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A lot of books are about a writer: I guess the authors obey the old saying "Write only about what you know". But books about books are very rare.

I found only two delicious books about books over the years, so here they are given a place of honor.

Helen Hanff, 84 Charing Cross Road (1970)(essential book) and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. The first small book is a collection of letters between Helen in New York and a bookstore in London, where she buys classic books. She gets answers from a very British clerk in the shop, Frank Doel. The second small book relates Helen's visit to London and the family of Frank Doel after he died. The charm of the book comes from Helen Hanff's passion for books, her wits, and the contrast with the well bred, well tempered Englishman. The story made a great movie starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. You got to see that: how actors make you feel what is never told.

Dai Sijie Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2000)(essential book)
At the heart of the Chinese revolution came a period of reeducation for intellectuals when they were forbidden to go to school and sent to work in the fields. One student I knew was prevented to go to the university for eight years, then she came to the States to study chemistry in college. Four years of hard work, away from her family and her child. We are free, we keep forgetting that to be an intellectual takes courage in most of the world, specially for women. Some women we formed in France never got a job and even got persecuted in their country of origin. There are people behind what you see on TV. Mr Dai's book (Dai is the family name) was first written in French. It is about that period of cultural revolution in China and forbidden books. It is absolutely beautiful. You got to see the movie(essential movie) too (2002), it is one of these perfect movies that takes your breath way.

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