Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-Read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission (Hardcover)

by Michael Ondaatje (Editor), Linda Spalding (Editor), Michael Redhill (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Writers, it's often said, are readers first and writers second. Frequently, it is the indelible mark left by some book that inspires a person to commit to the writing life. Mining that vein, the editors of Brick, a Canadian literary journal, asked their contributors "to tell us the story of a book loved and lost." The "Lost Classics" issue has been expanded into a book, in which 73 authors--Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, John Irving, Philip Levine, Anchee Min, and Michael Ondaatje among them--write about the books they've loved and lost.

These are books worth stealing, books remembered in the twilight that precedes sleep, books that, for these authors, provided "that moment when a reader seems to have found the perfect mate." Though many of the books extolled here are acknowledged classics, many are not. Helen Garner cherishes a childhood book that "except for members of my immediate family, no Australian I've mentioned the book to ... has had any knowledge of it whatsoever." Sarah Sheard writes lovingly of Down and Out in the Woods: An Airman's Guide to Survival in the Bush, "a manual of food, shelter and first aid [that] was the companion text of my childhood summers." Michael Turner reminisces about a book he never actually read, and Erin Mouré describes a book about the history of fishes that "no one I knew was ever interested in reading." Anne Holzman laments her inability to find a copy of a book for lefty activists called Reweaving the Web of Life (hint to Holzman: check online--used copies are readily available). And Nancy Huston introduces Kressmann Taylor's Address Unknown, "a perfectly astonishing [and prescient] little book." A kind of Rand McNally for the literary explorer, each chapter a hand-forged map leading down bookish roads less traveled. --Jane Steinberg --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly
In Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission, assembled by Michael Ondaatje, Michael Redhill, Esta Spalding and Linda Spalding (editors of the Canadian literary magazine Brick), 74 writers honor books that hang in the world by a thread, if at all. Contributors include the editors; Margaret Atwood on Hjalmar S”derberg's Doctor Glas, which caused a scandal in Sweden in 1905; Anne Carson on Dhuoda's Handbook for William, dating to the 840s, wherein an exiled wife imparts "[t]actics of survival... in this world and the next" to her hostage son (whom she never saw again); and Robert Creeley on David Rattray's How I Became One of the Invisible, "an extraordinary record of... the last of the fifties."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Topeka Bindery (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417711159
• ISBN-13: 978-1417711154
• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Conversation, January 7, 2002

By	C. Ebeling "ctlpareader" (PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission (Paperback)

The act of reading has been mistakenly called solitary. It is all about dialogue and this book has it in spades. Michael Ondaatje and fellow editors from Brick Magazine, a literary journal, invited over 70 past contributors to submit essays singing the praises of lost, long-ago, out-of-print or underrated books that mattered. In other words, it is a collection of love stories, all personable and short. It is a delight on several levels: not only does it suggests some good-sounding reads, it also introduces some interesting reader/writers, many of them Canadian who do not get enough recognition in America.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Books Remembered but Misplaced or Lost!, November 24, 2001

By	Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission (Paperback)

Reading allows us to learn things from others, to experience things we might not ever experience in our own lives, and to go places we wish we could but may never have the chance to. We can go back in time or travel to the future and experience worlds we haven't experienced before. After reading this book I thought of many books I too have lost and misplaced from my earlier years of reading, and wished I had kept, or perhaps not given away. It would be nice to be able to re-read them again, if only they were still in print.

This is a wonderful collection of almost 75 essays, by some of the world's best writers brought together by the editors of Brick: A Literary Journal, that are thoughtful, funny, interesting, witty, and heartwarming. There is such a diverse selection of writers here that there are bound to be several essays for everyone to enjoy.

Jim Moore's essay on "The Salt Ecstasies" by James White who died in 1981 was very inspiring. Jim's poetry is very familiar to me for this was one of the first gay books of poetry I read while coming out. Luckily I still have a first edition copy of this book. Reading this essay inspired me to re-read Jim's poetry once again, and experience the passion & love that he visualized in his poetry for so many of us. Colm Toibin's essay on "Forbidden Territory" by Juan Goytisolo, who was an acquaintance of Jean Genet in Paris in the 1950's, is a tribute to this wonderful Spanish writer. Colm is a fascinating Irish writer himself who has written two wonderful books, " The Heather Blazing" and "The Blackwater Lightship" (See my earlier reviews).

Please don't miss Javier Marias' Afterword. This is writing at its best; intelligent, informative, funny, and touching. The telling of his experience in a bookshop in England, and how the owner was such a fanatical collector that he had a hard time parting with & selling his books is unforgettable. If you love and cherish great books like I do, don't miss this collection of essays. There's something for everyone here. Only one inquiry from me, why isn't this book in hardcover for our collections. Highly recommended!!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let's talk books..., September 27, 2001

By	D. Wright (Seattle) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission (Paperback)

As a reader and librarian who enjoys books ABOUT books almost as much as books themselves, and is always on the lookout for out-of-the-way reads to pass along, this is just the sort of book I love. It reminds me of one of my other favorites, Noel Perrin's A Reader's Delight - another treasure trove of great titles.