On Browsing

Nominated for the 2023 Heritage Toronto Book Award A defense of the dying art of losing an afternoonand gaining new appreciationamidst the bins and shelves of bricks-and-mortar shops. Written during the pandemic, when the world was marooned at home and consigned to scrolling screens, On Browsings essays chronicle what weve lost through online shopping, streaming, and the relentless digitization of culture. The latest in the Field Notes series, On Browsing is an elegy for physical media, a polemic in defense of perusing the world in person, and a love letter to the dying practice of scanning bookshelves, combing CD bins, and losing yourself in the stacks.