Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain

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The nature of the booksellers also shone through, eager to welcome someone who could attract others to the delights of books. The people who are drawn to the shows cover all ages from teenagers to people in their 80s and 90s, but I can see this beautiful line of curiosity running through them all,” he says. Back in Autumn 2021, Robin was due to appear with Professor Brian Cox on the acclaimed Horizons stadium tour, but the multi-media ‘space odyssey’ had to be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Live Dates | Robin Ince

How to Build a Universe is an illuminating and inspirational celebration of science – sometimes silly, sometimes astounding and very occasionally facetious. Thrust Bibliomaniac at him and force him to read until he's smiling and interested in the world again. Robin enjoyed the tour so much that it inspired another book, Bibliomaniac (“the fastest book I’ve ever written”), and he almost immediately set off on the road again while planning the launch of an online Bibliomaniac book club and continuing his other ongoing project, BBC Radio Four’s The Infinite Monkey Cage , again with his good friend Brian Cox. Robin’s first solo show was a disaster, but a disaster that ended with him punching a melon with Vernon Kay’s face drawn on it before singing Mustang Sally (still no cruise ship bookings).The popular comedian and science presenter Robin Ince blends memoir, wit, and popular science to examine the human condition. His book is subtly melancholy – nights in anonymous chain hotels, public transport, waves of anxiety and ecstasy, the voraciousness of the collector. Featuring stories by: James Acaster, Clare Ferguson Walker, Toby Hadoke, Natalie Haynes, Rufus Hound, Robin Ince, Elis James, Stewart Lee, Josie Long, Alice Lowe, Jason Manford, Alan Moore, Andrew O’Neill, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, John Robertson and Isy Suttie. I really wanted to like this book more than I did in the end; I love books about books and I like to read about travel. I don’t need a hobby because I absolutely love hanging around with book people, hanging around with scientists, wandering around and creating silly ideas.

Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince | Waterstones

And lots of asides about books, if you want book recommendations well there are more than you could imagine. It seems to me that no-one would choose to read constantly if they liked the sound of their own thoughts!Hearing all this directly from the man is particularly pleasing, especially the incidental footnotes he slips into the recording. He loves books, but sometimes seems indifferent to reading them, preferring to dip in or even leave them on the shelf for some future, probably non-existent exploration. It is, I think, fair to say that a book with “bookish” in the title might be intended for the bookish sort of person. Ince also muses on his relationship to books and reading, and occasionally wanders off on idiosyncratic tangents.