  February 29, 2012  The Terrifying Flying Books of Mr. Morris
Lessmore  This week, the book world has been rejoicing at a nod
received from the movie industry: the Oscar in the hotly
anticipated category of Best Animated Short went to “The
Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.” William Joyce
and Brandon Oldenburg’s film tells the story of a man who is
kidnapped by a commune of dancing books and forced to spend the
rest of his life as their caretaker, maid, nanny, and physician.
The Web site Open Culture says the movie “pays homage to a
bygone era when elegantly printed books inhabited our world.”
But it’s hard not to view “The Fantastic Flying Books” as a dire
warning against the fetishization of books.  The film opens on
the Buster Keaton-like Mr. Lessmore writing a book on a balcony
in New Orleans. In a quick glimpse over his shoulder his writing
is just legible. He’s pondering his city in elevated cartoony
prose: “It is a city unlike any other. Its distractions are
many, but I think it informs my