Foreword has disappointed me today, because as a site which is dedicated to a particular strand of the love of books, (although perhaps more the design than the content in some cases) it has an implied duty to respect the democracy of book content and book choice, just as much as the democracy of book design.
Today, Amanda posted about noticing a copy of the Kama Sutra on someone else’s shelves and feeling disillusioned in that person. Even more prudishly, she then assumed that she had a right of control over someone else’s bookshelf by asking her readers to help her decide what to do:
a. Ask to “borrow” the book and then let it slip accidentally into a mud puddle?
b. Provide an alternative book jacket in catering to the sensitivities of other nosy patients?
c. Leave behind anti–porn religious tracts the next time I’m at the good doctor’s office?
She then signs off as ‘terribly embarrassed’ — as well she might be, after just being so presumptuous. I’ve never yet noticed a book on someone’s shelves which has disillusioned me, but if I did, I imagine that as a book–lover who respects other people’s right to read what they want to read, I’d recognise it wasn’t my place to shove my oar in unnecessarily. *disillusioned sigh*
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