Why The Devil’s Accountant?

"Seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space."

-Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

There are lots of assumptions behind the name of this blog. First, that literature is important to the health of society. Secondly I assume that the producers and caretakers of good literature are imperiled by other forms of media (a thousand curses upon electronic gaming!) let alone the increasingly difficult to meet bottom line born of diminishing readership.

Good literature, you ask? Yes, that is the third assumption. I feel comfortable making value judgments as to whether a book is good. All the books on this site are ones that I feel are worth your while. I apologize in advance if my tastes differ from yours on occasion.

Now to the name… If such a position existed, the person would know the entire extent of the dark lord’s holdings. This person therefore would also know, by default, what the Devil does not own. That’s what this blog is about: Things that are not inferno. Good things. Things to be enjoyed and cherished. Replace “thing” with book and you’ve got a complete picture.

Yes. I am mad. I don’t believe in the Devil and am generally agnostic when it comes to all things that go bump in the night or thunder in heaven. I am however, the sort of person that has to turn everything into some form of errantry. But really, I plan on making this harmless and above all, useful.

Basically I borrowed the Devil’s name because it has panache and gravitas all at once.

In all sobriety and putting the purple prose aside, usefulness is what I want this blog to be about. Utility. I want to direct readers to books, publishers and bookstores that are doing great and interesting things. I want these readers to in turn support these great and interesting things.

So with all this in mind our motto from here on out will be: “Read, damn it!”

Ahem...