Ruined by Reading

A Life in Books

By: Lynne Sharon Schwartz

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Paperback | 30 May 1997

At a Glance

Paperback
128 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 0.64

Paperback

$51.75

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In this wonderfully written and enchanting meditation, Lynne Sharon Schwartz explores what the act of reading means - an act that is in danger of being lost today. She interweaves the story of her Brooklyn childhood with vivid memories of particular books, from a black leather-bound Harvard Classic edition of the Grimm and Andersen fairy tales, to the popular novels condensed by Readers Digest, to A Tale of Two Cities. Schwartz offers a deeply felt insight into why we read and how what we read shapes us. Without books, she asks, "how could I have become myself?" Reading and writing for Schwartz are inextricably linked, and here she gives an intimate glimpse of how she became the writer she is today. Books and movies, books and paintings, books and childhood, books and life itself are the subject of this delightful and touching literary excursion. Ruined by Reading will renew your passion for books in this electronic age. Reading it is a deliciously indulgent act of protest for all those who treasure the joys of the printed word.

Industry Reviews

Ferociously intelligent. . . . Schwartz obeys the laws of gravity, but also manages to float free of the Earth at times, and almost to fly. -Frederick Busch, Los Angeles Times Book Review "This slender rhapsody on the joys of reading will be gobbled up like the rarest and finest chocolate." -Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

"Provocative. . . . A moving memoir. As Schwartz defines for herself why she reads, she helps others understand their literary obsessions." -John Espey, Chicago Tribune

"I was at home in this book as if I was, in fact, at home in one of our old big chairs reading myself into life." -Grace Paley, author of Long Walks and Intimate Talks

"Lynne Sharon Schwartz successfully maps the gray areas of a passion some might find hard to classify as a true addiction: reading books. The accuracy of Schwartz's insight made this addicted reader, at least, feel uncomfortably well seen; she nailed me, page after page." -Stacey D'Erasmo, New York Newsday

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