September 24, 1997
Contact:
Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
New Book Describes the Pleasures of Reading as Seen by Contemporary Writers
In association with the Center for the Book in the Library
of Congress, Milkweed Editions of Minneapolis, MI has just
published The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the
Pleasures of Reading.
Edited by writer Michael Dorris (1945-1997) who wrote the
introduction, and writer and publisher Emilie Buchwald, this
collection of short essays from 57 of today's best writers is an
eloquent testament to the importance of books. The contributors,
although they came to reading in many different ways, remember
how books allowed them to escape to other places and times, and
helped them feel less alone. They include Nicholson Baker,
Charles Baxter, Alan Cheuse, National Public Radio's Bob Edwards,
Gretel Ehrlich, Doris Grumbach, Thom Gunn, poets J.D. McClatchy
and Naomi Shihab Nye, Katherine Paterson, and Poet Laureate
Robert Pinsky.
In his afterword, Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole
describes the center's activities and "Building a Nation of
Readers," its national reading promotion theme for the years
1997-2000.
A 297-page book, The Most Wonderful Books sells for
$14.95. It is available in bookstores around the nation and in
the Library of Congress Sales Shop.
For information about the Center for the Book and its
publications, visit the center's site on the World Wide Web at
http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/.
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PR 97-159
9/24/97
ISSN 0731-3527