This Week's Birthdays

Umberto Eco -- January 5, 1932
Italian novelist and critic who gained fame for his novel The Name of the Rose.
In Eco's words, "The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in their turn speak of things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts; therefore it is dumb."

Carl Sandburg -- January 6, 1878
American folklorist and poet, known to many as the "singing bard."
In Sandburg's words, "A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man."

Wilkie Collins -- January 8, 1824
English novelist often credited with inventing the English detective novel.
In Collins's words, "I have always maintained that the one important phenomenon presented by modern society is - the enormous prosperity of Fools."