It occurs to me that one good use of this blog, and one way to maybe start some conversations, is to list books that are coming in. I purchase a lot of books, probably more than I have time to read, but my intentions are strictly honorable even if the result is, well, more Benjaminian.
In that spirit, and because I stupidly agreed to wait for a callback for a reporter when I really wanted to go get some lunch, here are the books that were waiting for me when I arrived at my office today:
Lisa Gitelman, Always Already New: Media, History and the Data of Culture (just released)
Theodor Adorno The Psychological Technique of Martin Luther Thomas’ Radio Addresses
Albert Bregman Auditory Scene Analysis (I always check this one out from the library and start in on it, and then it gets recalled)
Anne Danielson Presence and Pleasure: The Funk Grooves of James Brown and Parliament (also just released — and I note that there is a nice long section in the index for “Bootsy Collins”)
Now, here’s the question I can’t figure out. I have this pretty constant influx of books. I am running out of space at home (where I do most of my reading) and have resorted to piling books on top of my bookcases. But I do have space in my office (because I rarely do any reading here). How many books do I move from home? How much empty shelf space should I have at any time?