It happened. Rarer than a celestial line-up. Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby, whose columns typically leave me, variously, shaking my head wondering how small-thinking a good writer can be or, worse, wondering how such poorly reasoned pieces can make it past the editors (where are you, Tom Winship?), has perfect pitch today. In "A Book Lover's Lament," admittedly a soft-ball, Jacoby puts aside his silly retro politics and gives us a beautiful love letter to books. Here are a few lines that I particularly like:
- "I love perusing book reviews and leafing through publishers’ catalogs and nosing around in bookstores. And as my wife discovered when she met me, my idea of interior decoration is books on bookshelves, preferably floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall."
- "With disposable income, however, the world changed. I realized that the pleasure of reading books was amazingly enhanced by the pleasure of owning books. I liked seeing around me books I had already read; I found it gratifying that my encounter with a book continued even after I’d finished reading it."
- "Ah, if only I could read books as fast as I acquire them! Even half as fast would be a blessing. Even a quarter as fast."
- "I’ll never catch up on my must-read list. How can I, when they keep publishing books I’m so impatient to read?"
Well done, Mr. Jacoby. Keep reading, please. And thanks.
