Origins of Book Wind

Yeah, I know--you think the name of this blog is Book Wind, as in "the leaves are blowing in the wind." But really, this is Book Wind. As in "wind up your watch and let it run."

The name of this blog is stolen--ok, maybe not stolen, but definitely borrowed--from the last chapter of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. In this chapter, Professor Alcofrisbas compares The Invention of Hugo Cabret to an automaton: "When you wind it up, it can do something I'm sure no other automaton in the world can do. It can tell you the incredible story of Georges Melies, his wife, their goddaughter, and a beloved clock maker whose son grew up to be a magician "(510-511).

Professor Alcofisbas's statement highlights the important role that readers play in making books run. Just as clocks (at least the old fashioned variety) need people to wind them up in order to function, so too books need readers to apply energy in order to work. Without readers and their energy, books are useless and have nothing to do or say.

Book Wind, then, is a place where readers can come together to direct their energies toward books, to breathe life into them, and make them run.