H OW TO T A LK A B O UT B O O KS Y OU H A V E N 'T R E AD U.S. $19.95 I f cultured people are expected to have read all the significant works of literature, and thousands more are published onrh year, what are we supposed to do in those inevitable social situations where we're forced to talk about books we havent read? In this delightfully witty, provocative book, a huge hit in France that has drawn attention from critics and readers around the world, literature professor and psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard argues that not having read a book need not be an impedi­ ment to having an interesting conversation about it. (In fact, he says, in certain situations reading the book is the worst thing you could do.) Using examples from such writers as Graham Greene, Oscar Wilde, Montaigne, and Umberto Eco, he describes the varieties of "non-reading"—from books that you've never heard of to books that you've read and forgot­ ten—and offers advice on how to turn a sticky social situation into an occasion for creative brilliance. Practical, funny, and thought- provoking, How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read is in the end a love letter to books, offering a whole new perspective on how we read and absorb them. It's a book for book lovers everywhere to enjoy, ponder, and argue about—and perhaps even read. PIERRE BATARD is a professor of French literature at the University of Paris vm and a psychoanalyst. He is the author of Who Killed Roger Aokroyd? and many other books. JACKET DESIGN: PATTI RATCHFORD AUTHOR PHOTO: RENAUD MONPOURNY/ LES INROCKUPTIBLES F T H E SE S H AV E Y OU talked about convinc­ MOBY-DICK ingly without ever ULYSSES cracking the spine? HEART OF DARK! read so long ago that INVISIBLE MAN you can't remember anything but the title? skimmed just enough to have an opinion? heard about so often that you don't have to bother reading it? actually read? IF YOU DON'T READ THIS YEAR, MAKE THIS THE O ISBN-ID: l-STbTl-MbT-b ISBN-13: 17fl-l-5*lk'11-4b,1-fl 51995 9"781596"914698' www.bloomsburyusa.com How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read PIERRE BAYARD Translated from the French by Jeffrey Mehlman B L O O M S B U RY Copyright © 2007 Les Editions de Minuit English translation copyright © 2007 by Jeffrey Mehlman All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers All papers used by Bloomsbury USA are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Bayard, Pierre, 1954- [Comment parler des livres que l'on n'a pas lus? English] How to talk about books you haven't read / Pierre Bayard; translated from the French by Jeffrey Mehlman.—1st U.S. ed. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-59691-469-8 ISBN-10: 1-59691-469-6 1. Literature—History and criticism—Theory, etc. 2. Books and reading. I. Title. PN45.B34413 2007 809 dc22 2OO7O27178 Originally published in French as Comment parler des livres que l'on n'a pas lus? by Les Editions de Minuit, Paris, 2007 First U.S. Edition 2007 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Typeset by Westchester Book Group Printed in the United States of America by Québécor World Fairfield J never read a book I must review; it prejudices you so. —OSCAR WILDE