Packing My Library: An Elegy And Ten Digressions

"I bet in his dreams Alberto Manguel never leaves his beloved library; the disassembling and packing of which gives title to this brilliant book. The author describes his mind as capricious. I call it capacious. He references Al-Mutanabbi, Du Fu, Heisenberg, Homer, Pushkin and Verne — all in one paragraph. “I feel so deeply the loss of the books that my hands knew so well,” Manguel writes. “I’m like Thomas, wanting to touch in order to believe.” I doubt the loss of books has inspired a more beautiful work. Read this book — and hold onto it."