I think the way people treat books is a bit of an indicator of their character," he says.

I DON'T WANT TO SOUND PRETENTIOUS," says Emmanuel de Bayser, "but I don't understand people who don't have books.

My environment is incredibly important to me. Arranging things creates order, not just in your own space but also in all of life.

Although he denies having a photographic memory, he admits that "when I'm looking for a line I've read, I tend to remember the place on the page, its relationship to the rest of the text.