Books Acquired Recently: Strand Edition

Yesterday I once again visited my favorite place in the world, the Strand Bookstore at 12th and Broadway in Manhattan. I was recently remarking to a friend how when I lived within walking distance of the Strand about a decade ago it always seemed like I would go there and there would be a bookContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Strand Edition”

Books Acquired Recently: Desk Copies Edition

Today I received all of my desk copies for the upcoming semester. I’ll be teaching semester one of the first-year composition course, American Literature to 1865, and American Literature Post-1945. It should be a fun semester toggling back and forth between the two American literature extremes! It will make a fascinating contrast. I already haveContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Desk Copies Edition”

Books Acquired Recently: Rocky Mountain MLA Edition II

Today I walked around downtown Boulder, Colorado with a colleague and several new friends as Rocky Mountain MLA wound down. We visited two excellent bookstores, Red Letter Secondhand Books (where they gave me my books in a recycled Borders bag! Independent bookstores forever!) and Left Hand Book Collective, a fantastic all-volunteer leftist bookstore (though I’dContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Rocky Mountain MLA Edition II”

Books Acquired Recently: Rocky Mountain MLA Edition

I’m currently at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association conference, which has been fun so far although the conference hotel does not have free internet access. This afternoon I took a stroll through the book fair and picked up a few things (plus ordered several more that I will write about when I receive them):Continue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Rocky Mountain MLA Edition”

On the Accumulation of Multiple Copies of the Same Book

In an article in the July 12, 2012 New York Review of Books, Michael Chabon writes that he “acquired five copies, of various size and vintage” of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake during the year that he worked his way through the novel. I love this little detail because I, too, find myself obsessively buying different printingsContinue reading “On the Accumulation of Multiple Copies of the Same Book”

Blogging Again.

Welcome to my new blog! I’ve made several previous attempts at blogging that have been derailed for various reasons. The most recent, and most successful, which died due to technical difficulties, is here: http://www.anewyorkerinexile.blogspot.com/. But I’m paying for this one, and one would hope that this factor will give me extra motivation. This summer myContinue reading “Blogging Again.”