Book Heaven: My Kingdom (and Ethics) For A Donut
Another memorable day has passed in the history of the three-ring literary circus known as dollar book day at the Strand. This past Friday's performance was, as usual, not without incident. A newcomer to the fray got a bit too close to the starting line when the gun sounded and while he apparently escaped serious physical injury, the psychic trauma he suffered will no doubt last for quite awhile. At the Strand, you are not allowed to go near the table when they are setting out the new dollar books. The most hopeless of the participants (I number myself among this group) loiter as close as possible, trying to memorize where the choice books are being laid down for what will certainly be a very short rest. When the Strand employees step away from the table, all hell breaks loose as about a dozen obviously deranged book dealers and collectors attack the table like a flotilla of famished pirahnas. Well, this poor unsuspecting soul got caught in the onslaught and spent the better part of a half hour just staring in amazement at the books flying off the table, muttering over and over again to an onlooking Strand employee, "I've never seen such agression before." He later appended his statement, "They're not even great books." So mesmerized was he by this spectacle that he only tentatively picked at the edges of the battlefield. He later made a generous $2 offer for a copy of a book of Lord Nelson that somebody had snatched up before he could get to it. The crowd ignored him. Feeling sorry for him, I later let him go through my basket, offering him anything he wanted. I have since noticed that he possesses a much more refined taste than I do, and I would do well to cultivate a bit of that discernment myself. In truth, they're really not great books -- they're just too cheap to resist! -- Krispy Kremes: New Arthritis Wonder Drug? Written in an age before Krispy Kremes were easy to obtain, the good doctor recounts his two year obsession with his desire to taste a Krispy Kreme...