Bibliomania...the collecting of books which have no use to the collector nor any intrisic value to a genuine book collector...I had no clue there was a name for my disorder. To be fair, my love of books is tempered by a level headed wife and limited funds, but I do have a hard time passing a stack of dollar discounts without picking out at least one. Chances are 50% of my books will never be read in thier entirety, but they sure look pretty in the boxes Alyssa has put them in in the garage.
Now if you want to know what bibliomania looks like when fully manifested you will want to dig into the life of Ottumwa resident Stephen Blumberg. Called the most succesful book thief of the 20th century, we was like a literary Bonny and Clyde on crack. When he was arrested the authorities found over 5.3 million in rare books in his home. Local librarian legend Nancy Pearl would surely have had a blast sorting through his stacks. Since being released from prison in 1995 Blumberg has left his book theft ways behind but has found himself behind bars for burglary of other items. If only he was content to bide his spare time curled up with a good one on a couch.
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