The Overleaf Mission Statement

I love books. I always have. There's something about completely losing yourself in the pages of a book, immersing yourself in a parallel universe, real or imagined, shedding your ego and replacing the chatter in your head with an alternative narrative in a way that just isn't possible in any way other than reading. The process of reading focuses your attention, expands your imagination, and exercises your critical thinking skills. Reading can evoke strong emotional responses, allow us to entertain new perspectives and, through a combination of all of these effects, broaden our understanding of the world and ourselves.

I started to read when I was two, which was no mean feat because I was born with impaired vision. But I really wanted to read, so I did anything I could to make that happen, like using magnifiers and large print books (when and if I could get them). I became a voracious reader, gobbling up books as fast as I could find them. I could keep up with and sometimes outpace my peers in speed and volume. In 2010, after nearly forty years of doing it the hard way, my girlfriend bought me an eReader for my birthday.

That was a game changer for me. Suddenly, I could change the print size so I could read at a comfortable distance. My eyes didn't tire as easily and the neck and upper back pain I experienced from excessive reading was suddenly only a memory. This was the Golden Fleece I had been in searching for. As if that wasn't enough, I was also delighted to learn that the majority of books I was interested in--mostly written before 1925--were available for FREE!

So I began to read my way through an awful lot of books I hadn't encountered before via websites like Project Gutenberg. I found it to be much better than a bookstore because the selection was invariably larger than any store could hold. Because everything was free, I indulged myself by selecting titles I might not have otherwise picked, much less even find. I was in Literary Hog Heaven.

After two years of going crazy with eBooks, it occurred to me that it might be nice to have something to show for all this reading I was doing. Maybe a blog! But not a blog that sought just to show how cool and smart I was by reading all these big books. I thought it would be great to encourage people to take advantage of the availability of all this great stuff, especially those who might be a little intimidated by the sheer amount and breadth of the material available for free. I think books are for everybody and that nothing should stand between you and the great (and, if not so great, at least fun and interesting) books. Most of those works aren't as impenetrable and inaccessible as you might think. If you have a curious mind and a desire to read something new, you'll do just fine.

The Internet has given us access to vast libraries of human knowledge and expression on a scale never even dreamed of at any time in our history. The eReader has made those books easier to access for unprecedented numbers of people. I know there are some out there who scoff at eBooks, claiming that nothing beats the feel of a book in your hand and that reading eBooks is a profane, despicable practice that they wouldn't be caught dead engaging in.

You know what? Here's the official position of The Overleaf: Screw them. They can do what they like. Books are nice, but it's what's inside them that counts. And that's what eBooks deliver--the important part. And that's what this blog will concentrate on exclusively.

So, you may ask, "Who is this guy? What are his qualifications?" I am someone who loves to read. I tried studying literature when I first entered college, but I absolutely hated it. My professors reduced literature to disembodied theories that contained none of the blood and sweat and guts of great literature. They sought to break things down into neat little formulas that took all the fun out of reading. In fact, I didn't read for a few years after that, so bad was the taste in my mouth. I even became…God save us...a communication major!

But hey, professors have a job to do, and I believe that academics do valuable work. They are, after all, the curates of our collective cultural memory. But for centuries, they have also been our culture's appointed gatekeepers who ultimately decide which works, authors and eras are to be studied. Book publishers tend to keep in print only those titles that they can sell, causing many worthy books to fall by the wayside. So the availability of a growing digital library of works, including many long out of print and out of reach to readers and scholars for generations, allows us to reevaluate works that have fallen through the cracks. This development may, in turn, change the way we look at our own past. It will certainly make for interesting reading.

I humbly confess that I would rather read an actual book than a volume of literary criticism about a book any day of the week. The men and women who write books are trying to communicate with us, to tell us something that they know about the world and feel passionate about. Most of them don't write books to further a theory or a school of expression. They just write. And they write for us to read. And anyone with access to a computer can explore centuries worth of human thought, science, literature, history, philosophy--all for free.

So I started The Overleaf. Here are some basic guidelines I pledge to abide by:

1. I won't talk down to my readers. I'm here to help people learn about books, not make them feel inadequate because they don't know something.
2. I will only provide links to free eBooks from non-profit organizations.
3. I won't accept any advertising from any commercial entity in exchange for links to their websites. This site is for spreading the word about books, not for making money. If I mention a title that isn't available for free, I will always encourage readers to visit their local libraries or their favorite bookstores.
4. There are times when I might not know what I'm talking about. If you think I'm wrong about something, use the comments section or write me an email. I'll leave criticism up in the comments section as long as the comments are civil and constructive. If you're a jerk, then away goes your comment, and no snarky emails will be answered.
5. I'll try to post a new article about twice a month.

That's basically it. I'll read books and tell you about them. My greatest hope is that one of my readers will pick up on a book they learned about here and discover a whole new world they didn't even know they were waiting for. That's the ultimate pleasure of reading. If that happens, please write to me and let me know.

A dear friend of mine, after reading my first few posts, said to me, "I love that you're giving all these old books back to the world." That's the plan!

Happy Holidays, all! See you in 2013!