Joan Rivers 鈥� bibliophile? Oh yes, very much so
Joan Rivers was not only a bestselling author, but also an avid reader of some pretty serious volumes.
Joan Rivers was not only a bestselling author, but also an avid reader of some pretty serious volumes.
The death of Joan Rivers leaves the world with one less comedian, acerbic fashion commentator and cable TV gadfly, but Rivers鈥� passing also marks the exit of one of the world鈥檚 most avid readers.
Rivers, a tireless talker and stand-up comic, was most closely associated with the spoken word, although she was also a popular author 鈥� the talent behind last year鈥檚 鈥淚 Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me鈥� and 鈥淒iary of a Mad Diva,鈥� published earlier this summer.
But Rivers was not only a bestselling author, but a bibliophile of long standing.
Rivers鈥� bookish side probably didn鈥檛 mesh very well with her public image as a pop culture commentator, which is perhaps why she didn鈥檛 discuss it very much.
But in a 2012 interview with The New York Times, Rivers talked in surprising detail about her reading life, an avocation that had led her to some pretty cerebral volumes.
She was a fan of a four-volume history of English kings by Thomas B. Costain. 鈥淚 read this one every 10 years,鈥� Rivers told the Times. 鈥淚t sounds insane, but it鈥檚 a real page-turner.鈥�
Rivers was, oddly enough, a big history fan. 鈥淢y favorite literary genre, seriously, is European history, but only up to Napoleon,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he minute Shorty comes on the scene, I鈥檓 not interested.鈥�
Rivers recommended 鈥淢ary Poppins,鈥� 鈥淭he Secret Garden鈥� and 鈥淭he Middle Moffat鈥� as ideal children鈥檚 books. 鈥淭here is also a series of books called 鈥楾ales of the Wild West,鈥� by Rick Steiber,鈥� Rivers added. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e almost pamphlets, and they contain true eyewitness accounts of all kinds of lives lived on the frontier.鈥�
Rivers told the Times that reading was a big tradition in her family. 鈥淓very Saturday night for years my husband and I would end up at the old Doubleday store on Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淲e would take (daughter) Melissa, and the deal was, you could buy any book you wanted (don鈥檛 look at the price) as long as you promised to read it.... We went home loaded with shopping bags filled with books.鈥�
Rivers also confessed to reading strictly for enjoyment. 鈥淚 use books totally for my pleasure,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I don鈥檛 enjoy them, I don鈥檛 finish them. They鈥檙e not assignments. They鈥檙e my happiness.鈥�
There you have it 鈥� the ideal of books as sources of happiness. Not a bad way to remember a lady who brought so much happiness to her fans.
Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�