Taking Things Seriously

Every year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving The Goddard Riverside Community Center holds a book fair. They get brand new and relatively new books donated and sell them at half price. If you came during the last hour of the sale they still have a lot of good things left and sell books with price tags of up to forty dollars (or more) for between one dollar and three.

Here's a highlight of one of the books I purchased this year (it's my second year in, last year the big finds were Debra Winger's Memoir: Undiscovered, Nancy Peacock's A Broom of One's Own, and multiple gift copies at a buck a piece of Haikus For Jews.) This year the fare was broader if not better, in other words I bought more. The receipt was kind of funny for a giant bag full of books reading roughly, $1, $3, $2, $2, $2, $2, etc. for these beautiful, wonderful books.

One example: Taking Things Seriously. I recommend clicking on the link, even if you generally skip the clicks. I love the title and the book (One definition of a good title is that it has at least one more than one meaning) resonated for me. I've listened, perhaps against my better judgement, to my personal organizer who argued that it's the memory not the object that counts. He said with confidence that if someone gives you something they want you to hold on to the gesture and don't care if you hold on to the object. Though, I know of at least one case where a giver did not feel this way. I gave away some books and threw away some movie stubs and other things. But I still subscribe to the idea that the objects are worth a lot, including worth holding onto. This is why I was happy to find my cherished pencil from kitah vav.

I recommend Taking Things Seriously. It was worth every cent of its two dollar price tag. At that price even Abbie Hoffman would agree to buy this book.