A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books - Softcover

Nicholas Basbanes has become our leading authority of books about books. -- David McCullough "Pulitzer Prize winning biographer and historian"

A Gentle Madness--compulsory for anyone seriously interested in books or curious about the manic nature of collecting. -- Philip Kopper "The New York Times Book Review"

A Gentle Madness is chock-a-block with such strange and appealing characters, each more wonderful than the last. -- Michael Dirda "The Washington Post Book World"

A surprising number of these stories involve nefarious dealings and vicious rivalries, proving that even in our digitized age, books arouse intense emotions, from worship to greed. -- Donna Seaman "Booklist"

A massive, comprehensive, and wonderfully readable history of book collecting and collectors. -- David Walton "The Philadelphia Inquirer"

If anyone in the United States is truly a book person, surely it is Nicholas A. Basbanes. -- Martin Rubin "Los Angeles Times"

A Gentle Madness continues to astound and delight readers about the passion and expense a collector is willing to make in pursuit of the book. The book captures that last moment in time when collectors pursued their passions in dusty bookshops and street stalls, high stakes auctions, and the subterfuge worthy of a true bibliomaniac. An adventure among the afflicted, A Gentle Madness is vividly anecdotal and thoroughly researched. Nicholas Basbanes brings an investigative reporter's heart to illuminate collectors past and present in their pursuit of bibliomania. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year.