Books are sacred. Think of how we react to book burnings. Think how hard it is to throw a book away. We build temples for them – there’s a library in almost every town. Many of us have more books in our houses than any other object, besides Lego. They might be the most spectacularly successful technology of all time.
A book’s contents might be great art. The book itself might be great art, too. A book may take years or decades to create—perhaps the work of dozens or hundreds of people beyond the author. It can be a monument you can hold in your hand.