With the rise in virtual meetings and virtual backgrounds, I have seen a resurgence of a decorating trend that I thought and hoped had died a merciful death: the use of books placed the "wrong way" on a shelf. It is a trend so outrageous that friends of mine have thought I was joking to mention it. Obviously, if someone knows what a book is used for, it makes no sense to obscure its contents when on a shelf.
Others have opined about this trend and its worthiness, and the origin myth of it being about copyright protection - but it reminds me of nothing as much as one of my family's favorite children's stories, Petunia. In this story, the titular illiterate goose finds a book and carries it around in hopes of being considered educated. She gives terrible advice to the other animals and is anything but wise, despite her accessory. Like those who display books on their shelves in a way that makes them unrecognizable, she is unclear on the concept of why someone would have a book in the first place.
It also reminds me of the time that I went to a book store in Pasadena years ago, in search of a particular book as a gift. The worker told me that he didn't know where that book might be, because they arranged the books "by height". Does anyone go into a book store and say, "I'd like something in seven inches, please?" Maybe yes, if they want to match all the other blank pages showing on their shelves.
p.s. Huge thanks to my friend (and former colleague) Larry Davidson for suggesting that an even better title would be "Spinelessness"!
