A Bibliomaniac Challenge

When Melville House announced their Art of the Novella series, my initial emotion was one of relief that there was no '1-Click' method of purchasing the entire series. Three months later, ruefully, I spotted a change of heart: all thirty-seven titles, the five Duel novellas and the Bartleby tote bag, at thirty percent off. I wavered for all of three minutes and placed my order. They arrived last week. My "I would prefer not to" bag and I have been seen around town this weekend.

As I pondered a back-to-back reading of all forty-two novellas, Francis of Nonsuch Book devised a plan, it's slightly crazy but that never stopped me sliding down the headmaster's banister for a dare*. The clever marketing folk at Melville House are supporting the challenge. There are several levels of participation:

• Curious – Read 1 novella
• Fascinated — Read 3 novellas
• Captivated – Read 6 novellas
• Passionate — Read 9 novellas
• Mesmerized – Read 15 novellas
• Obsessed – Read 21 novellas
• Fanatical – Read 27 novellas
• Unstoppable — Read 33 novellas
• Bibliomaniac — Read all 42 novellas

I am unable to resist an attempt at the Bibliomaniac title. These are just novellas, right?

*Sliding down the headmaster's banister? My trophy for the dare was a book, a Vonnegut, though which title I cannot remember. And yes I was caught, landing with a crash outside his study door, in which he was working, with the door open. My punishment was writing out all the names and telephone numbers in the letter 'B' telephone directory, a regular enough punishment at boarding school. I was writing in the halls until the house master excused me at two the next morning. If I recall, it was the first time the letter 'B' had been given as punishment.