My Life in Seventeen Books : A Literary Memoir

A memoir for the bookish-inclined, using personal stories to demonstrate how books have a magical way to move a person from one stage of life to the next.

This is a small gem of a book, tender, humble, loving. Mary Gordon

Sweeney makes a charming companion, telling stories in joyful reflection. Jeff Deutsch, author of In Praise of Good Bookstores

Former bookseller, longtime publisher and author Jon M. Sweeney showswith history and anecdotes centering around books such as Thoreaus Journal, Tagores Gitanjali, Martin Bubers Hasidic Tales, and Tolstoys Twenty-three Taleswhat it means to be carried by a book. He explores the discovery that once accompanied finding books, and books finding us. He ponders the smell of an old volume, its heft, and why bibliophiles carry them around even without reading them. He demonstrates how and why there is magic and enchantment that takes place between people and books.