PopMatters is running a series of excerpts from The Solitary Vice: Against Reading, written by Mikita Brottman and published by PopMatters with Counterpoint Press. Some of us will find what the book says rather familiar. Are our lives truly enriched by reading? Or are we merely feeding into an addiction that ruins our eyesight? Imagine the amount of space I would have around the house, if I don't read...
Should he give free rein to his desires, the bibliomaniac can ruin his life, along with the lives of his loved ones. He’ll often take better care of his books than of his own health; he’ll spend more on fiction than he does on food; he’ll be more interested in his library than in his relationships, and, since few people are prepared to live in a place where every available surface is covered with piles of books, he’ll often find himself alone, perhaps in the company of a neglected and malnourished cat. When he dies, all but forgotten, his body might fester for days before a curious neighbor grows concerned about the smell.
[To read more]
PS: PopMatters also has a series on secondhand bookstores.
