“I would prefer not to”: The mystery behind literature’s most famous act of refusal
BigThink · 9 Jul 2026

“I would prefer not to”: The mystery behind literature’s most famous act of refusal

“I would prefer not to.” Those words, printed in white capital letters on a black T-shirt, are worn by a man surrounded by crates full of books in Zuccotti Park, downtown Manhattan. It is late October 2011, and the man doesn’t know it yet, but in three weeks’ time, the books in his crates will be se


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