There's something enduring about our impulse for collection and order: Donne wouldn't be Donne if he hadn't lived in a commonplacing era it nurtured his collector's sensibility, hoarding images and authorities.

But back then it was called a commonplace book. This whole ' Building a Second Brain' thing has existed since at least Donne's time. Luckily, Rundell's words also nourish and intrigue. On distinctiveness: 'Donne saves his most ruthless scorn for those who chew other wits' fruit, and shit out platitudes.'.On death: 'Spiritually speaking, many of us confronted with the thought of death perform the psychological equivalence of hiding in a box with our knees under our chin.'.On suicide: 'To write about death in the way he did - to send a suction pump down into the gap between what we know and what we fear - was to risk chaos.'.Why breezy? It's not too long and it has short chapters with titles like 'The Exquisitely Clothed Theoriser on Fashion.' More importantly, Katherine Rundell is a highly visual writer. In the age of Substack and other informationally dense media, you could probably use something breezy-if only to lure you away from your phone. You might not be considering Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, the breezy biography of the poet John Donne. Perhaps you're not currently shopping for books about poets.

Super infinite donne