Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Chihaya, Sarah
Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Chihaya, Sarah

Bibliophobia: A Memoir

"A must for the obsessive reader." Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or and The Idiot A "soul-baring, witty,...
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
SKU: 9780593594728
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 0 left in stock
Author: Sarah Chihaya
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $342.84
10 customers are viewing this product
Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Chihaya, Sarah

Bibliophobia: A Memoir

$342.84
Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Chihaya, Sarah

Bibliophobia: A Memoir

$342.84
Author: Sarah Chihaya
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description
"A must for the obsessive reader." Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or and The Idiot

A "soul-baring, witty, and slyly provocative"* memoir about reading, writing, and depression (Whiting Foundation)

"Bibliophobia: occasionally manifests as an acute, literal fear of books, though more frequently develops as a generalized anxiety about reading in patients who have previously experienced profound--perhaps too profound--attachments to books and literature... You may have bibliophobia if you frequently experience intense reactions to books that somehow act on you, or activate you, in ways that you suspect are unhealthy or hurtful--or at times, simply bad for you. And yet, they are necessary; you would not be you without them."

Have you ever read a book and felt so gutted by it that you knew you'd never recover? That it made you sit differently in your own skin? A book that complicated everything you believed in and changed the way you read the world around you forever? This is what Sarah Chihaya calls a "Life Ruiner". Sarah's Life Ruiner was The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. When she read it in her high school English class, she could no longer pretend not to notice how alien she felt as a Japanese American in a predominantly White suburb of Cleveland. Shaken, she set out on a quest--for the book that would show her who she was and how to live in an inhospitable world.

There were lots of scripts available, and she tried to follow them--skinny athlete, angsty artist, ambitious academic. But a lifelong struggle with depression thwarted the resolution to every plot, and when she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question: can we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives?

Alternately searing and laugh-out-loud funny, Bibliophobia is a deft combination of memoir and criticism in the vein of Geoff Dyer and Olivia Laing. Through a series of books, including The Bluest Eye, Anne of Green Gables, Possession, A Tale for the Time Being, and The Last Samurai, Sarah Chihaya interrogates her cultural identity, her relationship with depression, and the necessary and painful ways that books can push back on the readers who love them.

Author: Sarah Chihaya
Publisher: Random House
Published: 02/04/2025
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
ISBN: 9780593594728
Shipping & Return

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Review

Related Products

Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84
Example product title
HK$342.84
HK$342.84

Recently Viewed Products