A working library is an exploration of—and advocate for—All books by lewis hyde
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Trickster Makes This World
Lewis Hyde
Hyde exceeds the terrain of “creative nonfiction” (a term I always find slightly disparaging) to write academic tomes that feel alive, unlike the usual ivory tower fare. Trickster shows how our most playful, devious stories are also (perhaps not surprisingly) our most revealing.
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Common as Air
Lewis Hyde
Hyde addresses the history of copyright, and demonstrates that the founding fathers were not at all fans of it. Rather, they understood that a cultural commons needed to be regulated and protected, much as an agricultural commons needs to be defended against enclosure. As such, any encroachment on the commons must be limited and temporary, and designed for the public good, not private gain.
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The Gift
Lewis Hyde
The original subtitle of this book defined it as “Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property,” which, in addition to being more lyrical, also hints at the real message better than the revision: that real art, no matter the price, is always a gift from the artist to the audience. Cf. Godin on emotional labor.
