The unassuming-by-all-appearances softcover, Lunacy and Arrangement of Books as cleverly written by Terry Belanger brightened a dark, dismal, and chilly winter morning fairly recently and evoked a smile of sheer delight. (I usually glower rather fiercely and silently.) Although very modest and slender in appearance, it managed to cover quite nicely many strange and peculiar treatments of volumes — from Samuel Pepys risers to make all the books level along the top edge to architectural failures in a reading room where large books couldn’t be opened due to the low lighting fixtures.
The writing is direct and contents presented without preamble or pretense. This little volume is important because it reveals the idiosyncrasies of the book trade – that which every buyer and seller of books should know and be aware regarding cataloging, shelving, use, and selection. Informative, amusing, vital, and pertinent: peruse this book and learn from it. Book arrangements are indeed lunatic.
-Reviewed by Lynn Wienck