The Best Read Man in France: A Cautionary Tale - Softcover

Briscoe, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1434400808 ISBN 13: 9781434400802

Publisher: Borgo Pr, 2007

Synopsis

Michael Ashe, an antiquarian bookseller in Los Angeles, suddenly finds his business in decline. Even librarians have turned their backs on books, while pouring money into electronic resources. But Ashe refuses to admit defeat: he continues the hunt for rare tomes in Mexico City and Paris, while struggling with his loneliness and searching for a woman to love. Then he learns the startling story of "the best read man in France." This epiphany leads him into a public battle to save the life of the book itself.

This cautionary tale about the demise of the printed book, the decline of reading, and the conflict of print and digital culture, represents a progress report on our drift toward the chilling world of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Read it while you still can--before more books are "disappeared"!

About this title

About the Author:

PETER BRISCOE is Associate University Librarian Emeritus at the University of California, Riverside. His previous books include a translation of José Cabanis' novel, Night Games (1993), and Reading the Map of Knowledge: The Art of Being a Librarian (2001).

Review:

Library 21's Best Book Selection for 2011. Peter Briscoe has elevated...21st-century librarianship to daring literary heights in this scintillating gem of novelistic insight....Mr. Briscoe's work is refreshing, intellectually exuberant, and engaging. -- Libraries 21 for the Cultivated Librarian

About this edition

• Publisher: Borgo Pr
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1434400808
• ISBN 13: 9781434400802
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 119