"Alas," wrote Henry Ward Beecher, "Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore!" Mine is relatively strong at Barnes & Noble, because I know that if I resist a volume on one visit, and someone else buys it, an identical volume will pop up in its place like a plastic duck in a shooting gallery. And if I resist THAT one, there will be another day, another duck. In a secondhand bookstore, each volume is one-of-a-kind, neither replaceable from a publisher's warehouse nor visually identical to its original siblings, which have accreted individuality with every change of ownership. If I don't buy the book now, I may never have another chance. And therefore, like Beecher, who believed the temptations of drink were paltry compared with the temptations of books, I am weak.
-Anne Fadiman, EX LIBRIS
3 comments:
I saw this book in B & N about a month ago and have been scorning myself for not buying it. I'll definitely get it now!
I do the same thing- and I WORK in a bookstore! It is frustrating, yes. I always carry a book notebook in my purse and have it in hand when visiting another bookstore just in case. Because you might not decide to buy it on that visit but don't try to remember the book because you will invariably forget it.
Carrying a book notebook is a great idea. I usually keep a list at home, but since I may be out and see a book or hear or read about one, it would be handy to keep that with me so I don't forget a book!
Post a Comment