Why Books and Libraries Matter Politically

In Books: A Manifesto (Weidenfeld) subtitled How to Build a Library, poet and critic Ian Patterson reflects on a life spent with and formed by books. Now, as he constructs the last of many libraries, he makes an impassioned case for the radical importance of reading in our lives - from Proust to Jilly Cooper, from golden-age detective novels to avant-garde poetry. He talked about books and libraries with the novelist Ali Smith who, in Public Library and Other Stories, explored our many-faceted fascination with the book.