On the Commerce of Thinking: Of Books & Bookstores by JeanLuc Nancy (trans. David Wills). Fordham University Press, 2009. Pp. 59. $16 (Paperback). ISBN: 9780823230372[Article copies available for a fee from The Transformative Studies Institute. E-mail address: journal@transformativestudies.org Website: http://www.transformativestudies.org ©2012 by The Transformative Studies Institute. All rights reserved.]On the Commerce of Thinking: Of Booh and Bookstores is a brief, yet resonant, philosophical text that beautifully describes the enchantment of books. Based on the title I expected, and looked forward to, a critical analysis of how and why ideas are suppressed or are promoted by the publishing industry and the relationship between the exchange of ideas and the exchange of political and economic currency. I was both grossly incorrect and delightfully surprised.As a writer and avid reader, I encountered On the Commerce of Thinking with the deep reverence Nancy ascribes to the exchange of the written word. This review and its application to social action is a dance of ideas derived from both Nancy's thoughts and those which his work inspired within me.The process of writing, sharing one's work with others, and engaging with ideas which others have emblazoned into our collective conscience through composition and exhibition are radical acts of disclosure, exposure, and transformation. Through books, the universe of ideas becomes recorded, revealed, unveiled, and unleashed.Books are appeals for ideas to be discovered. They never passively sit on a shelf; books yearn to be found, opened, and unfolded. Like books, we, too, are vessels filled with stories to tell and thoughts to liberate. But unlike our speech and actions, which disintegrate over time into misty memories, the printed word remains to be read over and over again, each time with a unique sense of understanding and a new opportunity for negotiation. The motion of words once recorded and shared represent infinite possibilities. Printed words interact with other words through our imagination and dialogue.In the bookstore, ideas emerge and converge. Readers glance at mysterious worlds concealed within the physical dimensions of the bookstore's contents. Each book presents itself through a clever title, provocative cover art, and possibly name recognition for the author or publisher. It is through these conveniences that readers initially interact with ideas, albeit with superficiality. The process of marketing a book is, ideally, an invitation to become immersed in, and influenced by, its ideas. …