Why I prefer the older Garamond to Times Roman perhaps skirts rationalization. It is not simply because it is an older or less common form, though these are often simple, persuasive recommendations. No, I like its lilt I suppose. Its diagonal stress. Its tapered features. Not that Times Roman is a particularly heavy font. But when looked upon in the wake of Garamond, I can't help but associate it with inky fingers, frowns, and clumsiness. Garamond on the other hand seems to touch words and ideas with the easiness and grace of long narrow fingers. Properly blocked upon the page, it is a vision of beautiful orderliness. Italicized it possesses all the charm -- the postponed ennui, the sang-froid -- of Satie's little prelude to the Mort de monsieur Mouche, or even Gymnopedie No. 1, as it is played at the end of that strange movie about a dinner conversation.