From Last Letter to a Reader, an essay collection, which will be published in May by And Other Stories.

I have my own way of assessing the worth of a book—not just a so-called work of literature but any sort of book or, for that matter, any piece of music or any so-called work of art. I could say in simple terms that I judge the worth of a book according to the length of time during which the book stays in my mind, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to explain how the reading of a book…