Patti Smith Defends Ink, Paper

by Liz Colville

“I dreamed of having a book of my own, of writing one that I could put on a shelf. Please, no matter how we advance technologically, please don’t abandon the book. There is nothing in our material world more beautiful than the book.” — Patti Smith, upon very deservedly winning the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids last night. And it makes you wonder, why are we so into e-readers again? What are their charms, besides the frisbee-like obvious? Tell me.