Catching Up

Below this blog you will find three other new ones. You perhaps should read them in chronological order. My time has gone into other duties for a few days, leaving me with no suitable occasion for blogging. Nor have I read a great deal. I’m still reading George W. Bush’s Decision Points and am half through Pat Conroy’s My Reading Life. More about those later.

As I’ve mentioned before, I enjoy buying first editions, but am no collector of them. Conroy says that when the buyer signs his name in a first edition, it is anathema to the collector. The entire publication must be pristine to be valuable in the “priceless” category. In other words, the collectors don’t read these books. They don’t necessarily read anything, but just collect. Such volumes can, of course, decorate a room with their artistic appearance (temperature-controlled room, of course), just as collectible art does on walls, but really now, wouldn’t you rather read the books? I would.

My first edition of Conroy’s My Reading Life doesn’t sport the owner’s name yet, but it is heavily underlined. On occasion I shall reread the underlined parts and skip the rest. These flagged gems have mainly to do with writing, and certainly with unique thoughts about books and life.

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