The antilibrary

Umberto Eco kept a library so large that visitors split into two kinds: those who asked how many of these have you read?, and those who understood that the unread books were the point. Nassim Taleb named the collection: the antilibrary — the books you circle, cite the existence of, and haven’t opened, standing as a map of your known ignorance.

When the library wing of this site is built, it will have two shelves, and the second will be longer than the first: the books actually read, and the antilibrary — with a line each on why the book is circling me. A read shelf tells you where someone has been. An antilibrary tells you where they are pointed, which is more honest and more interesting.