The Istoriaphile’s Corner

I used to listen to the Book Radio Channel.  This as a 24/7, 365 internet channel where books and radio serials were read aloud to the subscribers and I liked it.   Instead of the same 250 songs in rotation, I got stories.  Some were familiar and loved but often they were something new and either way, I was entertained.  Imagine, a channel whose programming targeted my special interest!  Evidently that interest was too specialized to be profitable because they closed the channel down but not before I found another book worth keeping.   Trust Book Radio Channel to read Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair out loud.   This fantasy is a bibliophile’s dream. The Eyre Affair is one of those alternate-universe stories but one where Readers are the Cool Guys on Campus.   Seriously.   Writers are treated like rock stars.  The populace likes watching Shakespearean plays (In one place, “Richard III” is watched and performed nightly by a group of  Rocky-Horror type devotees) and the Baconites go around witnessing like Mormons.  There are other, less-startling ideas like a time-traveling guard and a Crimean war that lasts longer than a century but nothing compares to a public that cherishes books. The…