Imaginary Libraries

The new collection of essays by Spanish writer and critic Jorge Carrion (born 1976) is dedicated to the "square, the vertices of which are publishers, bookstores, private and public libraries". As in his debut, "Bookshops", the author combines travel and cultural history into a single narrative to embark on the "quest for literary topographies". He investigates the history of Villa Malaparte, strolls through London with the writer Ian Sinclair, converses with Alberto Manguel, the director of the National Library of Argentina, recalling his predecessor — Borges, engages in a debate about new and antiquarian bookstores with essayist Luigi Amara, and gets caught up in the frantic rhythm of life in Miami. An tireless explorer of the book territory, Carrion sensitively registers its changes: digitization and the threat from marketplaces, new store formats, the new life of libraries, the renaissance of book spaces of experience in South Korea and Japan. And, of course, he once again confesses his love for books, bookstores, and libraries — not only physical but also imaginary. Those that were gifted to us by famous authors — Cervantes, Verne, Borges — in their works, and those that exist within each of us.