the bookstore of lot 49

the captions of the preceding pictures say it all. one of the great things about shopping for used books is the unexpected surprises that come out of nowhere. like this one, which i bought for $1 at the corner bookstore. now, i don't like the corner that much--the proprietor is cool (he was listening to the go! team on his ibook as he rang me up) but the selection doesn't stack up to the plain-titled Books, over by Joanne Fabric. Books is the prototypical bookstore, with scads of stuff piled up everywhere and a crusty old owner that smokes like a chimney and grunts his acknowledgement of my choices. love that place. the prices aren't great, but they always have something i want, and that makes the trip worth it. if you have to struggle to pick which book to plunk your coins down for, the shop is definitely worth the time. i used to wish i ran one of those places, but i'm probably not crusty or mean enough for the job. besides, i wouldn't want to sell anything, as i'd regard the place as a personal library.

though if i did run one, this is what would happen:

customer walks in, doesn't look at me, is gone by the time i turn around. he approaches the counter with a volume, slips a card out of his wallet, extends is. Wrong.

"Sorry, that book is not for sale."

"Sure it is. The price is marked inside the cover."

"Not for sale to you, i meant."

his face reddens, he gets pissed, he polishes his teeth with his tongue. then:

"sell me the book or die, bitch. "

"name four other books by this author and i'll let you have it free."

"um, yeah, see, it's for school, you know, they require me to..."

"leave. now." i wave my arms like they were snakes and turn my back to him. the bell tinkles as he leaves. without the book. i held on to that.

again:

girl comes in, takes a half-hour choosing, pays in cash. while ringing her up i make small talk.

"i bet your name is veronica, or something."

"no, but i wish it was. veronica is so much hotter than betty."

"jughead rocks, you know."

"i thought archie was the cute one." wrong. i slide her change back across the counter.

"come back when you figure it out," i say.

and last of all:

woman comes in, gum chewer, asks for danielle steele.

"you take our questionnaire," i say.

"what questionnaire?"

i slide the paper across the counter. "score 15 out of 20 you can buy mass-market. that means danielle steele. for anything else you need a 19 or 20."

she scores a 3. wrong. i boot her out the door.

anyway, you get the idea. not a very successful venture. though if someone came in i did like, i'd probably give them an extra book for free. anyway, to cap this post, let me just ask a few questions:

Who is Oedipa Maas? And what was she doing when the Paranoids blew out all the lights? What was the strange legacy of Pierce Inverarity that first led her to the world-wide conspiracy known as the Tristero System, and then on into the mystery and enigma of America itself?