John Sutherland
Rare Book-Dealer
Outside of a Dog: A Bibliomemoir
By Rick Gekoski
Constable & Robinson 286pp £14.99 order from our bookshop
Rick Gekoski’s ‘bibliomemoir’ opens with a telling anecdote. He split from his wife, Barbara, in the 1980s. They moved to separate residences. She took temporary custody of his books, his new place being short on shelves. When, after the decree, he had finally made room for his treasures, she declined to hand them over. It precipitated an existential crisis: ‘My books were gone. It prompted the questions, at once psychological and metaphysical: Was I still me? Who am I with no books?’ The loss of a spouse of twenty years was, one gathers, nothing by comparison.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'It’s history from a bird’s-eye view. From that perspective, we humans are a passing phenomenon.'
Nigel Andrew on three contrasting books about birds by @RSmythFreelance, @JenGAckerman & @JonathanSlaght.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-a-gyrfalcon
Sign up to our e-newsletter and get highlights from the new issue and gems from the archive, as well as exclusive competitions and subscription offers straight to your inbox.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/freenewsletter
'These are first thoughts, but they’re made to last, in a way that makes you wonder how well something that feels so raw really can last.'
@sarahditum weighs up the final book in Ali Smith's seasonal quartet.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/seasons-heatings