How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read

“Provocative, challenging and witty…In challenging the line between reading and non-reading, Bayard actually whet my appetite to read more.”—*USA Today With so many important books out there, and thousands more being published each year, what are we supposed to do in those inevitable social situations where we’re forced to talk about books we haven’t read? Pierre Bayard argues that it doesn’t really matter if you’ve read a book or not. (In fact, in certain situations, reading the book is the worst thing you could do.) Championing the various forms of “non-reading,” How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read *is really a celebration of books, for book lovers everywhere to enjoy, ponder, argue about—and perhaps even read.Review“Brilliant…A witty and useful piece of literary sociology.”—*London Review of Books “I read and adored Pierre Bayard’s book. I t's funny, smart, and so true—a wonderful combination of slick French philosophizing and tongue-in-cheek wit, and an honest appraisal of what it means, or doesn't mean, to read.”—Claire M essud, author of *The Emperor’s ChildrenAbout the AuthorPierre Bayard is a professor of French literature at the University of Paris VIII and a psychoanalyst. He is the author of Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?, and many other books.