Books : A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 002
EAN: 9780312317263
ISBN: 0312317263
Label: St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: April 01, 2005
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: March 24, 2005
Sales Rank: 300483
Studio: St. Martin's Griffin
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Product Description:
In the rural Australia of the fifties where John Baxter grew up, reading books was disregarded with suspicion, owning and collecting them with utter incomprehension. Despite this, by the age of eleven Baxter had 'collected' his first book - The Poems of Rupert Brooke. He'd read the volume often, but now he had to own it. This was the beginning of what would become a major collection and a lifelong obsession.His book-hunting would take him all over the world, but his first real find was in London in 1978, when he spotted a rare copy of a Graham Greene children's book while browsing on a stall in Swiss Cottage. It was going for 5 pence. This would also, fortuitously, be the day when he first encountered one of the legends of the book-selling world: Martin Stone. At various times pothead, international fugitive from justice, and professional rock musician, he would become John's mentor and friend.In this brilliantly readable and funny book, John Baxter brings us into contact with such literary greats as Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, J.G. Ballard and Ray Bradbury. But he also shows us how he penetrated the secret fraternity of 'runners' or book scouts - sleuths who use bluff and guile to hunt down their quarry - and joined them in scouring junk shops, markets, auction rooms and private homes for rarities.In the comic tradition of Clive James's Unreliable Memoirs, A Pound of Paper describes how a boy from the bush came to be living in a Paris penthouse with a library worth millions. It also explores the exploding market in first editions. What treasures are lying unnoticed in your garage?
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
I've been on a kick lately where I'm reading lots of "books about books," and/or "books about reading," which led me to pick this one up. The subtitle "Confessions of a Book Addict" is an apt one, as this is essentially a rambling memoir whose only unifying theme is the author's love of books. And while it does delve into the rarefied (and often grubby) realm of book collecting and collectors, that's not really the focus. Actually, other than the author's lifelong love of books and telling a good story, there is no real focus -- which really isn't a problem, since Baxter is able to maintain the breezy entertaining cadence of born raconteurs. And although like many raconteurs, his stories sometimes veer in unexpected directions and digressions, they are rarely unwelcome ones.
Baxter (a sometime fiction writer and noted film biographer) begins at the beginning, outlining his drab and dreary Australian childhood. Like so many bored kids, he found an outlet in books, films, and eventually pulp magazines. As a teen and young man, he grew up something of a science-fiction fanboy, joining the inner circle of Australia's minuscule sci-fi community, while working a dreary job for the national railroads. After some initial forays into writing (including bios for a porn mag), he heads to London, where his love affair with books turns him from a consumer into a collector. The reader tags along with Baxter as he hobnobs with the weird-but-true characters of the used book ... Read More
Rating:  -
The book is a mixture of tidbits about famous collectors, the author's coming of age in Australia, obscure collectibles/authors, and whatever else came to the author's mind. Maybe a hardcore collector could keep up with this account.
I gave it up after 118 pages. I love books and was interested in the Australian descriptions, but became discouraged by the disjointedness of the book.
Rating:  -
This was a terrible disappointment. More of a memoir than anything about book-collecting, it was so disjointed it is hard to say what it was about or what the point was. There seemed to be no context or fabric to the book.
There were, however, HUNDREDS of references to obscure authors, actors, film-writers, magazines and books. There were pages at a time where I was completely lost because I had no idea about whom the author was speaking, but he wrote as if the person was well-known to the reader.
Baxter leads the reader around the world from his beginnings in Australia, thence to Britain to the US and ending in France. Again, there is no context. He would flip from a reference to the obscure artist, to an anecdote about himself or some bookseller or collector and then perhaps mention how he had acquired a book.
If viewed as a book about collecting books, you will not learn much. If viewed as a memoir, there was little that was interesting about the author's life and there was precious little about his life other than acquisitions.
There were a very few nuggets about what makes a book valuable or diminishes its worth to a collector, but they were too few and far between.
If you could not tell by now, I can not see much reason to read this book. I think Mr. Baxter flattered himself to think that either he or his collection would be of general interest.
Rating:  -
I am a book collector and I enjoy my passion very much. Many people would say I'm obsessed but it only takes a book like this one to remind myself that I'm in the minor leagues.
Part memoir and part peek into the world of book collecting, Baxter tells of his youth in the wilds of Australia where, like many of us, he delved into the world of comic book and science fiction collecting. He matured along the way with an interest in Graham Greene before dumping that collection and moving onto other literary interests.
And he did not stay in the wilds of Australia forever. He travelled and made his way up in the world of film and publishing. Baxter has had the fortune as a film critic, writer and collector to meet a number of interesting people, from the writers he collected to eccentric bookmen like Martin Stone. The book has a definite British flavor, though Baxter has made some forays into the United States. Still, any book collector will see things he recognizes in Baxter's experiences and, in some cases, things we wished we could have experienced ourselves.
Let's face it, a person with a passion for book collecting will feel some jealousy when reading of some of Baxter's finds and encounters. Unfortunately, most of us do not have the means and/or opportunity to do some of the things Baxter has done. But this does not totally diminish the fun in seeing how he was able to come to have the experiences he had and it makes for a great read ... Read More
Rating: -
I rated this book 5*'s but not in the normal fashion.The title got my attention as I like "books about books";of which there are a varied lot.To start with,this book is well titled;A Pound of Paper,how unpretentious can you get?
Now, as to my rating:
As an overall book,I enjoyed it at times,at other times I found it a drag,I skipped a lot;but still couldn't put it down.
I rated it 5*'s;but only by adding up 5 single *'s:
1*-As a biography,for anyone who knows the author;I had not
heard of him.
1*- Stories about experiences of buying books and searching
for 1st.editions,inscribed tomes,etc.
1*-Telling what makes a bibliophile "tick".I noted many of
the same traits in myself.
1*- Description of book buying and selling in France.
1*- For the three appendicies.
Each of these areas was overshadowed by his experiences;but so many writers and books were of no interest to me and the whole of Sci-Fi leaves me cold as I don't tend to read much of it;although one with that interest would probably rate the book a 5*,for that material alone.Also,the book is heavily slanted to British and Aussie books and hardly mentions anything else.This is understandable as this was where he lived and where his interests lie.
Nevertheless any bibliophile will enjoy the book and it is really a 5*.I plan to keep it ,mainly for the appendicies.
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