Jorge Carrión

The title is very poor for what is, in reality, an excellent set of essays on book culture, collecting, and shops. The introductory polemic against Amazon is fine, if a bit standard, but the book moves sharply along to a varied set of essays, interviews, and travelogues that I found extremely pleasant. I don't side with Carrión on everything (for example, his maybe-maybe-not tongue-in-cheek dislike for used bookshops over new; he says of used shops, "they are death") but he always provides food for thought. I loved the interview with Alberto Manguel (I know he's Argentine by birth, but allow me a little Canadian pride here) and I loved the essay on Borges. This is only Carrión's second book in English and I hope more is translated soon!… (more)