The Reader – Summer 2004

If you love to read more than, well, more than just about anything (except possibly that), you’ll love the University of Liverpool’s The Reader, a compendium of, appropriately enough, all things readerly: essays, interviews, reviews, recommendations, even quizzes and crosswords. A “reading lives” section includes Elizabeth Spooner’s “Let’s Hear it For Librarians” (“Sixty-five years ago, at the age of ten, my life began.

If you love to read more than, well, more than just about anything (except possibly that), you’ll love the University of Liverpool’s The Reader, a compendium of, appropriately enough, all things readerly: essays, interviews, reviews, recommendations, even quizzes and crosswords. A “reading lives” section includes Elizabeth Spooner’s “Let’s Hear it For Librarians” (“Sixty-five years ago, at the age of ten, my life began. My teacher gave me a card which, signed by an adult, would permit me to borrow books from the Public Library, books, any books, numberless books, and it’s free!”) and Chris Chilton’s “Real Books, Real Ale, Real Men?,” about the Racketeers, an all-male, hard-drinking, hard-thinking book club (“The pub atmosphere is an integral part of our ethos. We like the noise, we like the beer, we like the idea of talking about literature in these surroundings”). They also have a jam-packed and irresistible-to-reading-fanatics website, complete with forum. (Don’t even go there unless someone reliable promises to come looking for you.) If you’re a fool for the written word, don’t miss The Reader’s unique blend of stimulating prose on your favorite subject, those little black symbols that call to you, call to you. Part of this magazine’s genius is that, in providing a common area for individual readers, it lends an unusual and welcome feeling of camaraderie and belonging to what is essentially a private act. Adjust your reading lamp and enjoy. [The Reader Office, University of Liverpool, 19 Abercromby Square, LIVERPOOL L69 7ZG. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue 4.95 pounds. http://www.thereader.co.uk/] – AS