The Business of Books

I've been a sucker for books all my life. The weekly visit to the library when I was a kid always netted a stack of 10 books to take home and it was rare that I hadn't finished all of them before it was time to go back. As an adult, I've always felt that bookstores are a bit like candy shops -- all those colorful titles from which to choose. It's usually hard for me to resist no matter how many titles are stacked up on my nightstand or that I've got a valid library card.

But the French publishers clearly have a different kind of consumer in mind. Both Flammarion and Gallimard have lines that take simplicity to a whole new level. For example, take this book:



A browsing American would just pass that one by. So here's the English language version put out by Knopf. Now hmmmm...dashing French officer, a touch of the Arc de Triomphe, what's that all about?



Call me shallow but I like the pictures.

P.S. Happy birthday to my favorite Capricorn. :)