Palimpsest

What is writing for, and what does it do to the people who practice it? This book traces the roots of writing to both the natural world and human culture, treating it as something that seems almost magical. Myths have cast writing as a heroic gift or a punishment from the gods. Across history it has served as a tool of authority, a route to the sacred, a way for communities to bond, and a means for individuals to shape their identities.

The author considers a present moment in which the printed word is giving way to digital media. Many worry that writing itself, and the careful, layered thinking that it cultivates, is in danger. Yet writing, though it aims at permanence, keeps changing and reinventing itself.