Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

I was reading Ex Libris as my 9-year-old daughter Sarah was reading a Marguerite Henry book. I laughed out loud, and Sarah wanted to know why, so I read her a passage from Ms. Fadiman's essay on taking care of books. There are two camps of booklovers: the "words are everything" group, into which the entire Fadiman family, as voracious a bunch of readers as you could imagine, belongs. They write in margins, dog-ear pages, break spines. To them, a book is merely a container for the thoughts in it. And then there are the folks who would never write in a book, or turn down a page. I asked Sarah, who's been reading, avidly, for six years, which group she belonged to. Of course the words are important, she replied, but if you don't take good care of the book, you won't be able to read them. You can have that sort of conversation over and over while reading the essays that make up Ex Libris, and since you care about books (why else would you be visiting the store dot com, or Ms. Fadiman's page?), you probably will -- even if you're alone, and the conversation is internal.

Books created by collecting an author's magazine columns are usually shoddy work at best. So what makes this compact volume such an instant classic? The subjects? The prose? The charm? All I know is that if I only had time to save one book from my house before it burned down, it would be this one - because it would help console me for the loss of all the others!
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for all bookworms, this is essential reading!!! a close friend recommended the book to me but i knew that i had to get my very own copy of the book since i knew that i was probably going to refer to it as much as i do a thesaurus.
Fadiman totally cracks me up but the best aprt of it is that i felt like i was reading all about myself -- i understood and could relate to all that she was saying -- as though she were dictating the words in my mind -- and i think all the people out there who are addicted to books will feel the same about EX LIBRIS.
And in case you aren't yet addicted to books, EX LIBRIS will transform you into one of us people who spend their money on nothing else but books!!

If you can't imagine anything more enjoyable than spending time with someone who treasures books as least as much as you do, enter the world of Anne Fadiman and her family. Halfway through the first essays in this slim volume, I started to compile a list of all the people I wanted to read this book. I'm afraid I may not be able to wait till the holidays. I must confess that I am the leader of the local chapter of Ms. Fadmiman's fan club, on the basis of her subtle, moving account of cultures in collision (The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down). The restraint needed to tell that tale of a Hmong child and her American physicians is not needed here, and I was swept up in the exuberance of a woman and her passion for books and reading. I'd write a bit more, but there's a second-hand book shop I have to locate.

This is probably the best book I have read all year. It is a bright and shining example of the essay at its best. I laughed out loud at Fadiman's examples of familial obsession with grammar. And even though I had to look up 44 words I had not previously encountered and many books I have not read, Fadiman never comes across as an elitist, merely word-drunk. This book is intoxicating!

This collection of essays about books and reading is delightful. The author takes books seriously, but doesn't take herself too seriously, which makes this book a great deal of fun for her fellow book lovers to read.

I love books about books, and this one is no exception. Ex Libris compiles 18 short, utterly charming essays chronicling Anne Fadiman's love of books, reading, and language. Fadiman is witty and intelligent without being pompous. Her bibliophilism is contagious. Highly recommended.

This book is adorable! (And I've been enjoying seeing all the perfectly spelled reviews here!) I was only sorry it was so short. Every chapter made me wish I had the author for a friend. I almost cried with joy reading the description of the Fadiman family at the restaurant, horribly distracted from the food by misspellings-- I always thought we were the only ones.
I was a big fan of her genial father Clifton, and I see the talent came down in the family. Anne, come to Paris!

I'd planned to read this one slowly - an essay a day perhaps? - afterall, I can manage just one Godiva chocolate a day - but resisting Fadiman is harder than resisting chocolate!

These are such delightful, thought-provoking little pieces.

All that and no calories.

Wow.. I read this wonderful book in 3 hours on a flight. I bet my fellow-passengers were wondering why I was laughing so hard at times. Her essays sum up what it means to be a book-lover. She has a great writing style, makes her point, and is witty.
I'll certainly agree with the person who said that he's jealous of George. I sure am.

Ex Libris is an outstanding book for those who enjoy reading and the pleasures that a library offers the reader. The authors love of books and reading comes alive in every page as only a reader will appreciate. I sat in my reading chair and enjoyed sharing her insightful look at books and their impact on an individual. Easy to read, honest and delightful in that it shares her personal enjoyment with the reader. Worth the purchase as you will not be disappointed.

Collected essays about books - what could be better than to take a dip into someone else's bibliomania! Have you ever worried about moving books into a new home? Pondering storage for your books? What a wonderful psychosis. Very enjoyable.

The best book on bibliophilia out there. I have kept this book by my bedside for years, and never tire of it. Fadiman is a smartypants, a comedian, and a sincere book lover who offers comfort and joy!

A book to read and enjoy for people for whom books have always been a part of their lives. If books are generally exchanged in your family for XMas and birthdays, fathers days and mothers days, you will find something in this book for you.

Beautifully written, warm, and generous. A book lovers delight! Ms. Fadiman does a wonderful job of bringing to life each individual portrayed in her essays. A very engaging, often humorous, and lively read. And yes, I lent this boook and it was not returned. The reviewer who noted that was right! This book is easy to get attached to.

This is a wonderful little volume on reading and books. Fadiman is anything but pretentious. She is an honest bibliophile, as few people are and has a gourmet knack for a good turn of phrase. I loved the book. I have bought many copies and have been gifting them to friends who share my secret obsession with the well-written word. Here's hoping that we see many more from Anne Fadiman.

Ok, it's awkward to admit that a professor of English buys books at the supermarket but... addicts among us unite! Ex Libris is the funniest and most astute book about book lovers I've ever read. Until I read Anne Fadiman, I thought that Dorothy Sayers was the only popular author who tested readers of Milton for fun and profit. I'm going back to the supermarket to buy one for all my bibliophile amici.

I absolutely love this book and Anne Fadiman. In nearly every essay, I found myself laughing out loud and sharing the same sentiment she also has for books.

I recommend it to anyone who loves reading books about books.

Two thumbs up!

It was so much fun to feel accompanied in the somewhat foolish love of books and their presence in life. The way Ms. Fadiman let's us into her private life and History is very well accomplished. I especially loved the essay in which the love of reading was passed down to her by living in a household where reading was commonplace (books stacked on every horizontal space, including the toilet)

I loved it. Such humanity, such bookishness, such intense love of words and books... it's been some time since I read such an intense book.
I shall now proceeed to buy her other books, and a book she she refers to, The Tiger in the House.

This is a lovely book. Quick to read and enjoyable from the front to the back. Fadiman is from a family of writers and -- more importantly -- readers. Her home growing up was filled with words, manuscripts, writing, books and good reading. The love of books and words comes through in her shining prose in this book.
Beautifully written and fun to read, this a book that any dedicated reader should have on his or her bookshelf.

In my opinion, the one redeeming chapter in this book belongs on the "odd shelf" of the book. It relays the story of the author's fascination with the untameable breadth and mystery of the Antarctic, and the even greater mystery of those who would seek to explore and overcome its caustic yet captivating terrain.

This chapter offered a rare moment in the heart of this contrivedly witty, cute but unconsciously trite account of the author's supreme relation to books and literature. It was the one chapter in which the annoyingly self-aggrandizing and (unsuccessfully) "common" pretense of the narrative voice opened up into a reflection far greater than the usual smart self-awareness and approving, pat-on-the-back revelation; here the tone, the narrative opened up into scintillating wonder of the "other" in the text, the "object" of Fadiman's reading rather than the subject (herself): the Antarctic explorers who strived and failed and endured insane extremities, motivated by a mystery that the author cannot seem to reduce to one of her many smart but smirky witticisms (though she tries at the end of the chapter, but here we tend to brush off the bizzare triteness of her concluding words, being so captivated as we are at the end of her sharp and wonder-inducing account of these fearless Arctic explorers).

Aside from the wonderful and well crafted trip to a far away place that this chapter offers, I found myself floundering through this maddeningly self-featuring narrative, wondering whether I should stop now before I was overcome by irritation and tempted not to pick up another book again, or to continue reading and let my feelings of annoyance build and deepen in some twistedly cathartic way. Here is a set of essays that attempts to evoke the "common" joy and passion for books and for all things literary, but ends up, instead, basking in an unpalatable celebration of one particular reader's (the author's) quizzical literacy.