“The number of people who read books is getting smaller and smaller, but the size of the books they read seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Step into a Barnes & Noble or a Borders and you will see shelves sagging with supersize works, some so back-breakingly heavy they are shipped in boxes with plastic handles. Search online and you’ll discover larger-than-coffee-table tomes. The illogic of this phenomenon speaks volumes — ever-expanding volumes — about the state of reading in contemporary civilization.”