He who destroys a good book kills reason itself.

John Milton

 

 

Book lovers, you can exhale,’ assures The New York Times. Thanks to the interest of designers and interior decorators, ‘the printed, bound book has been given a stay of execution.’ According to the Times, even as the popularity of digital reading devices grows, the book’s status as a fetish object is giving rise to all kinds of new enterprises devoted to satisfying customers’ bookish desires. The newspaper cites online second-hand dealers Wonder Books as evidence of the trend. Initially a standard online operation, Wonder Books now provides ‘books by the foot’ to designers, set decorators and artists. According to the chief financial officer, Bob Thompson, the company’s success is explained by the move from ‘book-think to widget-think’, or to put it more plainly, they now consider books as much more than just reading matter.