Possession is about loss. That book becomes that lost book. As I left New York City and the world of publishing for an unknown future I lost a single box of books while moving. I could have lost Maugham, but was lucky in that it was in another…

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That book is W. Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge. I stole it when I was seventeen. Although I now have many editions, that edition was stolen from the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. The actual writing was not very interesting to me at the time…

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“So tell me.†“It doesn’t work like that.†Alex looked at Jenne and stood awkwardly with his arms straight, hands by his side. As he did, it was clear that the sleeves of his winter coat were too short for his long, thirty-four year old arms. Unbuttoned, the entire…

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This a later chapter of a longer piece.  The first chapter can be found at: The Night Librarian: Chapter One Joseph had tried to stay up until she returned. His stomach growling, sleep overcame him. Still wearing his shoes and school clothes, the boy fell asleep on top of his blankets…

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When I went to my first game at Fenway Park I brought my glove. Eight years old, I imagined that the manager might come out of the dugout and stop at the warning track. Hands on his hips, he would scan the stands until his eyes fell onto mine. Shouting, “Hey…

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INTRODUCTION While reading is often sold as a gateway to other worlds, great books act as a mirror to the reader. In his prologue to How to Read and Why, scholar Harold Bloom writes: It matters, if individuals are to retain any capacity to form their own judgments and opinions, that…

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Joseph stomped up the stairs and slammed his door. He was mad. He was irate. He was livid. Joseph was just plain angry. He sat on his bed and glowered. After refusing to eat dinner (for what reason he could not remember), he had also refused to clear his plate…

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The following is an excerpt from Tom Darling’s novel The Night Librarian. In the book, the narrator buys a collection of discarded books and holds an annual book burning for her high school peers. Here, she defends the practice. A word in defense of burning books. For this discussion…

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It was with an intense desire to prove Mark Twain’s old saw wrong that caused Jill to start a radio call-in show about the weather. In her mind the operative idea in the line, “a lot of people complain about the weather, but few people do anything about it,†was the…

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Introduction I am sitting in science class. I chose the stupidest topic I could: How can you tell if a teacher is an alien? This is what I do in class; ruin it. Still, Mr. Bachman let me do it. I assume he wants to know. Are aliens among…

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One measure of the impact of a cultural event or artifact is its catchphrase being perversely appropriated by any and all completely unrelated causes. From the suffix -gate to the got milk? campaign the sign of success in America is shameless exploitation. Unlike where’s the beef? the title of Rudo…

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            Charlie stood at the plate. He shifted his weight from his front foot to the back.  It was how his father had taught him.  With the tip of the bat he tapped the far edge of the plate. Twice. He raised the bat to his right shoulder.  The bat…

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