The Case for Re-Reading

It's always been a bone of contention between Dara and me that I don't like to see movies or read books more than once. Life seems too short to me. That's not to say I'm not a creature of habit, eating the same thing for breakfast and enjoying going back to the same favorite haunts. Still, about the only book I can ever remember re-reading is Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. Perhaps a strange choice given my eclectic reading habits, but I was curious how a book that I found so insightful and exciting as a teenager would age. (Short answer: not very well, in my opinion.) Lately, I was amused to see Paul Krugman's reference to the Foundation Trilogy in his comment on Sonia Sotomayor's being inspired by Nancy Drew and Perry Mason.

I got into economics because I wanted to be Hari Seldon. Sonia Sotomayor went into the law because she wanted to be Perry Mason.

Which is all a long bit of introspection to point to a NYTimes opinion piece extolling the virtues of and motivations for re-reading books. I bet Dara can find something to relate to in it. Re-reading favorite books is like comfort food for her. Re-readers out there: check it out.