On Browsing
Description
Nominated for the 2023 Heritage Toronto Book Award
A defense of the dying art of losing an afternoon-and gaining new appreciation-amidst the bins and shelves of bricks-and-mortar shops.
Written during the pandemic, when the world was marooned at home and consigned to scrolling screens, On Browsing's essays chronicle what we've lost through online shopping, streaming, and the relentless digitization of culture. The latest in the Field Notes series, On Browsing is an elegy for physical media, a polemic in defense of perusing the world in person, and a love letter to the dying practice of scanning bookshelves, combing CD bins, and losing yourself in the stacks.
More details
Person
Jason Guriel is the author of several books, including the verse novel Forgotten Work (Biblioasis 2020). His writing has appeared in Air Mail, The Atlantic, Slate, The New Republic, The Yale Review, The Walrus, Poetry, and elsewhere. He lives in Toronto.
Content
- Intro
- Browser History
- In Praise of the Mall, Boredom, and Just Browsing
- An Elegy for Effort, Memory, and Passion
- I Remember the Bookstore
- Second Spin
- Three Elegies for Bricks and Mortar
- Against the Stream
- Late Adopters
- Coda: A Program of Resistance
- Notes
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Copyright
