Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Packing My Library

By: Alberto Manguel
Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France's Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Packing up his enormous, 35,000 volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, memory and reading.

In this poignant and personal reevaluation of his life as a reader, the author illuminates the highly personal art of reading and affirms the vital role of public libraries. Manguel's musings range widely, from delightful reflections on the idiosyncrasies of book lovers to deeper analyses of historic and catastrophic book events, including the burning of ancient Alexandria's library and contemporary library lootings at the hands of ISIS. With insight and passion, the author underscores the universal centrality of books and their unique importance to a democratic, civilized, and engaged society.

©2018 Alberto Manguel (P)2018 Tantor
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Curiosity cover art
Defiant Joy cover art
Abraham cover art
A Life Observed cover art
First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process cover art
The Man Who Invented Fiction cover art
The Fiery Angel cover art
True Stories & Other Essays cover art
A Light so Lovely cover art
Book Girl cover art
Devotion cover art
Letters to a Young Poet cover art
Primitive Mythology cover art
The Narnian cover art
Henry Miller on Writing cover art
Saint Francis of Assisi cover art

What listeners say about Packing My Library

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Read by a robot

Whilst this is a very interesting topic and Maguel takes us down some interesting discursive avenues, it is indeed usurped by the narrator… the dispassionate and - in fact - Robotic delivery is like a slow day on the 09:00 o’clock news. Id hate to be this guy’s grandchild when it’s time for a bedtime story 😂.

“Slinky Malinky was said to be a rascally cat … it is unknown at this time whether this was a slur or - in fact - a well deserved social designation. Mayhap he is a victim of his environs, subdued by endemic suburban humdrums.”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful book

A very personal and humbling account of the authors love affair with his library. Enlightening and beautifully written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

unlistenable

i keep returning to this as i want to read it but the delivery is pompous and awful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great story not well read 😣

I had heard the abridged version of this on BBCR4. I couldn't wait to hear the full version here. Audible's version is such a disappointment. The narrator's voice is not for me and I gave up after a short listen. He sounds like a newsreader. A very cold reading. Very disappointed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful