From an Associated Press.A man in Kansas City has decided to set fire to his entire collection of over 20,000 books to protest against 'society's diminishing support for the printed word'.
"This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today," Tom Wayne reportedly told spectators outside his bookstore before he set fire to the first lot. (The Kansas City Fire Department put out the fire after 50 minutes because Wayne didn't have a permit to burn his books. Wayne has promised to get a permit
the next time.)
Tom Wayne says he will continue to burn a bunch of books every month until all his stock is exhausted to attract attention to his cause. Many customers took advantage of the book-burning to hunt for bargains. One man bought a stack of books, including an antique collection of children's literature. He said, "(Wayne has) made the point that not reading a book is as good as burning it."
The report also says, "... a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, that found that less than half of adult respondents reported reading for pleasure, down from almost 57 percent in 1982."
This appears to be more a marketing ploy to get people into his shop, Prospero Books, and attract attention to himself. No true lover of books will even contemplate, let alone carry out, such sacrilege. There are other ways to save a business.
Full story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070528/ap_on_re_us/book_burning
A marketing ploy indeed. And a rather preposterous one! I would rather have him burn himself than the books, you know, do the Gandhi (no offence intended), it is without a doubt more dignified.
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