Friday, December 09, 2005

"So what" books

Light Reading Gone Wild - New York Times: "Some books are meant to be read closely. Some are meant to be skimmed. And some are meant to be opened at random so that they can reveal weird, little-known factoids that are meant to astonish. In the last case, unfortunately, the more common response is, 'So what?'"

I usually find myself the recipient of at least one of these books each year, and I do find great amusement in them. At least on the two or three flip-throughs that I give them before they go on my "reference" shelf. Maybe it's because I'm a writer that people buy me these things, because I want every obscure dictionary or book of quotations, or because I like the idea of these things. But who is ever going to read them? I don't. What the article points out is true. They are great to flip through, the require no attention span, and that makes them especially good for Christmas Day. I'm sure there's one in my future for this year.

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