Revew of "Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books" by LS Schwartz

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Review of "Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books" by Lynn Sharon Schwartz

There are books that you race through, anxious to see what happens next, to learn where the storyline will take you. Then there are books that are meant to be savored, drawn out slowly to enjoy their mastery of the written word. It's only fitting that a book like “Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books” by Lynne Sharon Schwartz should be one of the latter.

The first thing that makes a reader want to undertake this longish essay (with no chapter breaks, unhappily) is its title. Anyone who loves to read, who adores books, and is likely to be drawn to read a book on just that subject will likely find the title confusing. How can anyone be ruined by something so wonderful? The paradox is finally revealed, although not until very far along in the story. Revealing the secret is not something that anyone who actually plans to read this book will want to know ahead of time, but suffice it to say, the event that leads the author to conclude such a thing is intertwined with family events.