Minuscola "chicca" non solo da amanti del libro ma più in generale da amanti dell'inatteso, fra improbabili elogi di Rumsfeld e appuntite critiche della mancanza di senso dell'avventura indotta dall'uso di internet. Molto piacevole. ( )

This one came in the mail today and it set me back on my heels a bit: I bought it on the strength of Mark Forsyth's other work and didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the physical details, so I was rather surprised to pull out this little booklet from the packaging. It's only about 6 inches tall, maybe?, and 31 pages long.

But oh is it wonderful; an ode to the joys of physical books and the brick and mortar bookshop. Now, that sounds like he's slamming ebooks, and he's not; this is about the one limitation of the internet and ebooks: the unknown unknown. What's the unknown unknown? Well, the known are the books you've read and the known unknown are the books out there that you know exist but you haven't yet read (he uses War and Peace as a fitting example). But the unknown unknown are those books you don't know even exist, just waiting for you to stumble across them in some obscure and perfect bookshop.

I have so many books I've found this way; books I'd never have discovered no matter how great Amazon's recommendation algorithm because they were so completely off the beaten path, so I really connected with this perfect little gem. The writing is perfect and Forsyth has that dry British humour and wit I adore.

I have two of his other books waiting in my TBR and I can't wait to rip into them and I'm definitely going to be checking out his blog, The Inky Fool. ( )

Well I stumbled upon this essay while searching for Mark's other books so it kinda counts as a unknown unknown for me... Reading through the whole book is entertaining and somehow inspiring, and that's all it takes to give it a five star. ( )

Forsyth touts the advantages of getting lost in a bookshop, of serendipity, of finding things you didn’t know existed when you walked in. He contrasts this with online algorithms and their recommendations for things that are likely to interest you. A bit of a grumpy old-media attitude, but I’m in full agreement with his paean to bookshops. ( )

A nice mini pamphlet about unknown unknowns (with appropriate respect to Rumsfeld) and serendipity in bookstores.

Would like to read some of Forsyth's full-length work... probably Etymologicon first. ( )