An ode to one of my favorite bookstore owners, Howard Hartog of the Vagabond Book Man in Lawrence, Kansas. This poem recalls locating a copy of Parnassus on Wheels, the precursor to The Haunted Bookshop (two perennial favorites among booksellers), among the stacks of his cluttered, yet always delightful bookshop.
On Finding a copy of Parnassus on Wheels at the Vagabond Book Store
I strolled into the bookstore on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue
And happened upon a fortress of volumes, mostly old but some new.
Friendly Howard up front, sitting at his cluttered throne,
Reading a novel, as if he was in front of the fireplace at home.
He directed me to the section which contained some of his signed first editions
And I remembered how broke I was since bookselling became my religion.
Of course I found several rare copies I could not do without:
A signed collection of Bukowski poems and Brautigan's book on trout.
I was thinking I needed at least one other to add to my personal collection,
When I stumbled upon a mysterious section.
A title caught my eye, and as I pulled the book from the shelf by its tattered dustjacket
I found exactly what I was looking for, in fact it
Was the prequel to the book I was currently reading,
To impatient to start at part one, for the written word I often become greedy.
The price on the front free endpaper was clearly marked in pencil,
"Not for Sale" it read, and I thought this must be a bookstore miracle.
I brought the book to Howard, thinking I deserved a prize
For discovering the single volume in the store lacking a penciled in price.
He gave me the book as a gift for purchasing several others
and also gave me sage bookselling advice like a kind older brother.
"Buy low and sell high, and only sell the good stuff" he said,
And I thought I had heard that in a book I had already read.
If you ever happen to visit the college town of Lawrence, Kansas,
Make sure to pay a visit to Howard on the corner of 12th and Massachusetts.
1 comments:
Thinking about getting a car insurance quote?
[url=http://sex-car.org]Car Insurance[/url]
A growing number of people are dropping their auto insurance to try to save money, according to a recent study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC). If the current rate of unemployment continues, the IRC estimates that the national uninsured rate will climb from 13.8 percent in 2007 to 16.3 percent in 2010. With that many people driving without coverage, it's dangerous to be uninsured. But how much car insurance do you really need?
If you're like many people feeling the pinch, your inclination is to get the bare minimum of insurance coverage required by the law in your state. That's a good place to start, though those minimums may not fully protect you -- or your assets -- if you file a claim. We recommend getting more than the minimum coverage unless you are driving a beater and have no assets to protect.
Visit [url=http://sex-car.org]http://sex-car.org[/url]
All you need to know about
[url=http://sex-car.org]Car Insurance[/url]
Post a Comment