Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books (Unpacking My Library Series) [Hardcover]

Leah Price (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2011 | Series: Unpacking My Library Series

As words and stories are increasingly disseminated through digital means, the significance of the book as object—whether pristine collectible or battered relic—is growing as well. Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books spotlights the personal libraries of thirteen favorite novelists who share their collections with readers. Stunning photographs provide full views of the libraries and close-ups of individual volumes: first editions, worn textbooks, pristine hardcovers, and childhood companions.

In her introduction, Leah Price muses on the history and future of the bookshelf, asking what books can tell us about their owners and what readers can tell us about their collections. Supplementing the photographs are Price's interviews with each author, which probe the relation of writing to reading, collecting, and arranging books. Each writer provides a list of top ten favorite titles, offering unique personal histories along with suggestions for every bibliophile.

Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books features the personal libraries of Alison Bechdel, Stephen Carter, Junot Díaz, Rebecca Goldstein and Steven Pinker, Lev Grossman and Sophie Gee, Jonathan Lethem, Claire Messud and James Wood, Philip Pullman, Gary Shteyngart, and Edmund White.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In its beautiful design, Unpacking My Library is itself an argument for the continuing vitality of physical books and the libraries that contain them.”—The Boston Globe

(The Boston Globe )

"Filled with juicy details about how writers read, collect, and live with their books.”—Jean Temarin, The Chronicle of Higher Education

(Jean Temarin The Chronicle of Higher Education )

Winner of the 2012 New York Book Show Award in General Trade Jacket, as given by the New York Book Show 

(Jacket Cover Design Prize New York Book Show )

"[M]any of the observations may help disorganized book nuts bring some shape to the mishmash of books we call our own libraries."—Alan Bisbort, The Sunday Republican

(Alan Bisbort The Sunday Republican )

“Unpacking My Library is a wild, wide world of authors and their books.  Maul it savagely or gently caress it.”—Fine Books & Collections

(Fine Books & Collections )

"There are many expensive coffee table books about books and libraries, but for a relatively modest cost, Price's volume offers a gorgeous set of pictures . . . [a] lovely book."—Harvey Freedenberg, Harrisburg Magazine

(Harvey Freedenberg Harrisburg Magazine )

"[A] sensual pleasure for the eyes, and a book fans of the writers, and of books and libraries, will enjoy."—Jeff Bursey, Rain Taxi

(Jeff Bursey Rain Taxi )

About the Author

Leah Price is professor of English at Harvard University. She is the author of The Anthology and the Rise of the Novel, Literary Secretaries/Secretarial Culture, and How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain. She writes on old and new media for the New York Times Book Review, the London Review of Books, and the Boston Globe.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 29, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300170920
• ISBN-13: 978-0300170924
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 0.8 x 5.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Books

More About the Author

Leah Price is Professor of English and Chair of the History & Literature program at Harvard University. She teaches the novel, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British culture, narrative theory, gender studies, and the history of books and reading. Price is Humanities Director at the Radcliffe Institute; she also co-directs the faculty seminar on the History of the Book at the Harvard Humanities Center. In 2006 Price was awarded a chair in recognition of exceptional graduate and undergraduate teaching.

Price's books include The Anthology and the Rise of the Novel and (co-edited with Pamela Thurschwell) Literary Secretaries/Secretarial Culture; she has also edited (with Seth Lerer) a special issue of PMLA on The History of the Book and the Idea of Literature. She writes on old and new media for the New York Times Book Review, the London Review of Books, and the Boston Globe.

Unpacking my Library: Writers and their Books is just out from Yale University Press; How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain is forthcoming from Princeton in spring 2012. Price is at work on a new book, The Book that Never Was: How Idealizing the Printed Past is Distorting Our Digital Future.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK ON PERSONAL LIBRARIES THAT IS A TREAT TO LOOK AT AND READ January 19, 2012

By ireadabookaday VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I am a big fan of books about books, living with books, really anything book related, and found this to be a beautifully designed and interesting look at personal book collections.

I was not aware of the dimensions of the book before reading it. I assumed it would be a bigger coffee table type book, but is is surprisingly compact.

Each author's personal library is photographed- though not necessarily in its entirety- folowed by closeups of selected shelves so you get an idea of the space
(you may develop bookcase envy), quantity, and organizational scheme . The author selects 10 books to feature, which are photographed separately. The photographs are accompanied by fairly brief but compelling interviews.

It is a small disappointment that the complete collections weren't photographed . ( What was omitted is addressed in a few of the interviews). I'd like have seen an estimate of the number of volumes in each collection.

This is an interesting and timely book given that physical book collections are probably beginning a decline, even among book lovers. Add this one to your physical collection today.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful look into personal libraries November 26, 2011

By Kari Sullivan

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

A great little book for anyone who still loves to treasure hunt in used bookstores. If you have an emotional relationship with your paper books that your friends don't understand, then you'll find kindred spirits in the interviewees.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed seeing the writers' libraries, but February 19, 2013

By Denise Fayne

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The narrative that accompanied each writer's library photos was repetitive and often too obscure to be of much use to the general reader. I appreciated that most of them were extreme collectors who loved their books, but, like many book collectors, their reasons for their selections were elusive. I would have liked to know more about which books actually aided them in their own writing.