Books: A Short Shelf of Tall Tales

A Short Shelf of Tall Tales Fifteen volumes appeal to the senses of humor and wonder

I left the fairy tales lying on the floor I of the nursery," wrote G.K. Chesterton, "and I have not found any books so sensible since." Graham Greene put it another way: "The influence of early books is profound. So much of the future lies on the shelves."

Those shelves are now crowded with volumes ostensibly aimed at the future but in fact trained on another target: the wallets of large people with small children in mind. This year, as before, only...

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