Imagine all authors did not have names or genders or races or other traits, and all books were no more than the sum of what they held or caused in on upon the world or you. Imagine the words are the words. How would this affect your ‘top ten’ lists and concerns? What would you say then about the problems with this list, and the perspectives (not bodies) of its creator(s)? [And yes, I do believe that the aura of author does affect something in the object’s presence, but we’re talking about books as books here, not commodities, or careers.]

Is the gender of the book the author’s gender? Is the history of the book the author’s skin? By what other, individual features might a creator’s identity be transmitted and/or formed?