages individuals to come up with their own answers.

About the Author :
Gabriel Zaid is a poet, essayist, and the founder and manager of a consulting firm. His literary work, cultural criticism, and business writings have been widely published throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

Review :
Praise for Gabriel Zaid and So Many Books "Gabriel Zaid's defense of books is genuinely exhilarating. It is not pious, it is wise; and its wisdom is delivered with extraordinary lucidity and charm. This is how Montaigne would have written about the dizzy and increasingly dolorous age of the Internet. May So Many Books fall into so many hands."--Leon Wieseltier "With cascades of books pouring down on him from every direction, how can the twenty-first-century reader keep his head above water? Gabriel Zaid answers that question in a variety of surprising ways, many of them witty, all of them provocative."--Anne Fadiman, Author of Ex-Libris "A truly original book about books. Destined to be a classic!"--Enrique Krauze, Author of Mexico: Biography of Power, Editor of Letras Libres "Gabriel Zaid's small gem of a book manages to be both delectable and useful, like chocolate fortified with vitamins. His rare blend of wisdom and savvy practical sense should make essential and heartening reading for anyone who cares about the future of books and the life of the mind."--Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Author of Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books "Gabriel Zaid is a marvelously elegant and playful writer--a cosmopolitan critic with sound judgment and a light touch. He is a jewel of Latin American letters, which is no small thing to be. Read him--you'll see."--Paul Berman "'So many books, ' a phrase usually muttered with despair, is transformed into an expression of awe and joy by Gabriel Zaid. Arguing that books are the essential part of the great conversation we call culture and civilization, So Many Books reminds us that reading (and, by extension, writing and publishing) is a business, a vanity, a vocation, an avocation, a moral and political act, a hedonistic pursuit, all of the aforementioned, none of the aforementioned, and is often a miracle."--Doug Dutton "Zaid traces the preoccupation with reading back through Dr. Johnson, Seneca, and even the Bible ('Of making many books there is no end'). He emerges as a playful celebrant of literary proliferation, noting that there is a new book published every thirty seconds, and optimistically points out that publishers who moan about low sales 'see as a failure what is actually a blessing: The book business, unlike newspapers, films, or television, is viable on a small scale.' Zaid, who claims to own more than ten thousand books, says he has sometimes thought that 'a chastity glove for authors who can't contain themselves' would be a good idea. Nonetheless, he cheerfully opines that 'the truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more.'"--New Yorker