Some common knowledge of texts, songs, sayings, news stories, and films is also a good thing — without it, conversation would be impossible. Uniformity is boring and numbing, but absolute differentiation isolates us. In order for diversity to be enriching, a common base of knowledge is required. Beyond that, variety is preferable. What is desirable is not that all books should have millions of readers, but that they should attain their natural readership — the readership they might have in a perfect world where distribution was flawless and price not an issue, giving every possible interested reader the opportunity to read them.
Rory Gilmore, an avid reader, walks into the Library at Harvard and despairs. She's 16 and she's barely read 300 books and here are over 15 million volumes. It suddenly dawns on her that all she'll ever be able to read is a fraction of a drop in the ocean compared to what's available. She is horrified.
This is the book Rory Gilmore should read. This is the book everyone who's ever felt like Rory Gilmore should read.
Short and definitely sweet.
