Monday, January 30, 2006

Burn A Book Day!

The other 364 days of the year can be as grand a celebration of knowledge and learning and free speech as you can afford to decorate. But today you have to burn a book. Just one. And do it privately and silently, and don't share with others which book you choose to burn. It's none of their business if you choose to burn a Paul Auster memoir because you don't see any point to it ever having been written. You don't even have to have read the book. You might choose to burn a Bulgakov novel simply because you think the cover is "dumb." It's no one else's business and it should stay that way. People get really critical of which books other people choose to burn. Almost as critical as they are regarding the books other people choose to read. If the book you burn was chosen solely for its girth, keep that fact to yourself. You don't want everyone to know that you chose your book based on its likelihood to keep your family warm for the longest period of time. You don't want everyone to find out you are homeless just because you can't keep your gums from flapping on Burn A Book Day.

Happy Burn A Book Day!