FROM THE PUBLISHER

This robust collection of more than five hundred quotations captures the wisdom and wit of the most insightful things ever said about books, spoken and written by many of the most famous writers from antiquity to the present day. Included are comments from: Woody Allen, Jane Austen, Saul Bellow, A. S. Byatt, Willa Cather, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Henry James, Franz Kafka, Jamaica Kincaid, Malcolm X, John Milton, Toni Morrison, George Orwell, John Ruskin, Charles Scribner, George Bernard Shaw, Oprah Winfrey, W. B. Yeats, and many more. The Quotable Book Lover includes sections on writing, reading, libraries, literacy, censorship, publishing, autobiography and biography, and literature - as well as a special section on book collecting by Nicholas A. Basbanes. This compilation is sure to entertain and enlighten book lovers everywhere.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

This volume is a fresh and handy addition to the already well-worn crop of quotation dictionaries. Publisher Jacobs and freelance journalist Hjalmarsson have compiled over 500 book-related quotes and divided them into ten thematic sections--from "Reading" to "On Writing" to "Censorship and the Destruction of Books." Drawing from the words of historians, entertainers, political activists, educators, authors, and statesmen, the authors have included everything from Thomas Jefferson's familiar "I cannot live without books" to Katharine Hepburn's "What in the world would we do without our libraries?" Each quote is attributed to an individual, for whom some biographical information is given, and each section contains a brief introduction. The volume also contains an excellent foreword by Nicholas Basbanes, author of A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books. Although some of the older quotations collected here, like Jefferson's, appear in standard quotation dictionaries, most of the more recent ones don't. In addition, the compilation of so many quotations on book-related topics--from "Libraries" to "Literacy" to "Literature"--makes this a uniquely valuable reference tool for patrons and librarians alike. Library staff and administrators might want to scan the book for quotations to use in promotional literature; for funding appeals; on library bookmarks, screensavers, or web sites; or in conjunction with traditional book displays. Recommended for all academic and public libraries.--Leah J. Sparks, Bowie P.L., MD Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

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