Double Fold by Nicholson Baker

Double Fold by Nicholson Baker

The ostensible purpose of a library is to preserve the printed word. But for fifty years our country's libraries-including the Library of Congress-have been doing just the opposite, destroying hundreds of thousands of historic newspapers and replacing them with microfilm copies that are difficult to read, lack all the color and quality of the original paper and illustrations, and deteriorate with age.

With meticulous detective work and Baker's well-known explanatory power, Double Fold reveals a secret history of microfilm lobbyists, former CIA agents, and warehouses where priceless archives are destroyed with a machine called a guillotine. Baker argues passionately for preservation, even cashing in his own retirement account to save one important archive-all twenty tons of it. Written the brilliant narrative style that Nicholson Baker fans have come to expect, Double Fold is a persuasive and often devastating book that may turn out to be The Jungle of the American library system.

Nicholson Baker is the author of nine novels and four nonfiction works, including the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Double Fold and the New York Times Notable Book of the Year House of Holes. The New Yorker, Harper's, and The New York Review of Books have all published his writing. He and his family reside in Maine.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780375504440
ISBN 10	0375504443
Title	Double Fold
Author	Nicholson Baker
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2001-04-10
Number of pages	288
Prizes	Winner of National Book Critics Circle Award (General Nonfiction) 2001
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.