Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
If I had any hair to pull out . . .
Occasionally, I visit one of our local used book stores. It takes me a year or so to forget the score and there I am, back again, amazed by the sight of hundreds of books, none of them worth reading.
Me: Where do you keep your hard-boiled?
Bookstore person: (blank stare)
Me: You know, hard-boiled, noir . . .
Bookstore person: (blank stare)
Me:Â Like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett.
Bookstore person: (blank stare)
Me (running from store): Aiieeeeee!
***
But seriously.
You learn a lot about a community by looking at the contents of their used book stores. There’s a reason why the best used book stores are in places like Berkeley and San Francisco. Interesting, diverse population = interesting, diverse used books.
Needless to say, I can’t wait for Seattle.
D.
Austin’2 pretty lucky – not only do we have Half Price Books (a chain of stores that have slightly different inventory for each store), but we have BookPeople – at one point the largest independent bookstore in the nation. It’s right next to Whole Foods.
That scene could happen here, too. I really wonder why, in a friggin’ university town, books stores manage to pick illiterate employees. 😉
This is why I look for books online most of the time. Another good town for used books is Portland … Powell’s is awesome!